The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant

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.Paris in the wake of the failed July Rebellion of 1830 is a hard, cold place. No one knows it better than Nina. When her sister is sold to a brothel, she is determined to win her back, no matter what it takes.




Court of Miracles is a beautiful book. The language is amazing. The story is interesting.

So I hate to add a but, but...

This is a story of two halves. There's Nina's battle to protect Ettie, and Nina's battle to be part of the Court of Miracles. The Court is never explained in enough detail that I really understood it - why is this part afraid of that part? Why do all the groups seem to have several different names? - and the time skips made it hard to understand Nina and Ettie's relationships. They just really really love each other, ok?

I don't want it to seem like I didn't enjoy it! I really did. I loved all the links to Les Mis (can recite the musical by heart, never read the book) although the absences were a bit strange. Alzema is there, but Gavroche is not their brother? The Amis are there, but no Marius? Granted, as far as I can tell from the jumpy timeline, we're still a little before the time Marius should have met Cosette, but that didn't stop Enjolras or any of the others...

I knew a bit about the Court of Miracles, and now I'm curious to know if they were really as organised as presented here or if that's an invention of Kester. I love it when a read leaves me with questions!

I'm very excited to see what happens in the rest of the trilogy. I won't spoil the ending of this one, but I wouldn't have been surprised to learn this was a one off. I'm so looking forward to immersing myself in this beautiful writing again.