I received an ARC copy via netgalley in exchange for a review.

It’s been a minute since I’ve been enthralled in a book. But the court of miracles changed that.

We are the wretched.

Nina’s dad is terrible and will do anything for coin. That’s how she winds up living an unconventional life that she never knew could exist. When reading the description it claimed it was ‘six of crows meets les miserables’ and while I haven’t read the later, I have read the first. Thievery is involved. Revolutionary soldiers. A Dauphin (which I kept imagining dolphin, whoops) I cant say too much without giving parts of it away, because spoilers suck am I right?

Nina is strong, perseveres, and believes in keeping those she loves safe. She is good. But she is also... bad. Judgment comes for some and if that’s death, then who is Nina to stop it?

The Court of Thieves
The Ghosts
The Fleshers

This book has action and keeps your heart pumped. You’re yelling for Nina and those close to her to make it through and survive. Because all odds are forever always stacked against them, but somehow she makes it work. 100% would recommend.

1 STAR


Maybe if I knew more about Les Mis, I would have had a better time.


As The Court of Miracles is a retelling, I can at least count on the fact that some things escaped me. I know, I know, Les Mis is a big deal, how could I not have known more? But the point is, I was bored out of my mind reading this book, and I don't know if having a better understanding of the source material would have saved it.

For the most part, I felt that plot was prioritized far more over character, to the point that most relationships between characters felt shallow at best, lost in the swirl of forward motion, scheming, and questing for favors. Particularly discouraging was the way Nina seemed to lose sight of her sister for so very long, only to suddenly pivot back to her at the last second. Not only that, but the prospective love triangle appears to be between Nina, a revolutionary student too idealistic to see the faults in his plans, and a prince who is directly complicit in violently stamping out a revolution. In light of current events related to police brutality and the associated protests, I didn't have a great deal of tolerance for a book setting up a prince as a love interest despite his highly engineered slaughter of the people immediately beforehand. 

There are absolutely outside life factors affecting this review, but I think they're worth noting. If you're looking for a read where revolution works and oppressors aren't forgiven without proving true change, this probably isn't it. Maybe as the full trilogy unfolds, it could become that, but as things stand? I don't care for it right now, and I'm not sure when or if I will.

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 6/9/20.]

The Court of Miracles is the complicated underworld of Paris years after the failed revolution (another alternative historical timeline!). The Court of Miracles is made up of the Wretched—the poor, castaways, and varied ethnic groups—who work through an underground network of guilds and their own set of laws to stay alive in a world that exists to benefit the French aristocracy and ignoring the hunger and needs of everyone else.

It was a good, fast paced, intriguing read with a large cast of characters (that was sometimes hard to keep track of) full of thievery and secrets. It’s a story of loyalty, love, and the determination to protect ones own.

If you enjoy Les Misérables, you'll enjoy The Court of Miracles. There are strands of the stories throughout with familiar faces (there are characters named Javert, Eponine, Cosette, Valjean, Thénardier), but TCOM is it's own story.

I also found it interesting that there really was a Court of Miracles in Paris, but it was the slum districts of Paris "where the unemployed migrants from rural areas resided" and the people of the court "were thought to have organized a counter-society devoted to crime and thievery with its own hierarchy and institutions." So interesting!

Thank you, Netgalley and Knopf Children's Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Court Of Miracles is the first book in The Court Of Miracles series. It is a Les Misérables retelling set in the alternate Paris of 1828. The French Revolution has failed and the country is divided into the self-serving and ruthless Royal family and a criminal network known as the Miracle Court. Miracle Court is made up of 9 underworld Guilds to protect the people of the country. If the idea of the network of criminals was expanded a little bit deeper it would be amazing. I felt that the lack of details and background info lessened the impact of the story. We follow our main character Eponine. Eponine or Nina is the cat burglar who gets the protection of the Thieves Guild after getting the Guild Lord an invaluable item from the Royal Palace. How she got the level of skills to be one of the best thieves is beyond me. Adding a little backstory of her life and training would have been great.. I felt there were a lot of elements that were told and not shown in this story. I felt a disconnect with the characters because of the telling and not enough showing. I think the Les Misérables aspect of the story was well done, with the dark theme and grittiness of the Paris setting maintained throughout the story. They were maintained wonderfully. Although there were some drawbacks to the execution of the great idea of Guilds, it was still enjoyable and fun. I am looking forward to reading the next books in the series and I am excited to see how the story will progress. I gave the book 3.75 stars.

I absolutely could not wait to read this book, as Les Miserables is one of my favorite stories of all time. It’s been probably 25 years since I’ve read the book (a re-read is clearly overdue!), but I regularly listen to the original Broadway cast recording. I was actually going to *finally* see the musical in person on March 14 this year, and then…coronavirus hit. So I was thrilled to get my hands on this book to fill that void, and boy was I not disappointed!

Eponine has always been my favorite character from the story, and I firmly believe she got the short end of the stick. So to find a book in which Eponine is the star – and what a star she is! – was just the thing I needed. I loved meeting all the characters from </i>Les Mis</i> in this alternate history retelling, and every time we’d meet a new one, their song would pop in my head :) The alternate version of 1820s Paris that Ms. Grant has created, with the Wretched of the Court of Miracles plus the student revolutionaries plus the royal family in the palace combining into one action-packed story, is just incredible, and I seriously need more. I both raced through the book and tried to slow down and savor it so it wouldn’t end too quickly. I truly cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, and I already know this is going to be one of my favorite series of all time.

I encourage anyone who loves historical fiction, alternate history, retellings, and most definitely Les Mis to snatch up this book and read it asap – and then hit me up so we can discuss all the goodness!

Rating: 5 glorious stars!

**Disclosure: I received an early e-copy of this book for purposes of this blog tour. This review is voluntary on my part and reflects my honest rating and review of the book.

Full review to post on
Librariumdream.blogspot.com 6/10

The Court of Miracles is a mix of underground politics and choosing true family over blood.

I adored the setting of an alternate Paris if the revolution failed. My connection with Nina was a slow build but I appreciated her passion.

A hard part for me was the timeline, it seemed only days had passed for some events but others time jumped ahead a year. That part was the most difficult part to follow.

Overall the storyline of a new revolution and destroying a corrupt society was right up my alley.

DNF @ 61%

I really, really wanted to like this. With its stunning cover and intriguing blurb, I thought it would be so easy to fall in love with this one. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

I felt so lost and disinterested reading this. I felt like I was thrown right in the middle of the story and I never had the chance to catch up. Nina went from no one to someone badass and I had no idea how that even happened? She infiltrated the supposed impenetrable palace with no one the wiser and that was it. She's this legend. I didn't even care enough about what happened to Ettie. The Miracle Court and its Guilds seemed interesting. At first. For the first few pages. But nothing solid happened to keep up the intrigue. It's so frustrating when I lost interest because this honestly felt like something I would've loved.

I received an e-arc to read and review.

When I read that this book is “Les Misérables meets Six of Crows” I knew I had to read it.

Nina joins the Guild of Thieves. She was raised to pick locks with ease. Nina decides to make a trade to save her sister, but doesn’t have the heart to make the trade. From there she sets out on a mission to save the sister she grew up with and the sister she took in.

I loved that Nina is driven by love for her sisters and that Paris is the backdrop of this story. From the catacombs to the Seine, the city of Paris truly becomes an additional character in this story. Readers will definitely eagerly turn each page.

This young adult book was a fun story. I enjoyed it. There was a lot going on in the story that kept everything moving quickly. The story focused on Nina, a member of the Guild of Theives and her attempts at keeping her adopted sister safe from the man who took her older sister years earlier. Luckily we are saved from the typical YA trope of love triangles and love interests in general.

Wonderful storyline and very interesting characters. There were some issues with certain scenes being rushed but in the end it was a great book.

This book was wonderful!! It definitely reminded me of Six of Crows and I am always in the mood for books like this. I can’t wait for the next book in this series!

this was good! it wasn't perfect, but i really enjoyed it! my rating might be more of a 3.5, but i'm not sure i liked it enough to round up to 4 stars. my two biggest issues were with the plot and the pacing

plot-wise, things just felt very clunky to me. there were a number of parts where scenes just felt smushed together and it didn't really flow into one another and i would be left like "wait, what?". like most, if not all, of the chapters were broken down into smaller separated scenes that just led to confusing timeskips. idk if it was me or the book, but there were a lot of times where i had to go back and read a page because i didn't understand what was happening. i get that this is a les mis retelling of sorts, which is quite the chunky novel, but i'm confused as to why most of the events of les mis happened in this first novel of a trilogy? maybe i'm remembering the story wrong, idk.

the pacing might also be a "me" issue, and not the book's fault, idk, but it was a struggle to get through the middle of this book. i was intrigued for the first 25% or so, and then hooked toward the ending, but the middle was rough.

overall, this was a fairly solid novel. i think the world is very interesting - i'm confused about some parts but hopefully things get explained more in the subsequent books, which i'm definitely interested in picking up in the future. although i hate that every other book is being compared to Six of Crows, if you liked that one and like les mis, you'll probably like this one!

A complex and intriguing story set in 1828 Paris that was difficult to put down!

Though the beginning was a little slow for me it laid a great foundation for the underground world we were about to dive into and I really found the world building unique. I loved the hints of Les Misérables within the story but that it still remained uniquely its own.

NINA. Our fierce Black Cat of the thieves guild. I truly loved her wit and scheming. Her fierce heart and need to protect those she loves had me loving her instantly. I really enjoyed all of the characters and their interactions.

The plot was fast driven yet complex and had me up for many late nights as I tried to quickly devour it.

I truly enjoyed this book. The ending left me wanting a little more and felt a little abrupt. But here’s hoping for more!

Nina is forced into becoming a member of the thieves’ guild to prevent falling victim to another guild’s schemes. Afterwards she pledges her life to destroying the Tiger, leader of the guild of flesh. What will she need to do in order to take down the most feared leader, the leader that none of the others will cross. Nina makes friends and gains favor with many people to set plans into action to pursue her goals. While doing this she is also consumed with protecting her new claimed sister Ettie.

I have never read the novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo although I have wanted to many times. I was incredibly happy to come across this book and its twisted tale gleaned from Les Mis. I loved the story coming from a woman as the lead and her experiences in the world of the wretched. In this place crime is a constant and is not really looked down on. You must do what you need to survive.

Nina starts off as a good thief but is a meek girl and blossoms into the best thief from the thieves’ guild. Setting up schemes against even the crown. I love how Nina as well as Ettie start of as quite young girls and develop into strong women who do not shy away from authority or what needs to be done.

The action, adventure and schemes had me flipping through pages and not wanting to put this book down. There was never a dull moment and I was very intellectually stimulated by the content as well as having my adrenaline pumping the whole time.

Nina’s love for her sisters is very touching and I believe that the way that the author let Nina’s love interests take a backseat to the main story really let her character and what is important to her shine through. Although I am still extremely interested in who Nina will be romantically involved with in upcoming sequels. I am sure she will not limit herself to just one.

The writing was superb, and I really enjoyed all the little things thrown in that really make you feel at home in the slums of Paris. I loved looking up all the little French sayings along the way that add just a touch extra. I also really enjoyed the comradery that this book has given me during this time with politics and the Covid-19 pandemic. The poor uprising against the crown.

The ending of this book was a little abrupt, but I can see it as being a good thing as it really has me excited for the next in the series of The Miracle Court.

A book with a lot of potential that kind of flopped. Some good world building but not much happend and the characters read like stock ones. Still, could see some enjoying this quick romp.

The moment I read the line “Les Mis meets Six of Crows” I knew that I was going to have to read this book! Not only that, but the cover was stunning and I’d heard so many good things already that I was dying to read it by the time I got my hands on a digital arc!

Kester Grant’s writing was absolutely beautiful and I fell into Nina’s story rather quickly. The plot was complex and brilliant, the characters were compelling and interesting, and I loved the vivid rich setting.

There were a few times that I felt the book dragged in places, but overall I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to see what happens in the sequel and what Kester does next!

"It is a time of famine, a time of hungering want that threatens to eat you from the inside out, leaving you only to wait for the coming of dead. And Death the Endless always comes."

If there was ever a first line that caught me, it was that. As someone who's never seen Les Mis, I was unsure if this was something that'd catch my attention. Though revolutions are easy to fall for, and from that above opener, I was hooked.

We follow Eponine, or Nina, or even cooler The Black Cat. As she does her best to protect her adoptive sister Ettie from the viscous hands of the Lord of Flesh, aka The Tiger. Though as she does, she might bring ruin to the entire underground system known as the Miracle Court.

Things that I loved:

The Miracle Court itself. I've always been an absolute fan of various guilds having various operations in a city. So seeing a book with an Assassin's Guild, a Thieves Guild, Smugglers, Letters, and so on? I was absolutely ecstatic. It was only when I finished the book that I realized that there was in fact a thing known as the 'Cour des miracles' And the history nerd fell into a long line of browsing online for more information.

I adored some of the characters, though others I wish we could have seen more of. The Tiger didn't seem as much of a villain as Thénardier himself, albeit besides the fact he had the 'Sisters' and kept them drugged. I would have much preferred to see more of Corday as well, as she felt the most fleshed out of the Guild leaders.

The things I disliked

The pacing was -extremely- quick. A good portion of the time, specially as chapters ended and began, I got stuck wondering exactly what transpired. For instance we jump from a scene in a wagon, then the next chapter we're seeing the girls at the palace. (Which sadly this entire scene took me out of the story and felt a tad out of place besides the ball). The Time skips between parts I also struggled with, as I couldn't really tell how large the time skips were. Were they meant to be weeks, days and such? I wasn't sure.

Ettie. If there was one character I couldn't stand, it was her. We are forced to continually see her as innocent, and pretty and overtime I was less and less interested in if she would in fact be saved, and more interested in the politics of the Miracle Court itself.

Overall I enjoyed the book, and am excited to see where the next installment leads.

Epic! This tale of the underground criminals in post Revolution Paris and their division of labor, protection and honor is engrossing. I was engaged from the beginning with the Black Cat of the Thieves Guild and her story. Can’t wait for the next one. Thank you to #netgalley, the author and #knopfchildrens for this Awesome read to review.

The Court of Miracles is a young adult retelling of Les Misérables and is the first book in the A Court of Miracles series by debut author Kester Grant. I don't think I am able to conjure up the words necessary to convey how deeply I loved this book. It grabbed hold of my heart and did not let go. I am still thinking about, and I will continue to think about, obsess about, and fan-girl over this book for a long time to come. The Court of Miracles is heralded as being part Les Misérables retelling mixed in with part of Six of Crows, but honestly this book does not need to be compared to anything else. It is exceptionally brilliant all on it's own. This is a must read book of 2020!

The Court of Miracles t is told form the point of view of Eponine or Nina, who is a really fantastic main character. The story starts out with her as a  young girl around the age of 9, as her sister tries to save her by hiding her in the Court of thieves.  Nina is known as the cat burglar (hence the six of crows comparison, but again I really think this story stands fantastically well on it's own. No comparisons are needed, and I don't think it really felt a lot like Six of Crows.) because of her smarts and her ability to sneak into small spaces easily. Nina is resourceful! I loved her and her determination to try and help her sister and to try and do the right thing at the same time. Watching Nina grow up was incredible. She starts out in this novel at just 9 and over the course of the story turns into a young adult. Her grit and determination is awe-inspiring. There is also a really dynamic cast of secondary characters. Some I hated, some I loved and some I completely loved to hate, but they all fit into the plot of this story perfectly.  I will say that as far as historical facts go...there were a few inaccuracies and liberties taken with timelines and and such, but nothing that bothered me because this felt more like a retelling to me, and less like a historical fiction piece.

The world in The Court of Miracles is wonderfully crafted as well. Kester Grant made Paris and it's criminal underbelly come to life for me! The Revolution tore Paris apart, and this is the aftermath. In this version of Paris, there are several courts, but not courts of nobility...these courts are known of as the Miracle Court, which is comprised of different guilds made up of misfits, criminals and orphans. I loved seeing all the different guilds (there are 9 of them- The Gamblers Guild, The Beggars Guild, Mergenaries Guild, Assassins Guild, Smugglers Guild, Guild of Letters, Thieves Guild, Guild of the flesh, and the guild of dreamers.) Learning about the guilds, their masters and their history was such a fascinating aspect of the story in my opinion. I loved that the book starts out with the code or law of the miracle court. It helped me gain my bearings in this world very quickly, and honestly for such a richly detailed world, I was never confused about who the characters were or what was going on, which is a big feat in my opinion. This story grows into a plot that is so much bigger than I could have initially guessed. Once Nina is situated in the thieves guild, her main goal is always to save her sister who was sold into the Guild of the Flesh. The plot evolves and twists and turns so many times and in so many different directions that by the end of the book, I just sat there stunned at how big the whole thing had becomes. I'm obsessed with everything about this world and I am desperate for more. The Court of Miracles is one of my favorite books of the year. In fact, it is the best book I have read in a very long time. I need more right now!

Slump? What slump?

The Court of Miracles was utterly out of my typical preference in reading, however, when I read that blurb and saw that cover, I knew I had to read this book and I solemnly swear I shall, for the rest of my life, always always always listen to my intuition because it has never led me wrong ever.

This story is the first one where despite the protagonist being such a large presence in it, the plot utterly outweighs literally everything and everyone. The story flows so well that had the author been a seamstress, this book would be the cloth with the highest thread count with not a single breath capable of slipping through the space between one thread and another. The plot is tight, filled with mystery, intrigue, betrayal, politics and thrill. My heart was beating throughout the last thirty percent of the book and I was genuinely sitting at the edge of the seat, my eyes unable to even consider getting distracted. Despite this, I guessed nothing. There were moments where my reactions were out loud and I start to talk to (read: shout incoherently at) the closest seated family member, spewing what just happened even though they had no context, because I had to tell someone–MY MIND WAS BEING BLOWN.

The characters. Here’s the thing, despite it being so well plotted out, it’s such a surprise that each character had such a very specific presence, role and personality. Every single page is a like a domino that the author has placed just at that precise location and nothing makes sense until they’ve already fallen and you watch the consequences and then finally… the whole picture. Or at least what the author wants you to see.

Usually any ambiguity in the protagonist’s love interest has me jaded and makes me disengage from the protagonist, but here’s the thing, I was with the protagonist through the whole of her journey I felt everything she did. But gosh there was this one character I think my heart settled on.

This story is about love. About obsession and revenge. But not that kind you would presume and at the same time the kind you would expect. The metaphors, the drama! I swear it felt like I was watching it happen, goosebumps and shock spreading through me! The author has handled a lot of social ideas and issues in subtle ways hidden beneath the layer of fiction. I highly recommend this book, be prepared for a ride with the biggest rush ever.