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The several years of bad crops, coupled with the loss of farm labor due to near-constant war, led many rural dwellers to flee to the city in search of safety and more stable income. Of course, little work was available due to the overall poor condition of the French economy for all but the handful of wealthiest nobles at the time. So those two things collided in my mind. I had this vision that just came to me of Eponine hanging off the side of a building – it was night time, it was a storm. She was exhausted and drenched to the bone. She had searched every window of the whole city of Paris every night relentlessly looking for the sister, the adopted sister who had been taken from her. The Court Of Miracles is actually a retelling of The Jungle Book as well. It’s a lot harder to see [than Les Mis] unless you’ve read the book recently because The Jungle Book is… well… it’s two books and I took all the Mowgli stories. The Jungle Book is a collection of short stories, it’s not one long narrative. In fact some people, when they read The Court Of Miracles say it feels a little bit episodic because that’s how I wrote it. Then there were three guys who had joint power who were supposed to form an equal government. One of them rose to power and his name was Napoleon and he became a dictator. Although he was a dictator who took over almost all of the world, the people of France loved him. [Then] the people of France themselves in a strange turn of events turned on him in the end and betrayed him. Otherwise, he might still have been in power for years and years. And Napoleon is a big feature in Books Two and Three… just saying… I know, it’s amazing I mean obviously it’s my debut so for me it’s like “ahhh, best day of my life!”. Where did the idea for the novel first come from?
The beggars had a clear and rigid hierarchy, with the names of the officers coming from the beggars’ slang itself. The equivalent of the king of the beggars was originally called the ragot, but later became known as the chef-coërsre. The chef-coërsre was served by assistants called ducs. Below the ducs were the archissupots. The archissupots were former students of the beggars’slang who took on the role of teaching the slang to newly initiated beggars. Nina then dedicates the majority of her time to keeping Ettie out of the monster's hands. She has to get creative and make some unsavory allies, but she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the young girl safe.But beyond that, the characters are hardly recognisable as their namesakes. And they feel very much caricaturish versions of them. Each one can perhaps be summed up by a single characteristic of the original. For example, Enjolras is the revolutionary (and not much else), Grantaire is the drunkard, Montparnasse is the knife-wielding one, Eponine is an amazing thief – and these are the more recurrent characters of the lot. It is, quite simply, disappointing. Louis XIV developed a police force, by royal proclamation, to deal with the crime and poverty in the Court by any means necessary. The newly created effect imprisoned many residents of the Court for petty crimes, and, in some cases, solely for being poor or ill. Hospitals that used to serve the more impoverished communities were repurposed to house those committed by the police forces. I was intrigued to see just how this Les Miserable meets The Jungle Book meets Six of Crows meets Throne of Glass mash up was going to work, but, you know what, I think it pulled it off! One of the most interesting aspects of the Court of Miracles was that it was not an automatically welcoming society to the downtrodden. If one wanted to join the organization, or community, of thieves within the Court they had to survive two purse-cutting tests. Thanks to the rigidly hierarchical nature of the Court societies, especially the thieves’ group, more experienced members had the right to set criteria and rituals for new people wanting to join.
In addition to that, I didn't have a good hold over time in this story. When it started, Nina was very, very young, but at the end, she's not. I felt like the structure was: set scene, problem, resolution, next scene, problem, resolution, next scene. It just had a choppy quality to it, in my opinion. I also wasn't too keen on THREE potential love interests. It's rather tiring that female protagonists can't seem to be friendly with male characters without romantic feelings being involved. This made it feel very Throne of Glass-esque to me and come on, it's 2020. Time to move on from these tropes. Overall, I think this book is really pulling out the epic highs and lows of YA fantasy. There’s a lot going on here that I really liked. The vibes perhaps surpass almost anything else; when leaning into atmosphere, Court of Miracles gets it right. At its finer moments, I was reminded of The Gilded Wolves. The bond between Nina and Ettie is sweet and easy to get invested in. I enjoyed the writing of Tomasis, who’s often hard to pin down in a compelling way. Primarily, though, the appeal of this book is in Nina. Nina’s schemes are often really strong and well thought out, and her inner monologue is compelling enough that it’s hard not to root for her. She is genuinely so much fun, the ideal girlboss, and I loved watching her schemes come together.
United States:Knopf/Random House | United Kingdom & Commonwealth:Harper Voyager | Germany:Piper | Italy:Mondadori | Poland: ZYSK | Russia:AST | Spain:Penguin Random House | Turkey:Dogan-Egmont | Hungary: Maxim Eponine ‘Nina’ Thénardier is just a child when her older sister Azelma is taken by the Tiger – the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh. Devastated by her loss, Nina becomes a cat burglar with the Thieves Guild. She’s small and light and can steal the most valuable objects without getting caught. But what Nina really wants is justice for her sister, and revenge on the man who stole her. When Nina’s sweet and innocent adopted sister Cosette (Ettie) catches the Tiger’s eye, Nina becomes caught in a dangerous race to keep her safe. Y la historia en sí misma? La verdad es que me aburrió un montón. A pesar de que tenemos a nueve gremios en un París diferentísimo al que conocemos históricamente es imposible conectarse con la ambientación, con su funcionamiento y, mucho menos, con los miembros de cada organización. Es que, en el fondo, siento que Kester Grant usó a los personajes como simples fichas que podían aparecer a su conveniencia en puntos de la trama. ¿Por qué estaba equis persona allí? Ah, ni idea, sólo se materializó de la nada para que el libro pudiera continuar. Y así no funcionan las cosas. While some aspects of this were interesting, there was something about the flow that was off for me. Young or new thieves inducted into the ranks would serve as the equivalent of an apprentice to a more experienced thief. These apprentices earned a wage, which was unheard of for many of the rural refugees fleeing to Paris at the time. Becoming a thief would have provided a surprisingly stable lifestyle compared to what many of the slum’s residents were used to.
The Court of Miracles is the place where the Roma (Gypsies) and the criminal element meet in safety without reprisal or contempt. Phoebus, after being stripped of his rank and branded a heretic by Judge Frollo, decides to help Quasimodo to find Esmeralda.In the time of a failed revolution, those of the Wretched gather into guilds: thieves, assassins, dreamers, letters and others. All of these guilds form The Court of Miracles which run by its own law.
Disney Characters introduced in Birth by Sleep: Prince Phillip • Maleficent's Goons • Doc • Grumpy • Happy • Sleepy • Bashful • Sneezy • Dopey • The Prince • Evil Queen • Magic Mirror • Prince Charming • Jaq • Lady Tremaine • Anastasia • Drizella • Lucifer • Grand Duke • Grand Councilwoman • Captain Gantu • Jumba • Experiment 221 • Lost Boys When I was reading young adult [novels] a few years ago, it was very much ‘here’s the beautiful blonde princess that we’re all just obsessed with because she’s so wonderful and everyone just loves her’. So I kind of had that prejudice when I started writing a beautiful blonde character. I know it’s wrong but it’s there. I really had to pull hard to try and think of what is loveable about her. Why do we love her? Will she change and grow a lot over the next two books? We really like Nina’s sisterhood relationship with Ettie… I’m a big plotter and stories tend to come to me fully formed. Not only that but they tend to sprout sequels and mini-series and sub-series before I even put pen to paper, that’s just how my mind works. So I already knew how the series would end but, in fact, after that, I got an idea for book four and I think it wraps up the story really well. Although it could end on Book Three let’s say…Final point (I think): this book had a tendency to randomly introduce characters and plot points that had not been mentioned before but are clearly important if they’re being brought up again. Case in point: Cosette. The whole first part of the book is about Eponine and Azelma, which makes sense because it provides the whole motivation behind Eponine’s plans later. No mention of a third child at this point. And then part two skips straight to where Eponine’s plan to trade Cosette for Azelma starts. As in, the point it becomes successful. Never having mentioned Cosette before now, never setting up the plan, nothing. It’s a six year time skip and, in doing that, all of the necessary information here has just been dumped. https://versaillesgossip.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/the-court-of-miracles-and-the-court-of-versailles/ First, a positive note (I know, I’m surprised as well). The Eponine in this book is a damn sight better than the Eponine in the last retelling I read (damning with faint praise, I know, but still). Fireworks: Believe... There's Magic in the Stars • Disney Dreams! • Happily Ever After • Harmonious • Momentous • World of Color • Wonderful World of Animation • Wondrous Journeys
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