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.
My Review
I feel like retelling LES MISÉRABLES is a pretty tall undertaking. I’ll admit that I felt skeptical going into COURT OF MIRACLES. Telling the story– or reframing the story– from Eponine’s (in the story she’s known as Nina) point-of-view was a really cool choice. She’s such a compelling character in the musical (I haven’t read the book, so I’m flying a bit blind there.). I loved the idea of sticking with her throughout the story.
COURT OF MIRACLES captures that streetwise, vulnerable but clever and smart girl from the original story. I liked that the story centers around sisterhood, too, first with Nina’s biological sister and then her adopted sister, Cosette.
Also– I love that we have a female Javert! I thought that was super clever and gives a lot of interesting twists to her motives and a need to prove herself as a women in a job that’s dominated by men. I’m curious where that goes.
One of the biggest things that felt missing to me in the book, though, are the echoes of the morality that seems to fill the original story. There’s no one honorable– even Jean Valjean only helps Nina because he owes her a debt. Everyone is out for themselves. And given that most of the characters are thieves, that’s not shocking. I just felt like there was a core of the original story that didn’t carry over.
I think it’s there a little bit in the way Nina remains loyal to her sisters, despite the costs or what’s convenient. She values them and can’t turn her back on them even when it might save her.
On the whole, COURT OF MIRACLES delivers a gritty cast of characters inspired by LES MIS and reminding readers of the power of sisterhood, loyalty, and courage.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation Nina and her sister have olive-toned skin which they inherited from their mother.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Mild profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content None.
Violent Content References to torture and cannibalism. Members of each guild receive some kind of brand or scar that marks them as a guild member. One guild master enslaves girls for prostitution, keeping them drugged and addicted to drugs to control them.
Battles and situations of peril with some graphic descriptions.
Drug Content References to drinking wine socially. Scenes show girls addicted to and high on opiates.
Note: I received a free copy of THE COURT OF MIRACLES in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog.
I love my sisters. I have two of them who live much too far away, and recently, when I watched the new movie Little Women, I ugly cried through scene after scene missing them both like crazy.
So, in honor of these two amazing, fierce, strong women, here’s a list of books in which the relationship between sisters is a driving force in the story. They may not always be on the same page or the same side, but ultimately, each wants to protect her sister. Each sees amazing things in her sister and shares a bond that no one outside it understands.
Note: Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This post contains affiliate links which don’t cost you anything to use but generate a small amount of support for this blog.
What if the Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale had a twin sister determined to undo the deal she’d made with the sea witch? That’s pretty much the starting point of SEA WITCH RISING, and I really enjoyed that twist on the familiar story.
Henning creates characters that are somehow both hero and villain. They make dangerous promises, take huge risks, but always out of a desperate love for others. It adds a lot of layering and drama to the story. I think SEA WITCH is my favorite of the duology, but I enjoyed both.
I remember reading this book really fast and feeling like it was like being on a roller coaster as it pulls you up to the top of the highest point, and all the adrenaline and anticipation is building and building as you go higher and higher. It’s one of those books that takes you to the brink and then you unravel what will happen, and I loved it.
Watching Nell try to navigate through the change in her sister’s behavior is so heartbreaking and real. I loved that she wouldn’t give up on the relationship she had with her sister.
I can’t imagine the heartbreak of losing a sister, especially losing one in your teens. For Zara, it’s clearly left a giant hole in her heart, and she will not rest until she learns what happened to her sister.
Originally, Laila’s death is ruled an overdose, but Zara uncovers too many weird and suspicious things to accept that story at face value. But as she looks deeper, she stumbles onto a closed group of powerful and dangerous people, and soon she’s caught in a game where she doesn’t know the rules.
It’s a twisty, tingly crazy ride through this story, but Zara’s goal never wavers. She needs to know what happened to her sister, no matter what. I like to think I would feel the same. That if something strange happened to one of my sisters, I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew what happened.
You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Twin sisters, total opposites in lots of ways, but one thing binds them together: the shared agony of watching their mother’s battle with Huntington’s disease. When both sisters are tested, the results only strain their relationship further. One girl tests positive, the other negative.
I found the sisters’ divergent ways of dealing with stress and anxiety really believable, and kept rooting for the bond of their sister relationship to be an anchor they could each come back to, no matter what.
You knew I was going to include this one, right? 🙂 Lia Mara has a tricky relationship with her family, particularly her sister, who has been chosen to rule after their mother. Actually, their relationship reminded me a lot of GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson, which should be on this list as well.
Since the story has other viewpoints and other goals, you might think Lia Mara and her sister don’t factor in very heavily, but there are some critical moments when the dynamics between Lia Mara and her sister drive the story forward or become the hinge that changes its direction.
Sisters and secret, always a volatile combination, and never moreso than when two sister goddesses are involved. In THE NEVER TILTING WORLD, Haidee and Odessa must deal with the fallout of choices made by their mothers, two sisters, who split the world in two and stopped it from spinning on its axis. (If you’re already bothered by the science of what that would mean, all I can say is willing suspension of disbelief.)
I liked that the sisters were kind of the origin of the story and that basically everything hinged on choices they made.
The sisters in VANISHING GIRLS have a complex relationship. While Nick cares a lot about her sister, she also has some guilt and feelings of resentment toward her that she’s having a really hard time working through. There’s lots to unpack in terms of emotional and psychological elements.
While it wasn’t my favorite book, I enjoyed the dynamics between the sisters and watching Nick struggle to make sense of her feelings and Dara’s behavior. It’s definitely one of those books where you get to the end and have to think back through what’s happened before and factor in new information. I tend to love those types of stories, but I think the pieces never quite clicked into place for me with this one. I wonder if it would be different if I read it again knowing what to expect? Not sure.
Empress of Flames by Mimi Yu (which inspired this list)
In EMPRESS OF FLAMES, sisters Lu and Min, will face off, an army between them, each determined to rule the Empire of the First Flame. The sisters are really different from each other and want the throne for slightly different reasons. What’s going to be interesting will be the clash of their desire to rule versus their love for each other.
Note: I included this book in an earlier Top Ten list, which inspired me to create my sister books list.
Scarlett and Tella, Tella and Scarlett. Though this story is ultimately Scarlett’s tale, the thing that drives her forward is the search for her missing sister. Her whole life plan is to do whatever it takes to make sure Tella is safe and protected.
Of course, Tella herself often does everything possible to thwart those plans, but not because she doesn’t love Scarlett. More because she sees Scarlett as having a value beyond her role as caretaker and big sister, and she does what she does to challenge Scarlett to imagine a life for herself. To risk loving someone and being loved.
Which is, of course, just one of the things I love about this series.
If you haven’t read SADIE, it’s about a girl whose sister has been murdered. The driving force for Sadie is to find her sister’s killer– something the police don’t seem to be actually able to do. She’s willing to give up anything and everything in order to bring the murderer to justice.
It’s gritty and dark, but one of the things I love about it is that the author purposely excludes scenes depicting Mattie’s murder. Here’s a quote from my Q&A with Courtney Summers in which she talks about what inspired her to write the book:
“One of the things that inspired Sadie was the way we consume violence against women and girls as a form of entertainment. When we do that, we reduce its victims to objects, which suggests a level of disposability–that a girl’s pain is only valuable to us if we’re being entertained by it. What is our responsibility to us? I really wanted to explore that and the way we dismiss missing girls and what the cost of that ultimately is.”
Do you have a favorite sister book?
What books have you read that feature an unforgettable sisterhood? Share them in the comments! I would love to read more books about sisters.
For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…
Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.
Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.
In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.
My Review
I liked Nor’s character straight from the beginning. Her protectiveness toward her family and her closeness with her sister make her an admirable character. Her spirit and thirst for adventure keep her at the center of her story as a heroine rather than the trade goods her people hope to make of her.
Besides Nor, other characters are pretty straightforward. The good guys are very good. The bad guys are very bad. I kept hoping for some hidden complexities, but that wasn’t really the direction the story took. I’m not sure I understood the plot. It felt out of focus to me. I felt like Nor’s goal gets overshadowed by other events, and fizzled a little bit as the story ended.
I found the clash of the two cultures– Nor’s oceanic people and Ceren’s mountain-dwelling people– really creative and interesting. Nor’s life at sea gave her a lot of freedom and vitality. Her new life in the mountain felt oppressive, dark, and creepy, even before all of the politics and people added complications. I thought the way CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL clashed those two cultures added a lot of feeling to the story and was cleverly done.
On the whole, I felt like the story world was cleverly created and Nor is a fantastic character. I’m glad I read the book, even if I wanted more complexity in its other characters. Fans of SEA WITCH RISING will like CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL for its cross-culture story and its emphasis on the unbreakable bond of sisterhood.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 12 up.
Representation Nor and her sister have bronze skin and dark curly hair. The Ilarans are pale with blond hair.
Profanity/Crude Language Content Mild profanity used infrequently.
Romance/Sexual Content Brief kissing between boy and girl.
Spiritual Content Nor’s people worship the god of the sea, Thalos, who is said to have punished those who don’t submit to his will.
Violent Content Assassins attack a small group. Nor battles a monster and faces torture. A woman jumps from a cliff. A woman hits a soldier over the head and stabs someone.
Drug Content Nor is encouraged to drink alcohol to help her sleep.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support the costs of running this blog. I received a free copy of CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL in exchange for my honest review.
In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller, Camille, her sister Edel, and her guard and new love Remy must race against time to find Princess Charlotte. Sophia’s Imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep the rebels from returning Charlotte to the castle and her rightful place as queen.
With the help of an underground resistance movement called The Iron Ladies-a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative newspaper The Spider’s Web, Camille uses her powers, her connections and her cunning to outwit her greatest nemesis, Sophia, and restore peace to Orleans.
My Review
I was a little hesitant to read THE EVERLASTING ROSE because a friend reviewed it and didn’t really like the writing and dialog. Based on her review, I kind of expected it to be trite or annoying or something, but I wanted to give it a try.
And I’m so glad I did. I fell in love with the story world and all its fantastical, steampunk elements. I loved the little floating lanterns and mini blimps and OMG the teacup dragons!
Camille won me over immediately, with her love for her Belle sisters and her desire to protect them and rescue those in danger. Even her anger felt easy to identify with. The story moves along at a quick pace, and Camille never wavers from her goal. I found myself staying up too late trying to fit in just one more chapter before going to bed because I really wanted to know what happened next.
My only difficulty was that I wasn’t already familiar with the story world, so I sometimes felt a little confused about some of the ways the Belle system worked. I’m not sure I understand the use of the leeches or how the Belles rebalanced their arcana. So I wish I’d read THE BELLES before THE EVERLASTING ROSE.
In terms of language and romance, this is a pretty mild book. Readers should be aware that two characters die by suicide on scene in the book, and the story does reference torture. Read the content section for more details.
Fans of THE RUBY AIRSHIP by Sharon Gosling should check out THE EVERLASTING ROSE.
Representation Camille and some other characters have brown skin. Some minor characters are gay.
Recommended for ages 12 up.
Profanity/Crude Language Content None.
Romance/Sexual Content Kissing between boy and girl. At one point Camille sleeps in bed with a man, but it’s less romantic and more hiding from certain death.
Spiritual Content Many gods and goddesses exist in the heavens, disconnected from earth. They’ve left various favors behind – including the existence of the Belles. Another favor is teacup pets – tiny versions of animals like dragons or elephants.
Belles have arcana in their blood which gives them power to do magic. They mostly use this power to perform beauty treatments on others.
Violent Content and Trigger Warning – suicide Sophia tortures her enemies (happens off-scene, but Camille witnesses the results). Camille witnesses two characters suddenly commit suicide. It happens quickly, but it’s shocking to the reader and devastating to Camille.
Drug Content Sophia gets drunk on champagne.
Note: I received a free copy of THE EVERLASTING ROSE in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost the reader anything when used but which help cover the costs of running this blog and occasionally provide an efficient caffeine delivery system for the blogger.
