I LOVED this book. I have read many Les Mis retellings/reimaginings and this one is probably my favorite. I was also expecting it to be very sad due to the fact that every other Les Mis retelling/reimagining has made me cry but luckily that was not the case for this one. I really loved the world of revolutionary Paris that the author brought to life. The whole idea of the criminal underground and how complex it is was genius on the author's part. My only complaints is that the book did skip around in the years but as long as you pay attention to the year and the beginning of each of the parts you should be just fine! This book is described as Six of Crows meets Les Mis and I could not think of anything more accurate. There is also a diverse array of characters both in terms of characters of color and personalities. Nina (Eponine) herself is described as having a much darker skin tone than some of the other Parisians especially compared to the nobility. Nina explains how people treat her differently due to the color of her skin except for the Court of Miracles. Because in the Court of Miracles it doesn't matter what you look like or where you are from, everybody is family.

I really liked the premiss of this book! I was already sold on Les Miserables meets Six of Crows, and I was so happy to say that it exceeded my expectations! Also the cover is really pretty and fits the vibe of the book really well.
I loved the world building in the story. Kester Grant brought the book to life and put so much background into the guilds that I was transported into the world with Nina and Ettie. I loved the guild dynamics and the rules and laws. Also, Nina is a badass MC. She's clever and finds loopholes in all of the rules. She is foolishly brave and I really admired how she devoted she was to protecting Ettie. When the book finished, I kept clicking the next page button because i was NOT ready to leave this world. I loved everything about this book and need to see more of this world

This was a very interesting book. I found the characters quite enjoyable and the dialog was entertaining. I wish the world had more descriptions and development peppered in the story because I felt myself getting a little confused here and there, but overall I was impressed by this book and author. I definitely plan to read more of their books!

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

While this wasn't what I expected, I was pleasantly surpirsed with the world building, descriptive plot, cast of characters (although some were vaguely represented and I wish they were more flushed out).

The ebb and flow of the story seemed to get a little monotonous at times, but overall I would recommend this book to teenagers.

Absolutely wonderful!
I was completely lost within this story and these characters. I couldn’t put it down! So beautifully written, with such a wonderful plot and storyline.

I recommend this to everyone!

I had really high expectations for this book but it ended ip falling a little bit flat. I did enjoy getting to know the main character’s back story, I just wish the overall plot would have been better and more fleshed out.

I think if you’re looking for a quick and easy read this might be right up your alley. If you like more developed and complex high fantasy though, it might not be the one for you. However, I still think 3 stars is a pretty good rating in my book!

This book has been very hyped up, so I was a bit hesitant going in because lately it seems like hyped books fail to live up to expectations. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I love books that play with the "what if" situations in history. What if the French Revolution failed? It's interesting to see the world Grant imagines and it combines it with Les Mis, which is just right up my alley. There is some lush worldbuilding and great characterization. I can't wait for more.

Review will be available on my blog, The Reading Fairy, on 8/15/2020

TW: Corporal punishment, Drug addiction, Drugging, Poisoning, Prostitution (mentioned), Slavery (mentioned), Starvation, Violence, Whipping, blood

Rep: Blind side character

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.

“Do not cry for me, I am already dead."

"No, not dead, the dead at least are free.”


I've had this book on my TBR for a long time, and I'm glad that I can finally tick this book off my TBR and my ARC stack. It really wasn't the best, but honestly I was just really underwhelmed while reading this book. 

I don't think it's the book, or maybe it's just me-but honestly this book was just really okay, and I felt very meh about it for about a good chunk of this book. The Court of Miracles, was one of my anticipated releases-but it kinda disappointed me in a lot of ways, and I really hope the next two books in this trilogy is better. 

It seemed that this book has a good start to this this series, and I am not going to lie-but I definitely need the next book after what happened at the end of the book. I got really interested with the ending because it's so interesting what's going to happen next. 

That ending was so good and really awesome compared to the rest of the book-even though I did feel meh about it. Though, Nina snapped right after it, and I'm really curious with what's going to happen. 

I think the hardest part is, I just really did not care about it. 

As someone who is a history bluff, I really do not know anything about the French Revolution. All I know is two guys and they succeeded. And this is the alternate universe of if it failed, and there is two separate worlds-the royalty and the criminal guilds. And I liked how the world was set up, but I really couldn't help think that this book needed more fleshed out world-building. 

I wanted to know more with the courts, and how all of them are different. I'm hoping the worldbuilding would be fleshed out more, and I'd probably care a little more about the world. 

I absolutely did not care about the characters. I had no emotionally connected, and I really wouldn't even care if any of them decided to get themselves killed or something, because I had no interest. There was no spark I had with them, and with way too many characters introduced-I just really did not care for them. 

I also found it weird, that the author would have a lot of time jumps without no meaning to it-only just to age up Nina. I just really don't know what the purpose for that would be.

What an adventure the main character Nina takes you on. She hasn’t had the easiest life making her one of the best cats of the thieves guild. There is nothing Nina will not do for her family, that can be a weakness for someone like her.

I was very interested when I read that this book was like "Les Misérables meets Six of Crows" as I enjoy both of those stories. This description was appropriate for this story and I enjoyed it almost as much as I enjoyed the original stories. This book is set in an alternate world in 1828 Paris. Nina and Ettie are sisters. Nina is a burglar and a thief and steals to make money to support them both. Ettie catches the eye of the leader of one of the other guilds and Nina has to keep her safe. I enjoyed seeing the sister bond between them and seeing how far one sister would go to protect the other.

A very unique read set in early 18th century Paris. If you like Les Miz, you'll love The Court of Miracles.


Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Oh boy. How much I’ve wanted to enjoy this book but how messy this book was. The premise sounded so promising: In an alternate Les Miserables, the French Revolution has failed and Eponine Thenardier (Nina) isn’t the helpless/misunderstood foster sister of Cosette (who, as we remember, is the pure-hearted, idealised, naive sister who grew up with the abusive Thenardier family until she is rescued by Jean Valjean) but instead grows into a wild, determined girl who will stop at nothing to fight for justice in an impoverished Paris. Cosette, on the other, is much younger than her and more of a child rather than an evenly matched sister in wit and intelligence. While I wasn’t entirely sold by this set-up, I was willing to go along, especially since I love good retellings and stories that implore relationships between sisters. Also while I have never read Les Miserables, the musical to it is one of my all-time favourites so I would say I am pretty familiar with the themes of the story. If only I had known how chaotic the story would get.

It’s really hard for me to write a review because literally nothing stuck with me. The plot is a plot that didn’t even happen. The main character’s voice was so unsubstantial, I found it hard to connect with her and her actions at all. There were so many irrelevant side characters, I didn‘t even know who was who even towards the end.

While I felt very sympathetic towards the main character at the beginning as a young girl, she quickly grew into a big question mark that I never quite could get a grip of. While I really admired her determined nature, she felt like a force the author had created but didn‘t quite know how to control. I liked how she, as the years pass by, becomes better in her job and her heist work, rising through the ranks of the Court of Miracles, and learns how to play the game of intrigues. However when it comes to the big ‘life changing’ events, she never delivers. The scenes are suddenly oversimplified, place and time jumps are inserted and voila, the problems are magically resolved. I was always left with so many confused feelings, and it was exactly these types of jumps that made the plot incoherent and very hard to follow. It’s like the author created so many rules and built so many walls, only to tear them down with one single ‘exception’. It was extremely frustrating how she kept disregarding her own rules, adding a little bit of magic here and there that in the end, nothing really surprised me anymore.
Adding to that were the many side character’s names that were so unremarkable and too similar in character, I quickly lost track of who stood on which side which was a pity because the story introduces a lot of interesting characters, only that they quickly vanish again.

Also in terms of the relationship between Ettie and Nina, the foundation of the second part of the book, I wished we would have seen more growth there, especially since I never got the feeling Ettie was able to shine her own light. I understand it’s a tough-kind of love but it was such a twisted and private relationship that it sometimes feels as if the reader wasn’t invited to become witness of it. While I did understand the underlying theme of the book — sisterly love that can transcend place and time — it wasn’t well-elaborated enough for me to really buy it as the ultimate driving motive.
I generally felt that there were a lot of storylines that the author couldn’t quite lead together and thus were left hanging as loose ends: On the one hand we have the internal fights for power within the Court of Miracles, on the other hand, people are rallying up to fight the still existing monarchy. It was so frustrating at times because often I didn’t even know who was fighting whom.

That said, people who are familiar with the Les Mis world will also get their money’s worth on the everlasting conflict between Jean Valjean and Javert is. Unlike the epic theme in the original novel though, the relationship between the two of them is a little bit more twisted — for starters, Javert is a female inspector in this book here. While I liked the idea of the origins of their relationship, this storyline never felt significant enough because it was too quickly squeezed into the book and only added to the blurry nature of this book. In the end, I honestly didn’t care about the two of them.
I also had some problems with the potential love interest storylines, with Nina getting caught between her feelings and her drive to succeed. I could see where the author tried to go (aka following the good old prince with a soft heart vs. leader of the rebels love triangle trope (oops was that a spoiler?)) but I didn’t buy it for a moment. It felt out of place, forced and contributed exactly nothing to the whole plot.

On the other hand, the author invested a lot of efforts into the background of the city (if it’s not about the Court of Miracles or the Royal Court). The Paris of this book is described as being poor, ugly and full of dangers. Unlike other YA books that often romanticise historical Paris as a setting and only briefly touch on topics such as violence and poverty, the author doesn’t hold back to address uncomfortable topics such as human trafficking, violence towards women and children or sexual slavery here. It’s the ultimate trigger for Nina to rise high in her guild, to destroy those who brought injustice to her and her sisters and to take control.
Another thing that positively stood out to me was the diverse cast. I really appreciated how the author acknowledged France’s history of immigration from other countries, especially from the Maghreb states, and even the main characters is being described as having ‘olive skin, the legacy of the Algerian pied-noir woman who birthed [her]’. What a unique character.

I really wished I would have liked this book but it was a tough book to get through. The plot fell very flat most of the time, the characters felt often out of place and more than once did it was as if some parts of the story only existed in the author’s head. Was it a bad book? No. But it was a book that definitely could have been more well-executed and needed more polishing. Lastly, I would also say that this book is targeted at a very special type of group — and it’s definitely not the Les Mis lovers. While this book is a rather very twisted version of how the story of Les Mis could have been told, it has barely anything to do with it, so if you want to keep the book in good memories, maybe skip this book. However if you are looking for a heist book with a unique setting and interesting worldbuilding — this one is for you.

3.5 stars. Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest opinion.

I'm not someone you can call the biggest fan of Les Misérables, but I read it and watched adaptations and it's inevitably a work of art that stays with you, so I'm basically knowledgeable with the names and setting.

"Court of Miracles" is a book that is an 'alternate universe'/au of the characters of Les Mis, and I love the setting, I like the characters, and I love the idea of guilds. While reading it, it's a ride, it makes me curious enough to flip the pages (virtually on an eARC) and finish it. But after reading it ? it just didn't stay with me. This is, of course,a different story than Les Mis and the author's intention would differ, but for all intents and purposes, it just didn't strike me in the heart.

I know people have mentioned this by I did a double-take at some historical inaccuracies, it kind of spoils your reading to be honest. But there's not much of them (I think?), so I pretty much saw them then pretend I didn't so I can continue reading.

Overall, it's good while you read it, it's enjoyable, the characters are well-written as well as the plot and setting. If you're looking for a quick historical read and can ignore some historical inaccuracies in an au of Les Mis, I'd recommend this.

This was a pretty standard fantasy novels without any particularly innovative elements. It's a quick read that will find its audience among teen fantasy fans.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

The Court of Miracles is a fantastically dark historical reimagining of Les Miserables. I had a lot of fun with this book and really enjoyed my read. There is fantastic world-building and I loved how this alternate dark Paris came to life. Because of the complicated nature of the world, the characters did get quite numerous and the structure of the court felt overwhelming in some places when the narrative turned to feel like info dumping. However, the writing was excellent and the complexity was something I could appreciate, though it took me a bit longer to understand and there are some places where my comprehension is a bit fuzzy. A reread may be needed at a later date.

The pacing of the book was just near perfect and I loved the action and tension built into the plot. I thought that the character of Nina was well-constructed, though there were bits where her actions didn't quite make sense. Typically, these worked themselves out as the narrative continued. There were also some rough transitions in the time jumps that were mildly disorienting and did require me to stop and realign myself with the story.

A good, quickly paced read that left me definitely wanting to explore this world more. I look forward to being able to read the remaining books in the trilogy.

First, thank you to the Author, Kester Grant and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was incredibly fast paced from the very beginning and keeps the readers on the edge of their seats, not wanting to stop reading! I loved the setting was within the streets of Paris, as I have always loved Paris and I found the details made the story that much better. This book was so magical and I never wanted this book to end! The synopsis of this book promised a concept similar to Les Miserables, and she did not disappoint! I read this book in no time and fell in love with the world and story. I will be recommending this book to all my friends and followers, as I am confident that they would love this just as much as I did!

Absolutely one of my favorite books for the year. I was heartbroken when I realized I had come to the end. The story is so in depth, with the different guilds, and the characters truly pull at your heartstrings. An amazing retelling to Les Mis and cannot wait yo see how this plays out.

3.5/5
I’m not sure what to think of the book. I feel like there was so much going on with no real structure. I liked so many things like the eerie world building and diverse characters, but everything was all over the place for me. The time jumps made things confusing and I feel like the book could’ve done better without them. Just my opinion.

It is said to be a retelling of Les mis but I am not very knowledgeable of that book (maybe just the gist of it), so I can’t really compared. However, there are other books that are Les Mis retelling and did so much better as retellings go and this book did not feel original.

I’m not going to lie, but the romance in this book is what kept me reading it too. I also really like the protagonist, Nina, and how fearless she is! Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest opinion.

Les Miserables meets Jungle Book–sold me, but didn't keep my interest.

Eponine [Nina] is a talented thief, which they call a cat in this book. She's a member of the thieves' guild and daughter of Thenardier, a conniving, violent man. Nina is strong, but for me, it was difficult to connect with her chilly disposition, although I felt for her plight which was trying to find her sister who was sold to the flesh guild [prostitutes,] and also trying to protect her adoptive sister Cosette [Ettie,] from a similar fate.

Unfortunately, instead of growing more interested in the characters, or the story itself, I grew detached. I wanted to know more about side characters than the plight of Nina, Ettie, or her missing sister. Although the world is vividly depicted, down to the filth and smell of the streets, I found the story lacking real depth to it.

It failed to draw me in and thus deliver a wonderful tale.

A few good highlights of the story were, as I said, the side characters. They were memorable to me, I only wish they had more air-time, and we were able to dive into their stories more. The hero of the book was definitely the magnificent world-building and embellishing on Les Mis' foundation and breathing a new life into it.

Overall, I recommend if you're looking for an interesting take on Les Mis, or need to fill a prompt with a historical retelling.

This book was a lovely surprise. You have Les Misérables set within the world of the gangs of New York.
The Court of Miracles are comprised of several groups responsible for different nefarious purposes. There is the court of thieves, assassins, flesh, ghosts, and others. They are a cutthroat bunch that do not trust anyone.
You have the traditional characters in Les Misérables just in different circumstances. I really enjoyed this book and how the old story was reimagined. I look forward to the next book.