The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant | ARC Review

A Lush, Gripping Alternate History

The Highlights:

• A unique take on Les Misérables
• Beautiful prose
• Fantastic characters
• Good setup for a sequel

Okay, so I’ll admit it, I haven’t read Les Mis. I’ve seen the movie though! And I enjoyed it well enough, although it’s been years since I last saw it. So going into The Court of Miracles, I wasn’t really sure how much I’d enjoy it if at all. I knew it sounded good, but definitely went into it with a healthy dose of skepticism because I just didn’t know if it would be my kind of book. Well, turns out I needn’t have been worried, because it turned out to be one of my favorite reads in a long while.

The thing that grabbed me right away in The Court of Miracles was just how beautifully it was written. The prose is absolutely gorgeous! It hooked me immediately and I couldn’t get enough. The storytelling itself was equally beautiful, and together it just made for such an entertaining read.

Speaking of the story… like I said, I don’t know Les Mis that well. I know the main story but none of the intricacies well enough to feel like I’m remotely an expert on the subject. That said, I thought The Court of Miracles did a wonderful job of paying tribute to its source material. It’s different enough to hold its own as a great book, but with enough of the original thrown in for even someone like me to get excited any time I recognized a character or plot point, which made the reading experience that much better.

The characters were to die for. Mostly Nina *cough* Eponine *cough*. I’ll admit a little bias here because Eponine is my faaavorite, so getting a story from her point-of-view is definitely something I wanted. And this story totally delivered. Nina was so dynamic, a blast to read, and really held the story. Plus the romantic interests (yes, plural!) were so swoony. Nina is so fantastic that in my opinion she deserved them all and none of them are good enough for her but I somehow ended up shipping multiple ships and this book put me through the romantic wringer, let me tell you. So yeah, I can’t wait to see more of all of these characters in book two, it’s going to be so much fun.

The setting here was really well done, with the Miracle Court and all of its guilds presenting as something that has, yes, maybe been done before, but this time felt fresh and new while reading. I just felt like so much time and care went into the world building, giving the story its own voice while paying respect to the source material.

I really loved The Court of Miracles, way more than I ever expected to. I devoured most of the book in a day, and it’s really stuck in my mind since then. It’s perfect for fans of Six of Crows or The Winner’s trilogy, although personally I think it outshines both of those. If you love Les Misérables or alternate histories, then I promise you’ll love this one.