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Author- Kester Grant
Series- The Court of Miracles Trilogy
Published- 2020
Page Count- 464 pages (Kindle Edition)
Publishing House- Harper Voyage
Rating- 3/5 stars
About the Author
Kester Grant is a British-Mauritian writer of colour. She was born in London, grew up between the UK, Democratic Republic of Congo, and the tropical island paradise of Mauritius. As a wanton nomad she and her husband are unsure which country they currently reside in but they can generally be found surrounded by their fiendish pack of cats and dogs.
Taken from Kester's website.
Plot
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.
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.
Taken from Goodreads.
Opinions
I found this book through the Illumicrate June Box promoting it and thought it sounded right up my street. I love the French Revolution, it's a period of history that I find fascinating and I love reading about. I've been interested in it since I went to Paris in 2011. I've read a few books set in Paris and France in the past few years, so I assumed this one would be fore me.
I had been on a book buying ban so when I saw this on sale on Kindle for 99p, I couldn't resist. It's described as Les Miserables retelling, a story I adore. It's safe to say I went into this with high expectations even though I had seen that it had an average of three stars on Goodreads. I am very glad I purchased this as a Kindle book rather than a physical one as I'm torn about how I feel about it.
I found that I didn't want to put it down, that I had to know what came next pretty much the entire time I was reading it. That being said I had issues with the writing at time. You could tell that it was a debut novel. The story covers about ten years (I think) Nina's life and the time jumps were written in a very clunky way. There was often just a throw away comment about the time jumps, which as a reader, would confuse you. I believe that Nina was maybe twelve when we first met her but by the end she was in her late teens/early twenties.
Something a lot of people pointed out is that everyone who came into contact with Nina, especially men, seemed to fall in love with her. I wouldn't have minded one love interest, but there was about three and it just ended up being a bit much. I didn't care for the romantic plot line at all. All the romantic interests sounded the same to me and I was very confused as to which one was which.
At times I did find the mythology of the world a bit confusing as you were sort of expected to go along with it and it wasn't explained as well as it could have been. I didn't understand the need for a Six of Crows meets Les Mis story. I'm not sure it worked as it was quite described. I just feel that in the end, this book sadly wasn't for me. I'm unsure if I will continue with this series as to me that book seemed like it could be a stand alone.
Have you read The Court of Miracles?
Carenza :) x
