The Court of Miracles
2020 • 464 pages
Ratings8
Average rating4
15
Ratings8
Average rating4
Les Misérables 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. In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina's life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father's fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger--the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh--Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Her vow takes her from the city's dark underbelly to the glittering court of Louis XVII. And it also forces Nina to make a terrible choice--protect Ettie and set off a brutal war between the guilds, or forever lose her sister to the Tiger.
Featured Series
2 primary booksA Court of Miracles is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2020 with contributions by Kester Grant.
Reviews with the most likes.
4 stars for the twists and turns!
The first 150 pages were utterly boring but it got better afterwards.
Pros:
- Nina and Ettie made a good pair.
- The only guild that was shown enough for me to understand was The Guild of Beggars, and they were amazing!
- Master of Knives is my favourite character because he's the only level headed person in this story.
Cons:
- 8 freaking guilds we know nothing about.
- Small factions inside guilds with even more names.
- Too many characters (but I think that's because of Les Miserables
The French Revolution is providing some fertile ground for fantasy literature at the moment - we already had Kat Dunn's excellent Dangerous Remedy, and now we get The Court of Miracles.
The Court of Miracles is essentially a retelling of Les Miserables from the perspective of Eponine (Nina) and the criminal underworld. What follows is a swashbucklingly fun tale of how Nina rises in the Court of Miracles (the criminal council that runs the underworld). Nina is a great heroine figure - adaptable and skilled.
The main thing to say about this story is that it is simply fun. It uses characters that we are familiar with from the classic telling of Les Mis and fleshes out their stories providing interesting twists on plot elements we already know. All the favourites from that story are here from Gavroche to Thernadier to Javert to St Juste. It removes a lot of the dour setting of the original and replaces it with a more exciting adventure stylings. What fantasy there is here is very much of the low variety lending a realism to the story as well.
Whilst this is nothing revolutionary in a literary sense, it is a fun retelling of a revolution.
I thought this book sounded really good. Then I read some of the mixed reviews. I saw it on Net Galley and decided to form my own opinion and then decide if I want to buy a copy.
I really liked it! I loved these characters from the start. Nina, Ettie, and Montparnasse are just some of my faves. Lady Corday is both frightening and brilliant.
I found the Courts intriguing, and the heists were so much fun to read about.
I will definitely be buying a copy.
I received a copy from Net Galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
