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Thursday, June 4, 2020

Review - The Court of Miracles (A Court of Miracles, #1) by Kester Grant





Title: The Court of Miracles (A Court of Miracles, #1)
Author: Kester Grant
Pages: 464
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Release Date: 4th June 2020


Blurb from Goodreads:

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.

 
Liberty
 
1828 and the citizens of Paris still mourn in the wake of their failed revolution. Among them, in the dark alleys and crumbling cathedrals of the city, the most wretched have gathered into guilds of thieves, assassins – and worse. Together they are known as The Court of Miracles.


Family
 
Eponine has lost more than most. When her father, Thénardier, sells her sister to the Guild of Flesh she makes a promise to do anything she can to get her sister back, even if that means joining the Court of Miracles, the very people keeping her sister a slave.


Treachery
 
Eponine becomes perhaps the greatest thief the Court has ever known, finding a place among them and gaining another sister, Cosette. But she has never forgotten the promise she made, and if she’s to have any hope of saving one sister, she will have to betray the other.


This beautiful reimagining of Les Misérables tells the stories of your favourite characters and what might have happened if the French Revolution had not come to pass.




 








My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to HarperVoyager and NetGalley*






Paris remains divided after the failed revolution and even The Court of Miracles, the combined guilds of assassins, thieves, and more, has its own cracks.

When Nina's (Eponine's) father sells her sister, his very own daughter, to one of the guilds, Nina vows to do everything she can do to get her back and joins the Guild of Thieves.
Nina soon integrates herself into the court and makes a name for herself as one of the best thieves.

Then Nina acquires a new sister in Cosette (Ettie), a young girl who is in the care of Nina's father. 
But Nina will do whatever it takes to save her sister, even if it means betraying Ettie.

Will Nina be able to go through with her plan?

Can she save her sister?



The idea of a Les Mis retelling where Eponine is a thief intrigued me as I've always felt very sorry for Eponine and wished that she had a different story.

I found Nina to be a likeable and relatable protagonist and I liked how determined and capable she was. I also liked Nina's relatonship with Ettie who I liked more than I thought I would.
Montparnasse was probably my favourite character, but I also liked Enjorlas a lot.

I enjoyed the author's take on the characters as well as the Court of Miracles and the guilds themselves.

One thing that did bug me was the whole 'Those-Who-Walk-By-Day' thing. I'm not even sure why it annoyed me, but it did.

The setting of 1800s Paris was intriguing and well done.

The plot was interesting and held my attention, but it did feel a little repetitive at times. I enjoyed learning more about the Guilds and the Court.

The writing style was easy to follow and flowed well, although a few scenes were a little abrupt at times.

This was quite a dark book at times, but Nina and Ettie were the heart and soul of the book and both brought some light to it, the themes of family and friendship being one of my favourite things about the book.

I can see any fan of Les Mis (be it the book, film, or TV show) finding joy in reading this, but I also think that someone that knows nothing about Les Mis would enjoy this too.



Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.




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