I don't know. I wasn't really that impressed with this one. Nina was kind of annoying to me and I had a hard time caring about her at all. The biggest problem was going into this being marketed as a new Six of Crows and it does not even come close to that. I think that if I hadn't gone into this expected SoC I might have liked it more. But, alas, I didn't really care for this one.

Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables has proven an enduring touchstone, inspiring everything from a stage musical (remember Les Miz?) to numerous movie versions. Court of Miracles puts its own fresh spin on this durable tale by setting it in an alternate Paris where the wretched poor have formed themselves into guilds of thieves, assassins, flesh peddlers and so forth to survive.

The tale unfolds from Eponine’s (Nina’s) point of view. A daughter of the corrupt innkeeper Thenardier, Nina is shocked when their father sells his oldest daughter, Azelma, to Lord Kaplan the Tiger, who rules the Guild of Flesh. To save Nina from the same fate, Azelma sends her off to join the Guild of Thieves. But it’s not as easy as just filling out a membership card. First, 10-year-old Nina must steal a crown jewel from around the neck of the royal Dauphin.

After succeeding in her quest and joining the guild, Nina is frustrated in her attempts to free her sister from a life of prostitution. Years pass, but she never gives up on her sister. When Thenardier becomes ward to the lovely young Cosette (nicknamed Ettie), Nina tries to use her to trade for Azelma, but at the last minute can’t go against her conscience. She must find Ettie protection from the powerful Tiger, but the Ghost Lord, the only guild lord who would stand against him, has been thrown into the Chatelet prison.

Nina must rescue the Ghost Lord in a daring prison break, and along the way she also frees a master of the Guild of Letters, one Valjean. (Sound familiar?) Guild machinations and Nina’s desperate attempts to save those she holds dear play out against the doomed student revolt from the original story. Along the way, we meet Inspector Javert (here, a woman spurned by Valjean), the Dauphin, and the heartless nobility of Paris.

Paris itself is a character in the story, from the gilded rooms of the Tuileries to the catacombs of bones and the foul cesspit of the Chatelet. “I don’t need to look up at the street signs to know where we are,” says Nina at one point. “I can tell by taste, by touch. I wear this city on the soles of my feet.”

Nina proves an engaging protagonist, gritty, resourceful, and full of heart. And her sharp humor provides welcome relief to the misery. When she and Cosette end up in the palace, all cleaned up and fed as part of a “help the poor” gesture by royalty, Ettie says, “Isn’t it delightful to be so clean?” Nina thinks, “I frown. Since I smell like I’ve been attacked by a lavender rosebush, I refuse to agree.”

Readers will follow every twist and turn of this engaging spin on Les Miserables to the very end — and enjoy many surprises along the way. Recommended.

I think this book just wasn't for my preference. It took me a long time to get through, and I just couldn't get submerged into the world or like the characters the way I'd hoped. The writing and premise was interesting but it didn't keep me tethered for the duration of the novel. I can see why other people will like this and it has lots of potential especially for a series.

This book was so incredibly fast-paced and moving. I'm a huge fan of Les Miserables which the book was inspired by. I didn't really feel the JUNGLE BOOK vibes that the book was also inspired by but I still loved it. The prose in TCOM is stunning with an intense, almost breathless feel to it which went perfectly well with the aforementioned rapid-paced plot. I look forward to reading the author's next book!

I absolutely loved the concept of this novel. It became quickly one of my most anticipated reads of the year, especially as I read "for fans of Six of Crows" in the marketing description. Heists, thieves, female characters rising up. Reminiscent of Les Mis, this book will solidify Kester Grant's work on TBR lists to come for any reader.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant intrigued me with its premise of Les Miserables elements. The main character Eponine (Nina) Thénardier was my favorite character. I liked the world building, the different guilds, and that it was fast-paced. Though I was a little sad that besides the names of the characters and the setting, there wasn't much similar elements to Les Miserables as I originally thought there would be. But that's okay. The book still was interested and a good read.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

How is this book not more popular!?! It was FANTASTIC.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

The Court of Miracles was a dark and magical read, and really took me by surprise! There was a fair amount of hype around the book, but I didn’t know too much going in, and ended up really enjoying it! I’ve never read or watched Le Mis, nor have I read too much on the French Revolution—I don’t know if my lack of expectations or background knowledge that I went into the book with better allowed me to enjoy it than other readers, but I really thought that historical backdrop that sets up a larger plot line of revolution was super intriguing and it made for a cool blend between the fantasy elements and historical plotlines. I thought the main character was really compelling, and I loved all the action scenes and twists that were present in the story. I thought the character relationships that drove a lot of the main character’s motives were a great aspect of the story, too. All in all I thought it was a great fantasy read and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the next book goes!

An easy and fun read but it does not feel original. Many aspects of the plot seem to be borrowed from other series. I did not find it very original or exciting.

I thought this book was okay. It took me a very long time to get through it, and I finally am able to pinpoint why. It just felt as if I had read this before. I picked it up eagerly because I saw the comparisons to six of crows, which I loved, but this book really wasn't very similar. The characters felt like I'd met them before, it felt like a lot of recycled themes and concepts from other similar fantasy books. The time set too was, just not for me. I think I bit off more than I was willing to chew with this one and it took me months to get through. It wasn't bad, and if you haven't read similar books before it could be fantastic. But to me, it wasn't very novel.

Going into this book I thought it was another Disney retelling but listen when I say it was so much more. The world building wasn't the best and the pacing a little off sometimes, but outside of that it was a fun ride. The characters were so relatable (well as much as possible with this being fantasy). The choices made sometimes made me upset but then I thought I might do the same thing. While I'm only giving this book a 3 stars I do recommend it because it was fun. The pacing being off knocked off a star for me.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

There is a lot to love in this one - the main character is really likeable, and I was rooting for her the whole time despite knowing her plans had almost no chance of winning. There was quite a bit of brutality in the book, and there's no real romance but definitely some interest. Although Nina doesn't really have the time or energy to fall in love. She's just in it to protect her sister and take down the Tiger.

You're definitely in for a wild ride with this book, and I do hope that people will give it a chance despite the negative reviews. While I can see where those readers are coming from and totally respect their viewpoints, I just really enjoyed the read despite the negatives. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant is a book I had on my to read shelf the moment I read the summary. It is described as Les Miserable meets Six of Crows and I have to say, I think it is pretty accurate…and this is from someone who LOVES Six of Crows.

Nina is our main character and having grown up somewhat protected by her older sister from the underworld criminal guilds (known as the Court of Miracles) she is suddenly thrust into a world she has to quickly learn the rules to if she wants to survive when her father sells her older sister to the flesh guild. Nina ultimately ends up with the Thieves Guild and becomes known for her daring and ability to steal anything which helps her out greatly in the long run. As Nina gets older, she becomes protective of Ettie, an adopted sister who has caught the eye of the Tiger, the Lord of the Flesh Guild (the same one her sister ended up at) and Nina realizes she will do anything to stop him and protect Ettie.

I thought the world building was done well by Grant. Of course, having Paris as a backdrop helped as Nina finds herself mingling with royals and criminals over time but having the development of such varying scenes from ballrooms, to alleys, to jail cells helped to add to Nina’s story and growth. The rules crafted around the guilds helped create structure and provided more context around what Nina could do to save those around her.

The one thing I thought was less clear was the jump in time from one section to the next. It did not come across as smooth and it tended to take me a minute to gather my thoughts on the timing so I could correlate it to the story going forward.

There are a number of secondary characters that help drive the story forward…some good and some not so good (in character). I’ve mentioned the Tiger and he is definitely a villain, but I would also throw Nina’s father right up there. He is only interested in money and position and deserves everything he gets. There’s St. Juste, the Guild Lords and Ladies, Montparnasse, and the Dauphin…all great additions to the story and in most cases, interesting too!

Nina’s objective, other than protecting Ettie, did not become fully clear to me until the end of the story when everything suddenly came together. All of a sudden, the dots were connecting, and I could see the bigger picture whereas in the moments I did not necessarily put it all together. Kudos to Grant for being able to break the story out and get me to focus on the moments until it was completely critical to understand Nina’s endgame. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will definitely pick up the next book in the series. I will be curious to see where Grant takes the story in the next book. Make sure you grab this one when you can as it has interesting characters and an engaging story…my favorite things in a book!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time with this book. I thought it was going to be more intriguing but I ended up bored and DNFed it partially through.

While The Court of Miracles had a really interesting premise, it fell very short with me. I'd love to try out more of Kester Grant's books once they are published, but The Court of Miracles series is a hard pass for me.

I ended up DNF'ing months ago at 50% for the reasons listed below:
1. The storyline was very confusing to me and jumped years often enough to leave me confused.
2. I felt there wasn't much action in the 50% I read. I wasn't sure where the plot was going and it didn't interest me enough to keep going.
3. I hadn't picked up the book in over 5 months and had no desire to even finish it.

I've come to the conclusion that not every book is for everyone. Someone else may like The Court of Miracles better than I do (definitely know there are people out there). I would suggest it to someone if they could keep up with timelines, which is something I'm not good at because my reading comprehension isn't as good as others, or someone who likes world-building a lot more than action.

Many thanks to Random House Children's and NetGalley for the e-arc!

I was very hyped for this book but it just didn't work out well for me. It was cluttered and chaotic. There are to many characters and plots, and not enough time to allow for tension and character building. I think the author tried to fit too much into the book and left little room for the plot to breathe,

I truly wanted to love this book but honestly couldn't.
'
The writing was decent and reading it was easy but I felt like I was reading snippets of other books (ex. Les Mis) and the history that is supposed to be in the book is wrong.

Some originality and a quick Google search on the French Revolution would have done this book WONDERS!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf Books for Young Readers for the ebook ARC of The Court of Miracles. It was already published in June 2020, just took me awhile to get to read it. I love the description on NetGalley and I think it sums up this book really well "Les Miserables meets Six of Crows in this page-turning adventure as a young thief finds herself going head to head with leaders of Paris's criminal underground in the wake of the French Revolution"

When I read that I thought Oh Ya! I loved that female characters took center stage and Nina definitely did take on the leaders of the criminal underground and surprised me with the twists of her plan at every turn. It was a wild ride and I loved the world-building and setting. Based on Goodreads it looks like it will be a trilogy so I'll be looking forward to that!

This book had so much promise but didn’t live up to they hype for me. The writing was good and the characters were interesting, it just wasn’t for me.