The growing chasm between the children of the City and Those That Walk by Day leads to violence. While the wretched toil in the filth and the night, the wealthy travel past in gilded carriages and throw ostentatious fetes. In the wake of the failed French Revolution, the city is under the ruthless rule of the nine criminal guilds. Nina is a talented cat for the thieves’ guild, but when her little sister, Ettie, catches the lord of the flesh guild’s eye, she must find a way to save them both. The fight leads her through a line of shifting allegiances and searing betrayals, that take her from the criminal underground to the Chatelet and the Dauphin himself.
I have to admit, this is the first adaptation of Les Miserables I’ve read, and it wasn’t quite what I expected. I loved the original book, so I found myself trying to match up the events and characters and fell short. The Court of Miracles may have been inspired by Les Mis, but it is a story that stands for itself. It is dark. It is violent. And the danger and tension build with each turn of the page.
The Court of Miracles is heist fiction masquerading as a historical retelling. It grabs you on the first page and drags you along for a dark and deadly ride through the streets of Paris, the halls of the Chatelet, and the courts of the wretched.
I recommend this book to readers who like Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni, and The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi.