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jessicasamhain 's review for:
The Court of Miracles
by Kester Grant
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for an advance copy of this book!
When I heard about this book, I knew I needed to read it right away. A historical YA Les Mis-based novel where Eponine is the heroine? Sign me up! The nods to the original book and musical were numerous and I enjoyed finding them while reading. The story and worldbuilding in this book are exceptional and the historical aspects are well-researched and portrayed in a fascinating way. Nina is a compelling main character and her oftren rash decisions drive the narrative forward.
The narrative skips around a lot and often jumps many years without warning. To me this cheapened some of the emotional connections between characters, most specifically that of Nina and the boys of the Societe.
The main characters --Nina and Ettie -- have names taken right from the pages of Les Mis. That is where the similarities end. Nina is very different from the lonely pining Eponine of the original, and her relationship with Cosette -- the driving force behind this story -- is significantly changed as well. Woven throughout all of this is an original story line of the Court and the thieves guild that is very engaging and well-written. Some other familiar Les Mis characters make an appearance in one way or another (like Enjolras and Javert), while others are noticeably absent (Marius).
Most of the characters taken directly from Les Mis were lovingly crafted into amazingly well-written characters, but in that process also became so foreign from the source text as to be different characters entirely. I would have almost preferred if the characters weren't supposed to be the same characters we know from Les Mis, but instead were original characters that existed alongside the original story.
Overall, this was a gripping story that definitely kept me intrigued, and contained characters that were interesting and had a lot of heart. Will definitely recommend once it hits shelves. If you want the familiar characters and story of Les Mis, this book is not it. But if you want a new, engaging story with nods to the original Les Mis while somehow adding even more intrigue, this book is for you.
When I heard about this book, I knew I needed to read it right away. A historical YA Les Mis-based novel where Eponine is the heroine? Sign me up! The nods to the original book and musical were numerous and I enjoyed finding them while reading. The story and worldbuilding in this book are exceptional and the historical aspects are well-researched and portrayed in a fascinating way. Nina is a compelling main character and her oftren rash decisions drive the narrative forward.
The narrative skips around a lot and often jumps many years without warning. To me this cheapened some of the emotional connections between characters, most specifically that of Nina and the boys of the Societe.
The main characters --Nina and Ettie -- have names taken right from the pages of Les Mis. That is where the similarities end. Nina is very different from the lonely pining Eponine of the original, and her relationship with Cosette -- the driving force behind this story -- is significantly changed as well. Woven throughout all of this is an original story line of the Court and the thieves guild that is very engaging and well-written. Some other familiar Les Mis characters make an appearance in one way or another (like Enjolras and Javert), while others are noticeably absent (Marius).
Most of the characters taken directly from Les Mis were lovingly crafted into amazingly well-written characters, but in that process also became so foreign from the source text as to be different characters entirely. I would have almost preferred if the characters weren't supposed to be the same characters we know from Les Mis, but instead were original characters that existed alongside the original story.
Overall, this was a gripping story that definitely kept me intrigued, and contained characters that were interesting and had a lot of heart. Will definitely recommend once it hits shelves. If you want the familiar characters and story of Les Mis, this book is not it. But if you want a new, engaging story with nods to the original Les Mis while somehow adding even more intrigue, this book is for you.