Step one if you want to read this book goes thus: ignore what it comps to. It is not like Les Mis (in fact, if you pretend like it isn’t attempting to be a retelling, you’ll probably have a better time of it than I did). It is most definitely not like Six of Crows (if someone could tell me where this comp came from, it would clear a lot up). And the whole Jungle Book aspect seems limited to the epigraphs selected for the beginning of each part.

In short, just pretend like it’s nothing to do with any of that.

If you can’t (and I definitely couldn’t), here’s what you have to look forward to.

What I found initially was that the plot was very confusing. For all that it’s supposedly a “retelling” of Les Mis, it picks and chooses when exactly it wishes to get close to the tale, and when it distances itself. Which would be fine, were I not expecting more of a retelling. But even when I put my expectations aside regarding that, it remained confusing. Primarily, I think, because there is no obvious overarching aim to the plot. Or, there is, but you realise it at the conclusion, and there’s been very little foreshadowing of it, or downright actually telling you what it is. So really, it just feels somewhat disjointed and aimlessly drifting.

And then there’s the fact I didn’t even realise it was a “what if the French Revolution never happened” kind of scenario. (That’s on me, sure, but in my defence, the blurb I initially read said nothing of the sort.) Because, really, there doesn’t seem that much about the worldbuilding to mark it out as historical fiction, let alone historical fiction set in 1820s France. Okay, so there’s mentions of the Dauphin, the Tuileries, etc etc, but historical worldbuilding has to be more than just place names, surely?

But perhaps the biggest travesty of this book is in its characters.

First, a positive note (I know, I’m surprised as well). The Eponine in this book is a damn sight better than the Eponine in the last retelling I read (damning with faint praise, I know, but still).

But beyond that, the characters are hardly recognisable as their namesakes. And they feel very much caricaturish versions of them. Each one can perhaps be summed up by a single characteristic of the original. For example, Enjolras is the revolutionary (and not much else), Grantaire is the drunkard, Montparnasse is the knife-wielding one, Eponine is an amazing thief – and these are the more recurrent characters of the lot. It is, quite simply, disappointing.

And don’t even get me started on the absolute cowardice involved in a creative decision that makes Javert a woman for the sole purpose of hinting that Valjean and Javert had previously had Something. It’s 20-fucking-20.

Final point (I think): this book had a tendency to randomly introduce characters and plot points that had not been mentioned before but are clearly important if they’re being brought up again. Case in point: Cosette. The whole first part of the book is about Eponine and Azelma, which makes sense because it provides the whole motivation behind Eponine’s plans later. No mention of a third child at this point. And then part two skips straight to where Eponine’s plan to trade Cosette for Azelma starts. As in, the point it becomes successful. Never having mentioned Cosette before now, never setting up the plan, nothing. It’s a six year time skip and, in doing that, all of the necessary information here has just been dumped.

The thing is, this keeps happening. A time skip occurs and suddenly the requisite character development has taken place and we haven’t seen a thing of it (like how Eponine is an amazing thief). If I’m supposed to root for various relationships, I need to see how they develop. It just doesn’t work otherwise.

Which reminds me of another point (sorry I lied about the last one being final. I have a lot of thoughts about this book). I would not necessarily mind the whole Eponine’s-unrequited-love-for-Marius being written out (side note: where is Marius?), but it’s written out and replaced with not one, not two, but three love interests. And it’s not just Montparnasse (like you might expect if you’ve read any fic), it’s the Dauphin too, and it’s Enjolras. Now, it took me a while to work out how old Eponine was in this book, but I figured it out. She first meets Enjolras at the age of 9. But for him to be, at this point, already involved in his activism and suchlike, and carrying a gun, you would expect him to be maybe 17 at minimum? (Or I would.) Which means, oh an 8 year age gap. And he knows her as well from the age of 15 to 18 (more time skips!). So that makes him a 26-year-old love interest. In fact, of all the love interests, maybe the Dauphin is the only one at all close in age to Eponine (and he’s a privileged dickhead so…).

It is, to be honest, less a love triangle/square/whatever shape you want, and more a love three-legged-monster-thing.

Oh and then there’s the little thing of all of Eponine’s plans (which we do not see actually planned, despite the book being in first person. Come to think of it, we see absolutely nothing planned throughout because a) Eponine is an amazing thief who can do everything on the fly and b) time skips, my old friends) coming off without a hitch. Even the most complex ones. Because plot.

And did I mention she’s an amazing thief?

This book reminds me a lot of Les Miserables in places. It was a great introduction to a new fantasy series and I look forward to seeing how it progresses.

The different courts and politics throughout kept it interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing how the relationships develop.

I'll be honest, I wanted to love this book. But The Court of Miracles was a bit of a mixed bag for me.

On the one hand, I enjoyed the original fantasy elements and the setting of 1800s France. The writing is pacy, with strong dialogue and some great action sequences. The world-building was a little lacking in places, but the mythology was intriguing and the concept of the Guilds was a gripping way to explore the theme of class. As an original historical fantasy, The Court of Miracles makes a strong impression.

So I wish the references to Les Mis and The Jungle Book weren't so heavy-handed. This is not so much a 'reimaginging' of Les Miserables as a retelling with a fantasy twist spliced on, with lines and scenes lifted straight from the original. It stopped the story from becoming properly immersive, because for every piece of original drama, there were passages that read like reader-insert fanfiction (and while that's not a bad thing in itself, it's definitely not what I signed up for).

It's difficult to strike the right balance when you're reimaginging a classic, and sadly for me The Court of Miracles misses the mark.

I devoured this book. It has so much going on, it's brutal... it keeps you on your toes the entire way through. The characters are clever - even though I did feel like there were too many secondary characters that we saw too much of that didn't particularly add anything to the plot! VERY character driven, I found this made it even faster to read.

Love interests? So many potentials it was hard to keep track of. So much betrayal, there was plot twist after plot twist and I didn't see any of it coming.

A VERY strong opening to a brand new world, I'm absolutely intrigued by the next.

It took me a while to get accustomed to the first person voice .. and then confusion a while about what was happening .. but then things took off ... characters were great, and I love reading about Paris .. yes 'Les Miserables' is in the backdrop .. but no harm! The melodramatic voice of impending doom and warmth worked well here .. this is great launch to the trilogy ...

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Harper Collins, for gifting me a copy of this book to review. I was so excited to read this book! I thought it sounded great as I love Les Mis and the Jungle Book. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.



I’ll start with the writing. I enjoyed the writing for the most part. I enjoyed the first person POV and I enjoyed reading the writing style. There are french words mixed into English which I personally didn’t mind as I have studied french and I’d say you don’t need to know french to understand them. There are also a lot of italics in sections which was okay but it took some getting used to. There are also lots of links to Les Miserable which were fun to see and I enjoyed them. Also the Chapters have titles and I love chapter titles!
The plot is twisted and there are different things going off at the same time. There is multiple heists, there’s a revolution growing and the threat from the Tiger. There were points that I was a little confused about the turn of events but as I kept reading it sorted itself out. The book is set between 1823 - 1832. The time jumps are not explained much, there is a date at the start and it may mention how much time is passed. I hope it is signposted better in the book.


Let’s get onto the world building. I really loved the setting of Paris and I like how the world is built up. There is several parts to it there’s the criminal underworld called the Miracle Court. The Miracle Court is made up of nine guilds: Thieves, Beggars, Assassins, Gamblers, Mercenaries, Smugglers, Prostitutes, Opium Eaters, and Men of Letters. Then there is the revolutionaries and ordinary people that are called “Those that walk by day.” Then there is the aristocracy and palaces. I really enjoyed the world and the world building in the book.


I found I really liked the characters in the book. Some were built up more than others but I liked them. I won’t go into all the characters as it would take too long, just know that there are a lot of characters that appear in the book which could make it confusing. The main character is Nina/Black Cat and I did like her but at times things just seemed a little too convenient for her. I also liked how the book didn’t really have a romantic relationship in it and it didn’t focus on romance. I did however love the sibling relationship in the book.


Overall I really enjoyed the read even when it felt a little confusing. I loved the setting and the world was really interesting.

I was intrigued to see just how this Les Miserable meets The Jungle Book meets Six of Crows meets Throne of Glass mash up was going to work, but, you know what, I think it pulled it off!

Below the surface of the polished streets of France lies a seething underbelly of crooks, thieves, beggars, and murderers. Despite the anarchic pastimes of those who reside there, guilds organise and lord rules, regulations are abided by, and harsh punishments enacted on those who break their codes of lawless honour. These are inconsequential to Nina, the Little Cat burglar and one of the most renowned weapon in the Thieves' Guild's arsenal. Her lifelong goal has been to save her long-lost sister from a life of enforced prostitution, and now, to save a new sister who may soon succumb to the very same fate.

This was such an extraordinarily complex story-line that brought in many of my favourite fantasy tropes and was reminiscent of so many beloved works of fiction, and yet still maintained it's own sense of unique brilliance. Aspects occurred early on in the novel that had me unable to conceive how the remainder would play out, and scenes of actions were littered throughout to ensure there was never a pause in the pacing or a stall in the tension that dominated all events.

There was so much to explore, both in the forefront and backdrop of the scenes, and I longed to linger in every hidden cranny that this city kept hidden from its upper-class inhabitants. The world below was just as rich and diverse as the streets above and Grant kept me enraptured with her vivid depictions of the two.

Whilst the Parisian setting felt rich and textured, the ongoing revolution created tragic scenery that complicated and dissected the expected format of the novel. It was interesting to see how this historical occurrence impacted these fictional characters and interplay of history and fantasy was endlessly fascinating to explore.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for sending me a copy of The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant. I really appreciate this opportunity. 

The Court of Miracles was one of any most anticipated books of this year, the fact that it is thought to be a Jungle Book retelling really called out to me. I love the Jungle Book and anything related to it. Also, can we please just take a moment to appreciate the cover, how beautiful is it?!?!?!

This book is beautifully written, the writing style is so magical and mesmerising you will struggle to put it down. I made the mistake of starting this book late yesterday evening so I had to put it down to go to bed and pick it back up again this morning. Had I have started it earlier this would have been a book that I read in one sitting, I was so captivated by the writing. Once I dove into the book, I forgot about everything else around me, I was consumed entirely by this world. 

That said, I feel like I wanted a little bit more from the world. Whilst magical and mesmerising I feel like the world wasn't built upon significantly enough. I love the Court is split up into different categories, this really interested me. Whilst I understood the world, to a point I feel like it could have been explored in far more depth to really make the reader love this book much more. I felt that the plot was very quick. Don't get me wrong, I love a face paced, action packed book as much as everyone else but I feel like this is too quick. BY doing this I think the author has taken away a lot of the general world building in exchange for this. I for one, would have liked more world building in the first book and a bit less action in preparation for the next book.

I enjoyed the characters, Nina was so fierce, and Ettie such a little delight. I really liked seeing their relationship build and the fact that Nina will do anything for those that she loved. This aspect of the characters I really enjoyed. However, again I feel like they were under developed and in order to build up a connection with them I really had to try hard. Which is something that I don't feel a reader should do. Yes, I really did like them but I wanted a little bit more which would have contributed to my enjoyment of this book. 

I will pick up the next book in this series as I am very intrigued on what is going to happen next. All in all, this is a good debut and one that I would recommend that people read. It just fell a bit flat for me. I am hoping all of the above will be incorporated into the next book to make a very good, exciting sequel.

Every so often a book comes along that just by looking at the cover you know you are going to be enthralled by the story being told inside.

From the first page The Court of Miracles grabs you and drags you along through a world filled with mystery, intrigue which is so intricately crafted you feel as if you there.

The plot is well paced and the characters extremely engaging. Court of Miracles is a brilliant opener to the series that leaves you wanting more.

There are 26 letters in the alphabet, and around 170,000 words in the English language. Despite The Court of Miracles often referring to phrases in French, there are still no words I can use to explain how amazing this book was.

For the first time in a very long time, I have met a book burning with -and driven by- plot. This is a story some others may have known, and takes a considerable yet subtle influence from Les Mis, but also one totally soaked and dripping with majesty and culture.

The Court is a very different book than I usually read, one where you don't really hear inside the characters heads, and instead feel like you are watching a beautiful period drama. It's painfully raw and expresses the untold story of those truly at the bottom of the foodchain in France. At first I was a little intimidated from how different this story was, but I found myself devouring it page after page, unable to stop reading.

I am dying for a sequel, if there shall be one at all, and am now finally considering revisiting the world of Les Miserables, to quench my thirst of a need from more painfully echoing struggle in this time.

I would recommended this to all seeking a new- fresh story. Something to liven up your day in this trying time.

This to me is what a YA fantasy book should be. It had everything from action, tension building and strong characters. It also has that one that you wish would literally meet a nasty ending!

A very whimsical book that had me holding my breath, giggling and routing for the main character. It definitely had vibes of Six of Crows with the different factions of the groups. The hierarchy in the different groups is well thought out and I loved all the background for each of them. You got to know the characters more and find out who you like and who you didn’t.

The relationship between Nina and Ettie broke my heart. It really showed how far Nina would go for those she loves even sacrificing herself. It was done so well that I felt my heart break for her a little. It made me like her even more.

The book was descriptive and I could literally close my eyes and imagine being part of the story. I so want to be part of the Court especially the thieves, the camaraderie and love between the characters is shining through every page.

From the first page to the last I was hooked, I devoured this book in one sitting. At times the pace of the book was slow but this just added to the tension to the storyline. The characters are some of my favourites that I have read this year.

Highly recommend this book to lovers of a dark YA fantasy, with excellent character building intricate worldbuilding and a magnificent background of Paris.

I at times gasped and I have to say THAT ENDING can’t believe that ending!

Let me start off by saying that this had potential. Truly, it did. It might not immediately come across as such, with the typical YA fantasy name, and being compared to the current most popular books in that genre. But it had the potential to take those well loved things, and make it it's own. The Court of Miracles tried to do this by drawing allusion to other popular literary texts (Les Mis, The Jungle Book) and by telling an alternate history. Exciting, right? Sadly not.

This probably makes me a terrible literature student, but I have never read Les Misérables, or seen any adaption, nor do I intend to. I am also only vaguely familiar with The Jungle Book, my familiarity stemming from seeing the film as a child (I have never read the book, or watched any recent adaptations).

Thus, the many allusions that this book utilised were lost on me. The characters, whose backstories I imagined where drawn from the original canon, were not familiar to me. I wondered, while reading, that if I was aware would I enjoy this more?

And there lies the issue. Should I have to be familiar with those texts to get the full possible enjoyment out of this? Should I have to be familiar with the canon it is influenced by, to understand what is going on? No, I don't think so.

Sure, for fans of the originals - or at least those more familiar than me - it should give them something extra, like the feeling of picking up on a clue the author dropped, but the novel should not rely on it - those allusions to the canon - to make the novel for it.

Thus, that was my first issue, which stemmed in to my others.

The plot jumped around so, so much! From narrative, to the narrative structure, to characterisation! It was hard to keep up, and thus hard to care.

The book opens with Nina being forced to leave her sister, having to join the world of The Miracle Courts that was foreign to her, yet so familiar. It happened so quickly, without any development. Even though there was so much action, which should have been promising me a fast, quick paced read, it felt weak. I told myself that it was just the beginning, and it would get better.

And then there was a time jump. Three months I think? And we are now introduced to a Nina, different to the one we first met in that small instant. We had barely gotten to know her then; and we definitely don't know her now. But she want from being initiated, to bragging about how amazing she is as a thief, and all these dark plans she had.

Which, fine. But no characterisation. No development.

The book goes through several time jumps like this. The next, three years (I think?). And again, Nina has grown in to this character, and has all these plans she vaguely refers to, and all these deep relationships with people...yet you don't feel them. Because everytime one of the sections of the book gets started, and you start to connect, it jump starts again.

And while its dealing with romance, and death, and sisterhood, and coming-of-age, and parental relationships, it hardly holds any gravitas. All these big, emotional reveals mean nothing. The plot was out of touch, the MC achieving goals, to then have them ripped away, to then do something else, to then have to restart - and even though it remained the same (save her sister(s)) it never actually felt consistent. (Probably because at one stage she basically did her goal, and I was like oh. Well, that was quick, BUT WHERE WILL THIS GO? and then yeah. That didn't work out and it just carried on).

This just felt like a very, very, very, very rough draft. It wasn't cohesive in terms of narrative, the plot was poorly paced and not developed, as well as the characters. It's a shame, really, because I felt like this could have been a great book, if only the author stopped to pause and tell her story - rather than race through it.

I have read an ARC copy, and it is my hope that by the time of publication the novel has been better edited, and changes made, to help it reach it's full potential. Because this has it in it to be an entertaining, thrilling read. But right now, it has not reached that point.

Well that was fantastic!

Grant takes great dollops of inspiration from Victor Hugo, an imaginative parallel with The Jungle Book and mixes it all up with a delicious criminal underworld - it's hard to resist the charm.
Everything from the enigmatic characters, gritty plot, and dark humour was delightful.
19th Century Paris comes to life and almost becomes a character of it's own as we're swept along with the story.

And let's not forget Nina, our wonderful hell-cat/master thief/heroine. She's driven by vengeance, justice and a fierce love for her family. I love her.

Just one little niggle though - I felt like huge chunks of Nina's life were missed out and it was weird. One minute we're following the plot along as normal and the next chapter we've jumped years (well, I presume it was years, it's actually hardly ever specified...).
This might be fine, except Grant doesn't do much to catch us up on everything that's happened in between. So while the pace and the tension of the novel was kept at breathtaking speed, I felt I missed out on crucial development of the relationships between Nina and the other characters.
As a result, I basically had no clue how much time had past and how old our characters were supposed to be, the entire novel.

While this kept me from completely falling in love with The Court of Miracles, it didn't do much to lesson my enjoyment. This was one hell of a ride, full of heart and passion and I highly recommend it!!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for an early copy of The Court of Miracles.

I had high hopes for this book and was really looking forward to sinking my teeth in to a new YA fantasy novel but sadly this book missed the mark. It has all the usual tropes of the genre (which is fine) but does not have the execution or the writing style to carry them off and make you want to keep reading.

Sadly this book was not for me but I think perhaps younger audiences or those new to the genre might enjoy.

This story sounded like a great premise until I started reading it. It couldn't seem to make up its mind whether it was in present tense or past and was too disjointed to follow a plot forming. I know it wasn't the final edited copy, but some sentences were grammatically nightmarish. I'm afraid I found this one painful to read and skimmed much of it just to finish.

There is nothing wrong with this book but there was nothing that grabbed me and compelled me to read more. If you enjoy the chosen one trope about thieves in Paris this is the book for you.

This is exciting and fun, a fast-paced easy read. I liked the re-imagining of the French revolution. I found the shtick of the Les Miserables references too much and wished the book had stuck to one re-imagining rather than two. The Les Mis bits seemed forced, whereas the French revolution bits were great. Nowhere near as good as Six of Crows, though.

I was worried that I was slipping into an alternate universe at first, there were so many Les Miserables references. Then I checked back to the book's blurb and found it was described as 'Les Misérables meets Six of Crows.' Fair enough. It's supposed to be an alternate Paris of 1828. The French Revolution has failed and the citizenry is trapped between merciless royalty and nine criminal guilds known as the Court of Miracles. Nina (Eponine) Thénardier has run away from her brutal father and joined the Thieves Guild. She's a talented cat burglar, but her life is complicated by her naïve adopted sister, Ettie (Cosette), too beautiful to be safe in this underbelly of a world. Nina has already lost one drug-addled sister to the Tiger – the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh – so she's determined not to lose another. Her vow could mean setting off a war between the guilds, which nobody wants. I confess I'm not a great fan of Les Miserables, but I'm a big fan of Leigh Bardugo's Six Of Crows. It didn't live up to that promise, but it was still very readable. It looks like this is the first book in a trilogy, but it works well as a standalone.

This book says it’s based on Les Miserables and The Jungle Book. Apparently the title is a song in The Hunchback of Notre Dame? I have never seen Hunchback, I’ve watched Les Mis once (tried to read it once and gave up because I was bored stiff). I probably saw The Jungle Book as a child. In short, I’m not going to be a good judge of whether these are accurate comparisons.

The names and Revolution France feels like Les Mis though. It’s the one I know the best (if only because I’ve actually seen the whole film!) and I could recognise a few basic ideas: the students’ revolt subplot and the fact that Javert was hunting Valjean (another minor subplot). Javert is a woman in this, which was nice but also unnecessary. I’d be interested to see if this becomes a bigger thing in the later books.

I wanted to read this book for the Revolution France setting and the setting is clearly a gritty French one on the surface – considering the language scattered throughout, as well as the titles.

There wasn’t much subtext to the world building, so it didn’t have a particularly French atmosphere. It felt more like a layer of gloss on the story than something deep and pervasive. I think you could have picked it up and placed in any culture, changing the language and a few place names and it wouldn’t have felt any different.

There was less glittering court than I was hoping for. It’s much more dark alleyways and gritty catacombs. There are three palace scenes, all very brief. I would have liked more, but they also wouldn’t have fitted the story well so it was the right choice overall.

I liked it. It’s a fun read that I could read in an afternoon without my attention wandering too much (I was waiting on a phone call, and was thinking about that a fair but while reading). The pacing is good, and there aren’t any scenes that felt like they were dragging or only in there to stick to the original material.

At times, it all felt very easy for the main character. She managed to waltz into any location – from secret guild houses to royal balls – without any trouble. Everyone seemed to owe her a life debt, and I never felt like she was in any danger, even when there was a gun pointed at her or held to an ally’s throats. This really undercut the tension and I felt like I was needing to suspend a lot of disbelief to follow along with the plot.

There are several major time jumps (from months to years) that aren’t well signalled. Even a date at the beginning of the sections would be nice. The main problem was that, particualrly for the two year time jump, the characters didn’t feel liked they’d aged in that time. They felt exactly the same, despite the fact that this book took place over several ages. Ettie felt like she was 10 throughout, but I think she’s meant to be 14 at least by the end. Nina starts off aged 9 and ends maybe 17 or 18? But the voice is exactly the same, with no change in maturity.

I’m not sure why, but I was expecting some magic. Probably because there was a SIX OF CROWS comparison. There isn’t any. It’s more of an adventure/thriller where crooks scheme and steal. No magic is involved at all.

Overall it’s a nice read that will happily occupy an afternoon.

An intriguing retelling full of mystery and plot twists. This book will trick you, it will play with what you know and then turn it inside out.
One will rise and one will fall. There are monsters everytime you turn a page, but which are real?
The book is gripping, full of morally grey complex characters who will find any means to get what they most desire.
It’s the revolution but not the one you know. There is more than one war waging and the real fight is just beginning. I am intrigued to see what will happen next