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.
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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.
I want to start this review by saying how much I love the cover! It gives me very Phantom of the Opera mixed with old graveyard vibes. It's a weird combination, but it totally worked for this book. Unfortunately, the blurb's comparisons were a bit misleading. Originally, the book was promoted as being a mixture of Les Misérables and The Jungle Book. Other than the quotes, this book didn't resemble The Jungle Book at all. Additionally, the names were the only similarities to Les Misérables, and I think this story would have benefitted from not comparing itself to other books.
If the author had simply changed the character's names, I believe this book would have told a very different story with an incredibly unique perspective. I think comparing it to other well-known stories actually diminished its effectiveness. I was too caught up on comparing the characters in this "retelling" to those in Les Misérables, and it detracted from my overall enjoyment. Yes, the setting takes place at the same time, but I think telling the story from a different angle would have been enough to make this one worth reading on its own.
The imagery was vivid, although I wish the author had given us more details about the other courts. They're all very fascinating, and I would have loved to spend more time within their walls learning how they functioned in a city that didn't care about them. The history surrounding the separate guilds was also very interesting, and I would have liked for that to have been expanded on as well.
The Court of Miracles speeds along from one thing to the next, so you barely have time to take in information before being hurtled into something else. This book kept me turning the pages, because I always felt like I was on the verge of learning something important. I needed to know how the story unfolded, despite feeling like I couldn't keep up with the main character and what she was trying to do. The writing was also lovely and engaging, which contributed to keeping me invested.
I do think the author tried to cram a lot of information into this one, and think a slower pace would have benefitted the world-building and character development. There are so many characters in this book, it was often hard to keep track of who was doing what, especially with the unexplained time jumps (which I think were there simply to age the main character). I'm also not a fan of the direction the author chose at the end, since it seemed to go against everything Nina stood for, but it was something that was somewhat eluded to from the start. I feel very conflicted about it.
The love square was also incredibly obnoxious, and not at all believable. The prince is infatuated with her because she doesn't respect him? He thinks her honestly and disdain are refreshing, so obviously they're going to be friends that fall in love (his thoughts, not hers). She says he's annoying, but she's also fond of him for reasons even she can't explain. Then there's Montparnasse, an Assassin that respects her and her abilities, but also feels the need to kill people if she's hurt. He supposedly doesn't show or express his feelings (so how did anyone know what they were?), and his attraction to her really didn't make sense. Her relationship with St. Juste was also weird and unnecessary. They would've been better off as friends, especially since they were always doubting the sincerity of the other. It was a lot.
I think The Court of Miracles tried too hard to emulate other popular books, despite having the potential to be a solid story on its own. (★★★⋆☆) This book also contains content regarding sex trafficking, rape, kidnapping, child abuse, genocide, murder, death, physical and verbal abuse.
