[Skye’s Review]: The Court of Miracles (A Court of Miracles #1) by Kester Grant

The Court of Miracles
by Kester Grant
Series: The Court of Miracles #1
Pages: 464
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: June 2nd 2020
Genres: YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC
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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.

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.

I have mixed feelings about The Court of Miracles. On one hand, it was a super easy read. I flew through the book. However, if I hadn’t had to review it, then it would have been easy to put it down without feeling an immense need to pick it back up to see what happens next. 

I will say the last 25% or so of this book was the best part of the book. I didn’t put the book down once. I needed to know what was going to happen and how the book was going to end. That doesn’t mean the other 75% of the book was boring because it wasn’t at all. It’s hard for me to put my feelings about this book into words. Most of the book felt like a 3 star read to me. A 3 star read means I enjoyed the book, but I didn’t love it. Usually, a book gets 3 stars from me when I feel a disconnect with the characters and/or the plot. That’s the case here. Our main character is Nina, also known as the Black Cat. I don’t feel like I know her at all. All we know about her are her skills such as being a successful thief and her cleverness, and that she is very protective of her loved ones. I never felt like I knew her. I just read 464 pages, and I don’t feel like I know any of the characters in this book that well. 

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting. Once I heard this was an alternate version of Paris after the failed French Revolution, I was in. The Court of Miracles is about the divide between the royals and the Court of Miracles. The Court of Miracles is an underground criminal enterprise consisting of 9 guilds.  We didn’t get to know each guild very well in this book, but we did get to know a few. The guilds we learn the most about are the Guild of Thieves, the Guild of Flesh, the Guild of Beggars, and the Guild of the Assassins. I can’t wait to meet more of the guilds in the next book!

My last complaint about this book is that I had no idea what the plot was supposed to be. I hadn’t read the synopsis in a while, so I forgot the whole book is about Nina protecting Ettie from the Tiger. Honestly, in my opinion, that’s kind of a weak plot. Or at least it felt that way to me. This might be because I never felt invested in the characters. 

Despite how it may come across, I did enjoy this book, and I plan on reading the sequel. As always, I recommend everyone to give this book a shot. You may love it or you may feel in the middle about it like me. Let me know what you think once you read it!