The Court of Miracles Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

The Court of Miracles (A Court of Miracles #1)
Author: Kester Grant 
Genre: YA Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Retellings/Science Fiction
Release Date: June 2, 2020
Publisher: Knopf Children's

 

Synopsis:

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.

The Court of Miracles is a spectacular first book in a new YA fantasy series that blends alternative history and retellings of classic tales. First off, I want to say that I never read reviews of a book before reading and reviewing it myself. I don't want to become biased over someone else's opinions. Another thing I try to ignore is when a book is compared to another novel or series or other authors in the genre. When I start a book, I want a clean slate - no expectations or hopes that it'll be like whatever novel it's being compared to. I want to read it and experience it for what it is and not what it's supposed to be or what some people are saying about it. I always try to go in with a completely open mind so I can fully experience the story for what it is.

That being said, I absolutely loved this book! I loved pretty much everything about this novel. I'm a huge Francophile, so when I saw that the setting was an alternate history of France circa the French Revolution - I was sold. I loved this world that the author created for Nina and the readers. There was so much happening all the time! I absolutely loved learning about this world - the alternate history it had, the different Guilds, the Court of Miracles - with all of it's own history and laws - and because it was set in France, the author uses places and little words and phrases in French throughout the story, which I absolutely adored.

Nina was a fantastic main character and I connected with her right from the beginning of the book. She has to basically change her entire life overnight in order to survive. She's brave, smart, fierce, loyal to her friends and those she loves, and determined to do what she believes is right. She has her flaws like everyone else but I thought it just made her all the more realistic and believable. I loved seeing her character change and grow throughout the story - there are some tough decisions, big obstacles, and serious changes that happen, and I loved seeing her make her way through it all as I cheered for her the whole way. The secondary characters were rounded and pretty believable and I enjoyed getting to know them.

The plot is detailed and intricate with lots of things going on. I don't do any kinds of spoilers in my reviews, so I won't go into the story line very much. If you read the description, you can get a pretty good idea of what's going to happen. The writing was incredibly well done with a quick pace that kept me on my toes and had me reading as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next. I ended up getting sucked into Nina's world and read the whole book in a single sitting in a few hours. Finally, I have to talk about the writing style. This is a huge deal and can literally make or break a book for me. If you read my other reviews, you know that I almost always prefer the first person point of view because of the deeper connection it allows between the reader and the narrator. I was so incredibly happy that the author chose to write the story in the first person from Nina's perspective. It made all the difference for me personally and definitely had a big impact on how much I enjoyed the book. I loved getting to know everything about Nina - her hopes and dreams, fears and doubts, memories, innermost thoughts and feelings, and everything in between. By the end of the book, I felt like I had known her forever and had just experienced everything that happened in the story right along with her. All of these things added up to an amazing read that I thoroughly loved and will definitely be re-reading soon. I'm so happy that this is just the first book in the series! I can't wait to see where the author will take us next. I very highly recommend this book for fans of YA fantasy, historical fiction, historical fantasy, alternate history, retellings, and readers who have a love of France and its culture.

 

 

Kester Grant is a British-Mauritian writer of color. 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.

Win a copy of THE COURT OF MIRACLES by Kester Grant (US Only)

Starts: June 2, 2020

Ends: June 16, 2020

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