This was one of those books I picked up solely because of the hype. I'd seen other reviewers and arc collectors aggressively trying to obtain a copy of this novel to review, so I put in my NetGalley request, thinking I wouldn't ever get it. I am so glad I did.

The Court of Miracles is a retelling of Les Miserables and The Jungle Book, but that's where the similarities end. If you ever thought the Eponine deserved better, this book is for you. This book is entirely unique, while still keeping to Les Miserables's roots of gritty realism. I found myself holding my breath through the entire book because I knew what happened to Eponine in the traditional story, and I was waiting for the same to happen here.

The Court of Miracles is comprised of different Thieves Guilds. Each guild has a guild Lord or Lady who heads the entire guild, and Masters who remain as second in command. Eponine (Nina) joins the Guild of Thieves after her father, Thenardier, sells her sister to the Guild of Flesh. She survives by stealing, and soon becomes the best at it, becoming known by her nomenclature "the Black Cat." Everything is fine until Cosette (Ettie) catches Lord of Flesh's eye. Nina takes on an impossible task to try to save Ettie, but there are more moving parts at play than could be expected.

I adored the way Grant utilized characters in this book. Main characters from Les Miserables have become background characters, and the side characters have their own story. All of the characters are multi-faceted. Nina is no longer just a lovesick girl. Ettie is more than simply pretty. This is a story of strength, of family, and of revenge.

The plot spans several years throughout the book. It's important to watch the dates at the top, as they tell you how much time has passed. Normally I'm not one for time jumps, but Grant still managed to flawlessly continue the storyline through the different moments in time. However, the plot is certainly complex. As soon as you think you've figured out what the big moment of the story will be, Grant changes directions and the players in the story change in surprising ways. This book will keep you guessing, no matter how well you know the classic stories.

The writing itself is beautiful but raw. Grant is not afraid to mix descriptions of opulence and finery with that of poverty, muck, and grime. The Court of Miracles is not a happy feel good read, but it is an adventure and a journey that brings you into a new world. It's not the new Six of Crows, nothing ever will be. Instead, The Court of Miracles is an incredible narrative of hope, strength, cleverness, and grit that will entrance you from the first page.

First thing’s first: thank you NetGalley for giving me this ARC to enjoy and review!

I.... had trouble with this book.

I haven’t read Les Mis (only seen the musical) so I was wondering how it would turn out in a book that was said to meet the pace and overall style of Six of Crows, which I loved.
It was not my cup of tea. First, let me tell you a short summary:

In Paris, you have the upper class, the revolutionary students, and the Wretched, who live on the streets, steal, kill, and basically live as the forgotten edges of society. They call their social and political hierarchy “The Court of Miracles” and it is divided into guilds. Each has a “father” who’s the head honcho, and a “master” who’s top at what the guild does (kill, steal, etc.) The whole court lives by a simple set of rules called The Law.
In this environment we are introduced to Nina, who’s a scrappy little thief who makes a name for herself in the guild of thieves. She has a protege named Ettie, who’s the prettiest thing ever, and she spends the book trying to protect her from the Flesh Guild’s lord, Kaplan, who wants to turn her into a whore. She also wants to bring Kaplan down since he has her older sister in one of his whorehouses.
Somewhere in the middle of this, we are introduced to a parallel plot of the revolutionary students who want to throw over the corrupt regime, that lets the people starve and die while they live lavishly in the palace. There are other characters of course, especially three very different boys who all seem to take a romantic interest in Nina (and a very missed opportunity in my opinion since not much happens with either of them), as well as guild lords. There’s not a whole lot in terms of character development except for Nina and maybe Ettie. If these characters were in a painting, it was done in very diluted watercolors.
Somehow through cunning and daring and whatnot, Nina sort of saves the day on multiple counts, and that’s all I’ll say so as not to spoil.

Honestly, it’s an ok story. I don’t know why I didn’t connect with it much. In the first half of the book Nina sounded so detached to me, like she’s telling a long ago tale in the first person. And when she’s detached, I find myself caring less about the characters. When the student plot line appeared, I wondered what it has to do with anything. I think it could have been more strongly anchored to certain events that light the fuse of rebellion. So that was a tad forced in my opinion. But then around the second half or so of the book things that were half-heartedly put in motion finally started to flow more smoothly and the creaky wheel got some oil. Is it the best of stories? Not at all. Is it horrible? Nope.
It’s decent. And that’s the best I can give it. It seems like it’s going to be the opener of a series. While I’m not itching to read another one of these, and I feel like all of the questions were answered and all of the loose ends were tied, I’d be curious to see how this author takes the experience and the criticism and grows the story even more. There’s definitely potential, but I wouldn’t bother staying in this world. I’d write a new one.

**A side note about character names**

I try not to be the wet rag of the bunch, I really do. But when you have a shot at remaking something, and you still name your most horrible villain Kaplan, which is a clear Jewish name, I can’t help but feel disappointed. As a Jew, we have enough antisemitism to deal with on the reg. Could you not invent a random name that didn’t suggest so clearly that the bad guy is Jewish? It made me wince all through the book. Shame.

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for giving me the chance to review this book!

Positives: Rich story building with vivid descriptions. It truly feels like you are in the story - glancing around at all the dirt and muck, right along with the other characters.

My gut reaction: I sincerely apologize to the author, because this really isn't a reflection on the quality of the story -- it's only how it sits with me personally. For months I've tried to get into this title and just ... cannot. There is something stylistically that doesn't work for me. I think it has to do with the story being significantly different from Les Mis in some aspects while holding fast to other elements such as the character names. I would have warmed up more to the story if it was entirely "inspired by" Les Misérables, but avoided exact replication in any area. I found myself constantly getting pulled out of the story when something familiar popped up, resulting in a "wait, who? what?" moment.

So ... I am sure there are many people who will love this story for what it is, and I applaud the author for its creation! ... I just won't be one of them, and that's okay. Thanks for the chance to preview it, and I wish you all the best.

As someone who is too much of a pleb to properly enjoy Les Miserables, I'm surprised how much I love a good reimagining. The Court of Miracles is definitely among their number. This is a version of Paris that doesn't sparkle but that swarms with shadows. The day is for the nobility, and the night is for the criminal guilds that co-exist uneasily under the Miracle Court's laws. The Court oversees all "the Wretched," or guild members, made up of those spurned by daylight-- the poor, immigrants, the sick and wounded.

Enter Eponine (Nina), cat burglar of the Thieves' Guild. Nina's on a mission to save her older sister after their father sells her into prostitution in the Flesh Guild. This all-consuming love for her sister takes her down some morally questionable paths, including a plan to groom Cosette (Ettie) to take her sister's place in a cruel trade. It's a tale of twists and turns. Nina's clever tricks must distract everyone for her to succeed, and she may even pull one over on the reader (speaking from experience).

This was a strong debut. Overall, I thought the world-building flowed seamlessly through the plot. I was especially enthralled with the idea of two governing bodies cohabiting in the same city but occupying different hours. The rules and politics of the guilds were a fascinating component of the story. Another aspect of the book I loved was the diverse cast-- Parisians aren't all pasty white baguettes, you know.

I really enjoyed this! I haven't read Les Miserables and only know the story as told in the musical, so it was interesting to spot the names and plotlines that I did know. The author creates a rich underground world and I wouldn't have minded if the book were longer.

First and foremost: this is not a book for everyone. As much as "Les Miserables meets Six of Crows" is, technically, an accurate summation, it's a description that masks the weirdness of the plot. Truly, I don't think I could find a description that captured the complexity and strangeness of this book - a strangeness so surreal that I felt, especially during the first half of the book, like I wasn't reading English. Part of the surreal atmosphere was the sudden and abrupt time jumps from chapter to chapter, which certainly didn't help as I was trying to ground myself in the world.

The story of magical guilds, warring factions, and an underground crime world felt so divorced from the story of Les Miserables that the revolution subplot (if it can even be called a subplot) felt almost tacked-on in an attempt to develop the "retelling" element that had thus far been neglected. Even the characters who are borrowed from Les Miserables - Eponine, Cosette, Valjean, Javert, Enjolras, Grantaire, Azelma, Gavroche, among others - are often renamed or distorted. Eponine becomes 'Nina'; Cosette 'Ettie'; Enjolras 'St. Juste'; etc. Some of the relationships from the original are neglected (Valjean and Cosette are pitiful in this adaptation) and, at a certain point, I wondered why the Les Miserables aspect had even been included when it seemed to weigh so little on the plot and only served as a distraction.

Ultimately, this novel shone where it deviated from Les Miserables - the story of warring guilds, echoes of the former revolutionary spirit that had been crushed by the ruling powers, and the vaguely magical underbelly of the city were engaging enough that I felt disappointed whenever the Les Miserables elements returned to the plot - which was strange, considering how much I love Les Miserables normally. Truly, I don't know how to rate this one, all things considered. I'd recommend reading the first section of the book and making a decision for yourself.

The Court of Miracles is everything I could have asked for, the Les Mis retelling of my dreams. Overall this book is an epic undertaking, blending the history of the French Revolution with a seedy yet honorable underworld of murder, thievery, crime, and resistance. I’m not going to do this book justice by attempting to regurgitate the plot, but what I will do is ramble for a bit about how much I loved this book.

The world is a massive undertaking, from the French royal court to the rat-infested sewers, to the dark halls and corridors of the nine Guilds of the Court of Miracles. Nina is the daughter of a scoundrel who sells of her older sister to the Guild of Flesh, and Nina has sworn to get her back from its slaver “Lord,” the Tiger. This intense desire to avenge herself for her sister bleeds into everything she does, including joining the Guild of Thieves and pulling off some daring heists (aka getting into loads of messy trouble). And then her scoundrel of a father tries to do the same to his ward, Ettie, and Nina won’t have it. She’ll do *anything* to protect Ettie from her sister’s fate.

Cue schemes and capers and dastardly plans, some blood, gore, and a lot of betrayal. Alliances are made, broken, made again, sealed with a kiss, then punched in the face. And although Nina’s fierce loyalty to her found family seems legit, nothing is straightforward on the angry streets of Paris. The shadows are dark, and motives darker still.

Reader: I loved it.

I can't wait to feature this in my Instagram and shout about this book!

Les Miserables has a special place in my heart. I mean, I named my blog after my favorite song from the musical. So, when I saw The Court of Miracles and read that it was inspired by Les Mis and included some of the characters from my beloved book, I jumped at the chance to read it. Happily, though the story is nothing like Les Mis, it is an interesting young adult novel.

The Court of Miracles takes characters and situations from Les Mis, changes and enhances some of their strongest traits, and puts them into a post-revolutionary France that is much different from the country we know. I loved how the author put a unique spin on well-known characters like Cosette, Eponine, Gavroche, Javert, Enjolras, Thernardier, and, of course, Jean Valjean and incorporated them into a fantastical plot that still pays homage to the original story.

The world is fascinating and detailed, offering an alternate society that is split between the aristocracy and The Miracle Court, which is broken up into numerous unsavory guilds. The politics and harsh laws of these gritty, menacing, and often feuding guilds are intricately detailed and juxtapose the luxurious frivolity of the wealthy. Nina (Eponine), the protagonist, is part of the Guild of Thieves and is desperately searching for a guild to protect her young step-sister Ettie (Cosette) before The Tiger gets his claws into her like he did Nina’s older sister.

I liked Nina’s character arc and growth throughout the story. She is complex, with strengths and faults that make her a realistic and interesting protagonist, even though she spends much of her time trying to undo her own mistakes. Under the tutelage of her abusive father, she learned how to be a thief at an early age, and her stealth, intellect, and cunning help her when she is most in need. Though I didn’t connect with her character as much as I’d hoped, she remains dynamic, complex, and unpredictable.

Though I loved the universal themes presented throughout the book, especially themes of family loyalty, independence, and doing whatever it takes to protect those you love, the plot felt a bit jumpy and jarring at times with jolting time-jumps and transitions. However, the story is interesting enough that I could overlook the sometimes awkward pacing.

This is a unique novel with a ton of action and immense world-building. I think it is difficult to take a favorite and well-known story and create a unique and intriguing twist, but Kester Grant does it well in The Court of Miracles. Readers who enjoy young adult fiction with a strong female protagonist will enjoy this story. I think readers who know the Les Miserables story will enjoy the many references in this book.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

THE COURT OF MIRACLES

Kester Grant’s fabulous Ya Historical Fantasy, that is set alternate 1828 Paris France after a failed revolution, born is The Court of Miracles.
The Court of Miracles is a criminal guild of nine.
As the greater widening of the class system from the greedy, self-serving nobility and the underworld of criminals. These a dark times where poverty and famine is widespread. Trying to survive Nina, has become a notable and talented cat burglar, the Black Cat, belonging to the Guild of Thieves. In a series of events causing her adoptive sister Ettie to catch the eye of a notorious Tiger. Lord over the Guild of Flesh, Tiger, is terrifying and ruthless. Nina tries to keep Ettie, out of the vile Tiger, a path that leads her to braking into the royal palace of Louis XVII, and stealing.
She seeks to align herself with those who can help her and Ettie, she goes deeper into the black, treacherous underbelly of Paris. Risking all might set off a a climactic war between the Guilds.
This a fast paced gripping tale, with incredible world building. The criminal empire is detailed and cleverly depicted.
The Court of Miracles, has fascinating criminal guilds..A Guild of Thieves, An Guild Assassin’s.. etc
To me there is at lot of nods of Kipling's original Jungle Book stories.
I am excited to see more from this talented author.

The plot is paced perfectly, gripping from the start and making it unputdownable. I also really loved the building of the criminal empires with rules and non-rules and questionable morality. We explore some of the Guilds a bit, and it was entirely fascinating.

Review:
So I have no idea how to rate this books because I wanted to love this book so bad! It has so much potential, but the execution was just lackluster. I guess I’m leaning towards 2 or 2.5 stars.

Things I didn’t like:
- This book is split into 4 parts, and each time there is a time jump. The thing is though, it never stated how much time had passed, so I didn’t even know that time had passed until it was casually mentioned in the story three chapters later. It was really confusing and hard to keep track of. I just wished at every divider, it was say how much time had passed like “two month later.”
- I was very confused if there was a romance. The main character has three guys in love with her, and she liked them all, but romance was such a small amount of the book that none of the guys had any real character development. I felt no attachment to any of them, and the main character was kind of horrible to them all.
- My biggest complain was that the plot was all over the place. It felt like there was no overarching plot, so it was just a bunch of little things that would get solved one by one. There was nothing to keep me invested. All the characters were one dimensional and felt like they were only there to forward the plot. The main character had no real flaws, and she had a very sanctimonious attitude that got old fast.

Things I liked:
- I loved the atmosphere of the Court of Miracles! It was very dark and sinister, and all the different guilds were super fun to learn about. I loved all the intricacies of the treaties and law of code. Learning and reading about their politics was super interesting
- In addition to all the Guilds, I loved the setting of Paris, after the revolution failed. During the reign of Louis XVII It really added to the desperation Nina had to save all those she cared about.
- I loved the heist aspects of the main character. She’s a cat burglar and much of the book is her scheming and pulling off exciting heists! She broke into the royal palace, prisons, and many more places!

So if you love heist stories and love squares, check out The Court of Miracles!

I will post my review on my blog on June 6th, for the blog tour

LES MIS x SIX OF CROWS? This story concept = everything I never knew I needed in my life! I've loved musicals since I was little, and Les Mis is one of my favorites! I kept hearing the soundtrack play in my mind at various points in the book. And Six of Crows is another fave.

All of that actually made me both excited and nervous to read The Court of Miracles. The weight of expectations was heavy. So keep all of that in mind when reading my review.

First of all, I think it's really important to acknowledge that this book is incredibly ambitious in scope. It is a tough, tough task to take on, boiling down Les Mis (an epic story if there ever was one) into a YA-length book, twisting it into a retelling with a unique spin but that stays true to the original, keeping the power of the story and the backdrop of the French Revolution, AND adding fantastical elements while staying true to the story. Not many authors would be able to pull this off and I commend Kester Grant for her ambition!

Now, breaking the story down to its parts.

The world-building in this book is absolutely FANTASTIC! I love love LOVED the way the court of miracles was set up, the way the magic was split into factions, the law, the everything about it. When new factions were introduced, my heart leapt and I literally started grinning like a goof. It was just plain FUN! And it doesn't hurt that the story and magic system are so, so stabby. DEFINITELY my style. So. Well. Done!

The twists and scope were also really, really impressive. I found myself gasping so many times after reading a new twist (sometimes a plot twist, other times a clever twist on the original). Anyone who's watched (or I assume, read -- admittedly I haven't read the book yet) Les Mis can probably attest to that feeling you get from it. It's just so POWERFUL. So EPIC. So... all-encompassing. And that's how this book felt.

And our scrappy MC? Eponine is one of the most interesting characters from Les Mis IMO, so having a book centered around her story was a dream come true. I loved her as a protagonist, and I love the way many aspects of her story were kept, while she herself was given a lot more agency. I did find it a bit hard to follow exactly how she accomplished some of her great feats, but more on that below.

The pacing was extremely fast. The story is written really efficiently in that it doesn't linger on transitions or tell you everything that led from one event to the next. Instead, it asks for a little bit of work on the reader's part, making the connections in your head or finding out in the next chapter what must have been going on for the past few months (or years). I actually really loved this in many ways, because it assumes reader intelligence and lets the reader feel like they're in on the storytelling. No hand-holding here. No boring training sequence (I know it can be done in a way that's interesting, but I've read a million training sequences and it's hard for them to be satisfying to me anymore.) At other times, though, the pace could be a bit jarring, because nearly every chapter was like this.

As for the Les Mis aspects? I'm really torn on this. I absolutely LOVED the references in the first half of the book. I loved seeing how different Les Mis characters were genderbent or given more diverse identities. I loved each Les Mis easter egg -- a quote would be incorporated or a character would appear or an event would be retold and I loved that little flutter of recognition. That hah! I'm in on it! I know the reference! But then... in the second half, those feelings started to morph a bit. Some of the biggest parts of Les Mis were background noise in the book, which, from an authorial perspective, is totally understandable. There's so much happening, and after all -- this was Eponine's story, and to her a lot of what was forefront in Les Mis WAS background noise in her life. So... I know that? But I still wanted a little more? Some really key moments in Les Mis were removed completely, while others felt like they were there just to be a Les Mis reference but weren't paid their full dues or didn't make sense in the context of this story (conflicted with character motivations, etc.). That made it harder to enjoy.

I think what it comes down to is that I loved the way the characters from Les Mis were incorporated into this story, but some of the events didn't feel right to me. And I think, probably because the author (understandably) wanted to stick to important retelling points, some of the characters' motivations were a bit illogical, because they needed to be pushed into certain events that had to happen.

I should probably mention the second comp, Six of Crows. Granted, some of you may also have noticed the other comp used to be The Jungle Book? And both are interesting choices. There are a few nods to SoC elements (thieves, heists, etc.) but others aren't there (no crew story, for example). So I'd recommend not going in expecting too much from the SoC comp.

All of that being said, I did truly enjoy this book and I'm in complete awe of Kester Grant! Like I said, this is a wonderfully ambitious story. And if THIS magnificent story is her debut, then her career looks incredibly promising from where I'm standing! I do recommend this one and am looking forward to the second book!

Free advanced copy received from Knopf Childrens via Netgalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I got a free copy of this from Netgalley. I think it was a very clever retelling of Les Miserables with a little bit of Hunchback of Notre Dame. I like the idea of the Courts, and each of their areas of expertise. I loved the way the author incorporated characters from Les Mis into the story, but with twists. I have never read Les Mis, but I've seen the film, and I always felt Eponine was underused, so it was nice to see a version of her that was pretty developed, had more of a personality, and had a better relationship with Cosette. I loved Nina's desire protect Ettie above all us, and I loved Ettie's desirability because it reminds of me of quickly Marius is obsessed with her. Grant makes Ettie's beauty more a burden, which I thought was really interesting. While she can easily win people over, Ettie also attracts a villain. Once we get the Tiger's story, how he manipulated the sisters and built his Guild, he becomes incredibly interesting. When he tells Nina that he made her, he's not wrong; everything he did led to everything she became. She could have become a villain like him, but Nina overcomes that. It shows what a strong hearted character she is, especially when she realizes that using Ettie for a bargain is something she cannot do. I like her will to do what's right for not only her guild and Ettie, but for France. The mice story is incredibly power, and it reminds of the graphic novel, Maus. There is a great look at how the nobility treat the poor, not just with poisoned water, but when Nina says "they announce our presence while ignoring our existence."
The romance in this confused me. The prince, St. Juste, and Montparnasse all like Nina, and she seems to flirt with all three, so I don't know what's going on there. The idea of Nina "not being like other girls." I get there is more at stake than pretty food and dresses, but I find it hard to believe that she wouldn't be the least bit excited being all dressed up; maybe she would feel guilty about it, like she does when she eats in the palace while other people are starving. It ties in well with her character.
I had a big problem with Javert, though. When I found out Javert was a woman, I thought it was really cool. Then, Grant pulls the most cliche thing: Javert only hunts Valjean because he broke her heart and she's scorned. Because a woman police officer can't be obsessed with hunting down a criminal because of her views on the law, like Javert is in the original story and musical? She has to be angry because of love? I just felt that was sexist, and could've been done better.
Overall, I found the story to be quite interesting, a good way of tying in Les Mis with an original story with memorable characters and memorable story about duty, love, friendship, and struggle.

Summary:

In an alternate version of Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the violent, harsh city is divided between royalty and nine criminal guilds called The Court of Miracles. When Nina's sister is sold by her father to the Tiger-- the lord of the Guild of Flesh-- Éponine (Nina) takes refuge with the Guild of Thieves. Where she vows revenge on the Tiger, and becomes one of the best cats in the guild. When Nina’s plan backfires she is forced to find a way to protect her adopted sister-- Ettie--from falling into the same fate as her other sister. She vows to protect Ettie at any cost, and her vow takes her from the dark and dangerous streets to balls and the glittering court of the King and Queen. But in her desperation to protect Ettie she may set off a war between the guilds that could have catastrophic repercussions.


First of all I didn’t have very high expectations for this book.I heard it was Les Misérables meets Six of Crows and that's all just too good to be true! I’ve been let down by retellings in the past. This book surprised me and I found myself really enjoying it. There was something I really liked from the beginning. Nina's connection to her older sister, their heartbreaking separation and the realization of her sister's fate had me emotional from the get go. The guilds and the miracle court were interesting, a different way to tell a story of underground crime.

The Court of Miracles is such a clever retelling of Les Misérables. I’ll admit that I have never read Les Misérables the book, but I have seen the musical a few times and am familiar with the story. This book is so fantastic in telling the story but with a twist. All the major characters are there, they are the same ones we know about love but have been molded to fit into this new story. Kester Grant does such a great job of giving us the moments we are looking for from the original Les Mis but changing them just enough to make them new and interesting.

The world was dark, gritty, and atmospheric. The city was harsh and unforgiving much as I imagine Pre Revolution Paris was. I enjoyed that the city itself was it’s own character. That Nina prayed and talked to the city, that the city was her Mother. That the city was who raised her, not the terrible people in her life but the city. It added another layer to the story.

The Tiger was a terrifying villain, rotten down to his very soul, he was scary, dangerous and conniving. He took the laws the guilds had designed and twisted them, benefitting and finding all the loopholes to make him unbeatable. Much like you would expect a character in those days to be.

I did find this book slow at the beginning. At first it didn’t seem like there was much of a plot until about halfway through. It was mostly about Nina trying to fix the mistakes and issues she herself caused. There wasn’t a larger plot until later in the book. Once that plot began to unfurl though it became exciting and a hard to put down read. I was hoping for a bit more of a “found family” aspect to develop with Nina, the students, and some of the guild members, like in Six of Crows, and we got a hint of it, but it wasn’t enough for me. I’m not sure if this is going to be a series of if it’s a standalone. If there is going to be another book I’m really hoping for that.

Either as a standalone or as the first book of a series it is great. I really enjoyed it, I was thoroughly engrossed as I read it. I would recommend it to anyone who really loves books about crime, and the dirty underbelly of the city. And of course anyone who loves Les Misérables. I think fans of Victor Hugo's giant novel would enjoy this story as well. Éponine deserved more in Les Misérables and The Court of Miracles is her chance to shine!

I really loved the idea of this book--Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows meets Les Miserables!? Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I had a hard time keeping track of all of the characters, and due to all of the time skips, I had a hard time keeping up with the story. It felt like the time skips needed to be explained before they happened rather than halfway through when they happened. It was just rather jarring.
Because there were so many characters, as a reader, I felt like I barely got to know the characters. I would've loved to learn more about Montparsse, for example, but he remained a ghost in the background. I even felt like I couldn't really relate to Nina because she was doing so much behind the scenes of the novel that the reader didn't know about/find out about until later. Overall, I felt like this book had a lot of potential (and I did really adore Montparsse, even though I felt like I didn't really know him), but it fell kind of flat for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

OK, so I hadn't realized this was like a retelling of Les Miserables. While I did like Les Miserables, it's not something I love. It's very long and very depressing.
With all the parallels to Les Mis, this got quite hard to keep up with, as it had so much going on.
I feel like this book had great potential, if only it was it's own thing, not referencing Les Mis. I feel like it could have beautiful and rich all on it's own, and that's what they should have done.

Despite not being familiar with Les Miserables, I found this book to be such an engrossing story. Nina's character is interesting and relatable, and I loved the way the author managed to portray the beauty and seediness of Paris in the 1800s. The clear line of demarcation between nobles and commoners was depicted beautifully, and I truly enjoyed each of the characters, who were interesting and well-rounded. I was surprised at the many plot twists throughout the story, which made it unpredictable and exciting. I struggled to put this book down, and empathized with Nina and her determination to correct wrongs that occurred. This is definitely an incredible book, and I'm looking forward to future books in this series.

Les Miserables meets Six of Crows vibes... This book was intriguing! Can’t wait for the next book!

The Court of Miracles, The wretched of France, with their own guilds and laws. The Guild of Gamblers, Beggars, Assassins, Mercenaries, Smugglers, Letters, Thieves, Dreamers and Flesh.

The characters are really something. Each with their own secrets. Nina has been collects debts from each one of them. Curious what the pay off for her will be in next book although she’s gotten far.

THE COURT OF MIRACLES was not at all what I expected in all the best ways. Set in an alternate version of Paris where the French Revolution failed, the world of THE COURT OF MIRACLES was dark and repeatedly threatened to swallow me whole. This Paris felt so real along with the guilds that have risen in response to the grim conditions the city's denizens face.

The scope of this book was truly impressive. It spans years and features a lot of characters but does a great job keeping the story focused on Éponine, also known as Nina. Her story has vengeance, redemption, and an astounding number of heists. I found this book so hard to put down because I was never sure what was going to happen next. There are so many gritty YA heroines that come across as generic and boring but Nina won me over from the very beginning. She was really compelling and I can't wait to see where her story goes next.

I honestly could've done without the Les Misérables allusions, though. The world of THE COURT OF MIRACLES was so rich that the constant Les Mis references really took something away from the story for me. They often felt a bit contrived. I hope that they play somewhat less of a role in book 2 or are developed in a way that they have a bit more depth to them. If you haven't seen or read Les Misérables, I do think that you would lose out on a good bit of the story as these references aren't generally explained the first time they appear in the text.

THE COURT OF MIRACLES really shouldn't be compared to SIX OF CROWS, in my opinion. The world Grant has created felt entirely original and unlike anything else I've read. I loved the twisting turns this story took, the immersive writing, and the scope of Nina's story. I'm really looking forward to reading book 2 to find out what Nina gets up to next.

This had such great potential. But honestly? I got lost in all the information and characters. I found it hard to follow the story. And at one point I started skimming over things. It wasn't bad at all. I just think it was a lot to take in at a time when my brain can't handle much.

I thought this book was amazing! I was hooked from the start and was really impressed with the descriptive parts of the book. It was easy to grasp the Les Miserables feel of the book with themes like socioeconomic status and the effects of a drawn out revolutuon. Strong moral messages and dilemas are discussed.
This book kept a pretty steady pace throughout and the ending was great.
I'm so excited that this is part of a series and I can't wait to see the characters again in the next books.
Thank you netgalley and Random House for providing me an early copy to review.