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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
This is, by far, the best book I have read of 2020! It is a "sort of" retelling of Les Miserables but considering I have yet to read Les Miserables, none of the storyline was familiar to me. For once, I'm glad I have never read Les Miserables or seen the movie. The story was well-told and I love Nina aka The Black Cat as the protagonist. The book's characters were developed well and the storyline flowed very well. This book kept me fully engaged and was a real page-turner. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this ARC..
A fast paced fantasy re-telling of Les Mis, filled with wit, danger, and betrayal.
3.75 Stars
The Court of Miracles, by Kester Grant is a unique retelling of the popular Les Mis that incorporates fantasy and is filled with danger and betrayal. Now this is a mini review because this book is far too easy to spoil and I really don’t want to do that because I hate spoilers!! Also as a disclaimer, I love the Les Miserables musical and have yet to read the book (Please don’t hate me!) but I really loved seeing the characters that I know in this book it was so interesting and fun.
Kester Grant did an excellent job with this book, it has a lot going on but doesn’t feel like a heavy read at all and this is significantly due to the writing style. The style is simple and direct, with some beautiful character descriptions, it is incredibly easy to read and avoids ‘info-dumps’ very cleverly. The structure of the book allows us to learn a lot about the world, and specifically The Court, organically instead of all at once, which is incredibly helpful due to the Court being made up of multiple ‘Guilds’. A few scenes/settings lacked detail for me personally but as a whole this style worked very well in conjunction with the story.
The pacing is decent, but I felt it dragged slightly in the middle, however the last 1/4 of the book really picks up again and makes you want to continue reading. There are also a few time jumps in the story, which means a lot is covered – this is fantastic as we see some long term effects of prior events. However, a couple of the time jumps were slightly confusing as they took me a few sentences to pick up the jump.
I also really enjoyed the perspective, which is that of Nina – our main character. Nina is clever, headstrong and smart, she has clear goals and is a capable person. I quite liked her character and as the story goes on she develops well. The only thing that was a little annoying was the numerous ‘romances’ it got a little irritating after a while. Having lost her sister to a cruel Guild master, Nina joins the Thieves Guild for protection and to bide her own time so she can save her. I loved the sisterly bonds that are formed throughout this story and found it to be a fantastic element running throughout, familial bonds are crucial be it by blood or by loyalty within your guild. The idea of family that underpins this story is unique and effective – I love the familial loyalty that exists within the guilds but also those created between individual characters, Nina and Ettie are a prime example – though initially Nina has other plans, the two become as close as sisters and this bond becomes unbreakable.
My favourite thing about this story had to be the Guilds themselves. The Court Of Miracles is made up of several guilds run by their respective masters and each Guild has their own internal hierarchy. We get the most insight into the Guild of Thieves because that is the one Nina belongs to, but we also get information on several others most notably The Guild Of Flesh as this one is at the heart of the conflict Nina is involved in. There are a lot more guilds but I think it is better you learn about them yourself because the introductions are all fantastic!
The complexity of the Guilds is brilliant yet understandable and they are all unique and dynamic. The Guilds factor in to some of the more serious themes that are dealt with in this book including class conflict, oppression and abuse of the lower classes, and exploitation in the form of sex trafficking – while I will not go into too much detail due to spoilers this is a significant theme that is tackled throughout the story.
The characters are crucial to this story and are incredibly dynamic as well as flawed – they are realistic, emotional, raw and determined and each character stand out in their own right. I really enjoyed reading about each of the characters, their motivations and ambitions, each one is complex and captivating.
Overall, the story was very interesting and each take on the well known characters was unique and compelling. The world created was dynamic and strong, the Court and Guilds were intriguing and effective and the relationships built between characters aided the story well allowing for effective shocks and twists throughout the story. Finally, the themes are dealt with well and are prominent having significant effects on the characters and the plot.
I would recommend this to fantasy lovers who enjoy deep themes and complex and flawed characters!
*Thankyou To #Netgalley, HarperCollins UK/HarperVoyager for my eARC in exchange for an honest review! *
https://kbbookreviews867789450.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/mini-book-review-the-court-of-miracles-court-of-miracles-1-by-kester-grant/
3.75 Stars
The Court of Miracles, by Kester Grant is a unique retelling of the popular Les Mis that incorporates fantasy and is filled with danger and betrayal. Now this is a mini review because this book is far too easy to spoil and I really don’t want to do that because I hate spoilers!! Also as a disclaimer, I love the Les Miserables musical and have yet to read the book (Please don’t hate me!) but I really loved seeing the characters that I know in this book it was so interesting and fun.
Kester Grant did an excellent job with this book, it has a lot going on but doesn’t feel like a heavy read at all and this is significantly due to the writing style. The style is simple and direct, with some beautiful character descriptions, it is incredibly easy to read and avoids ‘info-dumps’ very cleverly. The structure of the book allows us to learn a lot about the world, and specifically The Court, organically instead of all at once, which is incredibly helpful due to the Court being made up of multiple ‘Guilds’. A few scenes/settings lacked detail for me personally but as a whole this style worked very well in conjunction with the story.
The pacing is decent, but I felt it dragged slightly in the middle, however the last 1/4 of the book really picks up again and makes you want to continue reading. There are also a few time jumps in the story, which means a lot is covered – this is fantastic as we see some long term effects of prior events. However, a couple of the time jumps were slightly confusing as they took me a few sentences to pick up the jump.
I also really enjoyed the perspective, which is that of Nina – our main character. Nina is clever, headstrong and smart, she has clear goals and is a capable person. I quite liked her character and as the story goes on she develops well. The only thing that was a little annoying was the numerous ‘romances’ it got a little irritating after a while. Having lost her sister to a cruel Guild master, Nina joins the Thieves Guild for protection and to bide her own time so she can save her. I loved the sisterly bonds that are formed throughout this story and found it to be a fantastic element running throughout, familial bonds are crucial be it by blood or by loyalty within your guild. The idea of family that underpins this story is unique and effective – I love the familial loyalty that exists within the guilds but also those created between individual characters, Nina and Ettie are a prime example – though initially Nina has other plans, the two become as close as sisters and this bond becomes unbreakable.
My favourite thing about this story had to be the Guilds themselves. The Court Of Miracles is made up of several guilds run by their respective masters and each Guild has their own internal hierarchy. We get the most insight into the Guild of Thieves because that is the one Nina belongs to, but we also get information on several others most notably The Guild Of Flesh as this one is at the heart of the conflict Nina is involved in. There are a lot more guilds but I think it is better you learn about them yourself because the introductions are all fantastic!
The complexity of the Guilds is brilliant yet understandable and they are all unique and dynamic. The Guilds factor in to some of the more serious themes that are dealt with in this book including class conflict, oppression and abuse of the lower classes, and exploitation in the form of sex trafficking – while I will not go into too much detail due to spoilers this is a significant theme that is tackled throughout the story.
The characters are crucial to this story and are incredibly dynamic as well as flawed – they are realistic, emotional, raw and determined and each character stand out in their own right. I really enjoyed reading about each of the characters, their motivations and ambitions, each one is complex and captivating.
Overall, the story was very interesting and each take on the well known characters was unique and compelling. The world created was dynamic and strong, the Court and Guilds were intriguing and effective and the relationships built between characters aided the story well allowing for effective shocks and twists throughout the story. Finally, the themes are dealt with well and are prominent having significant effects on the characters and the plot.
I would recommend this to fantasy lovers who enjoy deep themes and complex and flawed characters!
*Thankyou To #Netgalley, HarperCollins UK/HarperVoyager for my eARC in exchange for an honest review! *
https://kbbookreviews867789450.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/mini-book-review-the-court-of-miracles-court-of-miracles-1-by-kester-grant/
It's not very often I feel disappointed by a book, but this one failed to pique my interest. It didn't evoke any emotion, I felt no bond with any of the characters and therefore uninvested in the story.
3.5 stars
I really liked this, not quite a four star but very enjoyable. The narrator to the audiobook was fantastic.
I really liked this, not quite a four star but very enjoyable. The narrator to the audiobook was fantastic.
This was such an awesome retelling and retooling of a classic! Nina was badass and deserved all the accolades because she did everything she could to protect who she considered family, and ever evolving group in the Miracle Court. While I would have like more background on the development of the sisterhood that exists between in Nina and Ettie, it was clear that they would do anything for each other. It was also nice to see that romance wasn’t going to be the central theme of the story, even though Nina had a variety of suitors, from assassins (Montparnasse) to revolutionaries (Enjorlas St. Juse) to royals (the dauphin of France).
I liked the descriptions of the different guilds in the miracle court, especially the assassins guild, with Madame Corsair, the mesmerizing Lord, and masters of knives and poison, the guild of letters, that know all and can spy and blackmail whoever they choose), and the guild of the dead (with Orso the storyteller, Loup the dedicated master, and Gavroche, Ettie’s devoted shadow), with their creepy echoey responses and ability to appear from nowhere.
I am interested to see where the series goes next (it appears to be a part of a series and there is a path for more story to develop), especially if it gives some more answers about le Maire, aka Valjean, a badass spy from the guild of letters and Javert, a almost scorned woman feel as a bitter and vengeful royal inspector.
I liked the descriptions of the different guilds in the miracle court, especially the assassins guild, with Madame Corsair, the mesmerizing Lord, and masters of knives and poison, the guild of letters, that know all and can spy and blackmail whoever they choose), and the guild of the dead (with Orso the storyteller, Loup the dedicated master, and Gavroche, Ettie’s devoted shadow), with their creepy echoey responses and ability to appear from nowhere.
I am interested to see where the series goes next (it appears to be a part of a series and there is a path for more story to develop), especially if it gives some more answers about le Maire, aka Valjean, a badass spy from the guild of letters and Javert, a almost scorned woman feel as a bitter and vengeful royal inspector.
3.75 ⭐️
A story with a lot of potential that ultimately did not grip me.
Paris and lots of criminals? The synopsis sounded like something that I would absolutely adore. However, the plot was so confusing from the beginning that it failed to properly hold my attention. Unexpected and poorly explained time jumps, soo many names that I just forgot immediately and a lack of structure unfortunately made this a bit of a disappointing read. I also really struggled to see where the plot was going or what the point was at times? I did quite enjoy some scenes and I liked the concept and some of the side characters. Some of the twists also really surprised me. All in all, it just didn’t transport me to its world.
The Court of Miracles wasn’t bad but it wasn’t amazing either.
A story with a lot of potential that ultimately did not grip me.
Paris and lots of criminals? The synopsis sounded like something that I would absolutely adore. However, the plot was so confusing from the beginning that it failed to properly hold my attention. Unexpected and poorly explained time jumps, soo many names that I just forgot immediately and a lack of structure unfortunately made this a bit of a disappointing read. I also really struggled to see where the plot was going or what the point was at times? I did quite enjoy some scenes and I liked the concept and some of the side characters. Some of the twists also really surprised me. All in all, it just didn’t transport me to its world.
The Court of Miracles wasn’t bad but it wasn’t amazing either.
This is an oddly fascinating little adventure/heist novel. It's not a retelling of "Les Mis," because the historical context is utterly different. It's not necessary to have read "Les Mis," or even to know the musical, although if you do know the story, it's kind of fun to see various characters pop up and to see what Grant will do with them. And I'm not quite sure how she decided to interweave the "Jungle Book" influences. But...meh? None of this should work, and yet pretty quickly into the book I decided to stop caring about the fact that it shouldn't work and just let it work anyway, almost in spite of itself. The world-building of the Miracle Court is a lot of fun, and the comparisons to "Six of Crows" are not entirely without merit. Nina is fierce and gritty and smart, and it's refreshing to read a novel where the heroine gets by on her own intelligence and skills rather than from being some sort of "chosen one". I look forward to seeing if there's a sequel.
All I can say is I really hope this is the start of a series, because this was a cracking first book! Fascinating world-building, great characterisation, and good pacing. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
3.75/5 stars
I received an eARC of this book on NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Court of Miracles has been hyped so much that It had a lot to live up to. For the most part it did.
This is a debut by the author so I do give it a little leeway for that and round my rating up to a 4.
The story very closely resembles Les Miserables as it is a retelling, however now there is a criminal underworld which is very interesting. I also can’t recall if there is still the French nobility in that story but they are in this one, so an alternative history which is always fun.
The writing was good for the most part, the eARC definitely needs some editing which I assume will be done in the finished copies. However the style was a little choppy sometimes, especially around the time jumps that occur. We start when the main character is only nine or so, jump a few years for a chapter or two, jump again for the meat of the story, and jump two years again for the conclusion. It just wasn’t as smooth as I’d hope for and I’m not going to lie, I got a little confused and had to go back to the page where it says what year it was and make the connection that way.
The characters themselves were really interesting though a little flat. This follows Eponine aka Nina aka Black Cat of the Thieves Guild instead of Jean Val Jean though we do mean him.
One of my main disappointments in this book was the lack of seeing the inner workings of the Court of Miracles. We really don’t see much of this criminal underworld at all. I’m hoping we do in the sequel because it sounds like it would be really cool, please show it to me!
We do follow more of the revolutionary storyline that is in Les Mis and how Nina works with them to follow through on her main goal: to take down the guild leader of a rival guild in the Court of Miracles.
One of the twists at the end was so blunt and I didn’t see it coming, I do think there should have been some clues but perhaps I missed them? It just didn’t feel quite right and then a character ended up where I didn’t think they were with no explanation so I was slightly confused about that too. It all worked together in the end and the big “battle” was quite satisfying. I still have a really good image from it burned into my brain as it would make a creepily beautiful scene in a movie.
I will be keeping my preorder of the Waterstones edition of this book (what a beautiful cover and naked cover!) as the US version is not nearly as gorgeous. I hope the sequel follows through and gives me more of that criminal underworld I’m hoping for, it sure seems like it is being set up for it.
I received an eARC of this book on NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Court of Miracles has been hyped so much that It had a lot to live up to. For the most part it did.
This is a debut by the author so I do give it a little leeway for that and round my rating up to a 4.
The story very closely resembles Les Miserables as it is a retelling, however now there is a criminal underworld which is very interesting. I also can’t recall if there is still the French nobility in that story but they are in this one, so an alternative history which is always fun.
The writing was good for the most part, the eARC definitely needs some editing which I assume will be done in the finished copies. However the style was a little choppy sometimes, especially around the time jumps that occur. We start when the main character is only nine or so, jump a few years for a chapter or two, jump again for the meat of the story, and jump two years again for the conclusion. It just wasn’t as smooth as I’d hope for and I’m not going to lie, I got a little confused and had to go back to the page where it says what year it was and make the connection that way.
The characters themselves were really interesting though a little flat. This follows Eponine aka Nina aka Black Cat of the Thieves Guild instead of Jean Val Jean though we do mean him.
One of my main disappointments in this book was the lack of seeing the inner workings of the Court of Miracles. We really don’t see much of this criminal underworld at all. I’m hoping we do in the sequel because it sounds like it would be really cool, please show it to me!
We do follow more of the revolutionary storyline that is in Les Mis and how Nina works with them to follow through on her main goal: to take down the guild leader of a rival guild in the Court of Miracles.
One of the twists at the end was so blunt and I didn’t see it coming, I do think there should have been some clues but perhaps I missed them? It just didn’t feel quite right and then a character ended up where I didn’t think they were with no explanation so I was slightly confused about that too. It all worked together in the end and the big “battle” was quite satisfying. I still have a really good image from it burned into my brain as it would make a creepily beautiful scene in a movie.
I will be keeping my preorder of the Waterstones edition of this book (what a beautiful cover and naked cover!) as the US version is not nearly as gorgeous. I hope the sequel follows through and gives me more of that criminal underworld I’m hoping for, it sure seems like it is being set up for it.
4.5 Stars
Of the three French history inspired books I've received in book boxes this year (YA seems to be going through a phase), The Court of Miracles was easily my favourite. Though lacking in the unique magic of Bone Crier's Moon, and the historicity of Dangerous Remedy, The Court of Miracles won out on what for me would be the most important element in this kind of story - fun.
I loved the Miracle Court and its various guilds, their intricate alliances to one another and the politics at play, and their fear of the Tiger
Spoiler
is Orso Baloo (Orso means bear), and Tomasis Bagheera? Still trying to work out the Jungle Book references!Spoiler
she actually had Tomasis shot! D:Despite the occasional odd time jump, the pacing of this book was one of its strongest elements. There wasn't a single chapter where I felt bored, or an action scene where my eyes glazed over (this is super rare for me!) as everything is wonderfully concise and to the point - there's no filler, basically. The Court of Miracles is actually on the shorter end of YA fantasy, but with the exception of
Spoiler
Nina's two years with St. Juste and the gangSo why not a full five stars? Well, for one, I'm being picky with my 5*s nowadays. 5* books have a special feeling about them which elevates them above even the most enjoyable of 4 and 4.5* reads. The Court of Miracles wasn't quite there for me, though it was close.
The other reason is because I feel like this might have fared better as a looser Les Mis retelling. Sometimes the Les Mis elements felt too on the nose, to the point of being jarring against the more prominent non-Les Mis Miracle Court. I feel like all the characters should have been more like Nina and Ettie, different enough from their Les Mis counterparts that they felt like their own characters inspired by Les Mis rather than characters lifted directly from it. (I just read Lauren's review, and agree - why weren't all the names changed, only a few?).
Also, my Les Mis source informs me Enjolras is coded as gay; given the general theme of diversity in this book, the lack of LGBTQIA+ characters is odd, and making Enjolras a love interest of Nina's is odder still (maybe the author is thinking of making him bi?). However, I have to remind myself - this is book one! I judge not (yet). It's implied Enjolras likes Nina back, but given this is a first person POV, we don't really know the truth of how Enjolras feels about her, or Grantaire, or anyone really. Given that Nina has - as aforementioned - three love interests, we could quite easily see him paired off with Grantaire in the future.
So yes, to conclude, I had so much fun reading this, but I also had quibbles! Regardless, I'm definitely excited for the sequels.
***
Magical Readathon N.E.W.T.s - History of Magic - "E" - Book with a mainly black cover (thanks @ Illumicrate for providing me with an edition that fits this prompt)