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A review by sdloomer
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
4.0
This is probably 3.5/5 stars, but I'm rounding up because I'm surprised at how much I actually enjoyed this.
While I haven't read Les Miserables, I have seen the musical several times on stage and on screen, and while that isn't quite a substitute for that great piece of literature, I think the musical covers the main points of the story that is necessary to know for this book. I have been forever in the same "Eponine deserved so much better" camp as the author, and I'm pretty satisfied with this alternate retelling of her life. Also,.
I'm really looking forward to the second book in this trilogy (doth mine eyes deceive me or might there be some future tension between?
My only gripe is that Eponine doesn't feel completely characterized; almost the whole book is focused on retrieving either one of her two sisters and that is the only thing she introspects about. There isn't a whole lot of words spent on what she likes to do, or what jobs she's been on, or what other friends she's made within her guild. She's spent so much time with this guild, her family, but I know almost next to nothing about who the members are, beside their masters and lords. Aren't there other Cats? How does Nina compare with them? And speaking of time, what was with the time skips? I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how much time passed between chapters or parts and how old everyone was, but none of that was ever clear. How old are Eponine and Ettie? Montparnasse? The Dauphin? St. Juste? I'm one of those readers who like to have explicitly said ages of characters to gather an impression of the different kinds of relationships they have or will have with each other.
Anyway, I was impressed with this reimagining of Les Mis and I hope the second book is just as engaging.
While I haven't read Les Miserables, I have seen the musical several times on stage and on screen, and while that isn't quite a substitute for that great piece of literature, I think the musical covers the main points of the story that is necessary to know for this book. I have been forever in the same "Eponine deserved so much better" camp as the author, and I'm pretty satisfied with this alternate retelling of her life. Also,
Spoiler
forever grateful to Ms. Grant for mashing the characters of Enjolras and Marius together so Marius could finally smooch with Eponine while still being useful. Like Enjolras. In fact, I'm pretty sure she just got rid of Marius altogether, now that I think about it. Enjolras is just so much betterI'm really looking forward to the second book in this trilogy (doth mine eyes deceive me or might there be some future tension between
Spoiler
Eponine, St. Juste, and the DauphinMy only gripe is that Eponine doesn't feel completely characterized; almost the whole book is focused on retrieving either one of her two sisters and that is the only thing she introspects about. There isn't a whole lot of words spent on what she likes to do, or what jobs she's been on, or what other friends she's made within her guild. She's spent so much time with this guild, her family, but I know almost next to nothing about who the members are, beside their masters and lords. Aren't there other Cats? How does Nina compare with them? And speaking of time, what was with the time skips? I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how much time passed between chapters or parts and how old everyone was, but none of that was ever clear. How old are Eponine and Ettie? Montparnasse? The Dauphin? St. Juste? I'm one of those readers who like to have explicitly said ages of characters to gather an impression of the different kinds of relationships they have or will have with each other.
Anyway, I was impressed with this reimagining of Les Mis and I hope the second book is just as engaging.