The Court Of Miracles | Thoughts
4 Stars
Fast-paced and fun read about those who are unseen in one city that has many worlds.
My review is broken into two main areas, Story and Technical.
STORY
Setting | 5 Stars
When the beating of your heart, echoes the beating of the drum...
I loved the setting of revolutionary France, with the accurate nods to important dates and French tales. The author alternates between a heavy-handed retelling of Les Mis and making it into her own, which I enjoyed. We get a female Javert and a surprise Valjean, along with a cleverly re-imagined Eponine and Cosette. It is dark and gritty, showing all the harshness that comes with the underbelly of an uneasy city. The cutthroat brutality and bonds made only by the sharing of similar struggles is well done. This has been touted as a cross between The Jungle Book and Les Mis, but I had serious Hunchback of Notre Dame vibes with the Court Of Miracles and the Law of the Wretched.
Plot | 3 Stars
The plot was a touch rocky, jumping quickly from one goal to the next. I said above some of the Les Mis retelling was heavy-handed; this comes in the form of exact plot points with revolutionary students and Javert's hunting of Valjean. It is fast-paced, so there was never a dull moment, but one instant our MC cares for nothing more than saving a sister, the next stealing an item that will help overthrow a tyrant, the next to helping a revolution. I was fine with all of it as it was exciting, but some scenes glazed over the full scope of what they could have been and therefore felt a bit lackluster looking back.
Characters | 5 Stars
"Nous sommes d'un sang."
I enjoyed all of the characters immensely, those with Les Mis inspiration and those without. The Black Cat, The Messenger, The Fathers, Masters, Lords...There are a lot of different positions and characters to remember, each with their own mystery.
TECHNICAL
Writing | 4 Stars
"Il etait une fois..."
Written well, and for the most part the ideas are clear and concise. I found no fault with the pacing or style, and enjoyed the inclusion of the French language. I also appreciated the inclusion of tales and lines from texts such as The Jungle Book at the beginning of each Part. My only complaint is the ending, which quite literally just stops after the climactic confrontation. The conclusion is nonexistent. I know authors go for cliffhangers but there still should have been more to close out this chapter. This is my main issue with most of the book, as many scenes should have been given slightly more attention to be fully fleshed.
Editing | 4 Stars
Understand this is not a final copy, so there were some errors that popped up that will no doubt be polished away. Going along with my above comment, a bit more development could have gone into many of the transition scenes and especially the conclusion.
Execution | 2 Stars
This got the poorest rating which will drive down my whole scoring system, mostly because of what I have already stated - the story could have used more development. There are solid bones and meat to the tale, but in areas where it fell back to rely heavily on existing Les Mis plot points I was disappointed. I wanted more of the Guilds, more of the planning behind Nina's "missions," more insight to the characters we only saw at surface level.
Overall rating is just under 4 Stars, and I am tentatively excited to see where this trilogy (series?) can go. I'd love to know more about the Guilds, and perhaps even see a story from a member of each of their order. Wouldn't that be fascinating! There is a lot of potential to really expand the universe of the Guilds and go beyond the groundwork already laid by Les Mis' existing framework.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy!