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bexthebookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
halfpennywren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery and Trafficking
Minor: Animal death and Gun violence
booktreasuresau's review against another edition
3.0
Das Cover zu 'Der Hof der Wunder' von Kester Grant hat mich sofort begeistert. Ich liebe die Vogelsilhouette, Schrift und auch die Farben konnten mich für sich einnehmen.
Die Sprecherin Marie Bierstedt ist meine liebste weibliche Sprecherin, daher muss ich sagen war ich doch ein wenig enttäuscht, dass ich nicht hundertprozent überzeugt bin von der Story. Das ist aber keinesfalls die Schuld der Sprecherin, denn ich finde sie hat wie immer ihr bestes gegeben und die Geschichte so gut wie eben möglich umzusetzen.
Leider hat mich die Story selbst nicht wirklich fesseln können. Ich fand es zwar ganz okay, aber eben auch nur das: Okay! Ich fand die Handlung alles in allem ziemlich wirr und obwohl das Hörbuch erst einen wirklich spannenden Start hingelegt hat, hat mich die Geschichte nach ca. einem Drittel nicht mehr halten können. Meiner Meinung nach war der Sprung zwischen der ursprünglichen Handlung - der Rettung von Ninas Schwester' - und den darauffolgenden Ereignissen einerseits zu abgehackt und andererseits zu langatmig. Irgendwie fand ich den ganzen Plot total verschachtelt und verwirrend. Wie ihr nun seht, konnte mich die Handlung leider nicht überzeugen.
Alles in allem fand ich 'Der Hof Der Wunder - Teil 1' ganz okay. Leider konnte mich die Handlung nicht von sich überzeugen, denn meiner Meinung nach hätte der Plot noch viel mehr ausgearbeitet werden müssen.
Die Sprecherin hingegen hat wie immer ihr bestes gegeben, was man wie ich finde auch wirklich merkt. Leider konnte auch Marie die Story für mich nicht retten. Daher: diesmal leider keine Lese- / Hörempfehlung von mir.
Die Sprecherin Marie Bierstedt ist meine liebste weibliche Sprecherin, daher muss ich sagen war ich doch ein wenig enttäuscht, dass ich nicht hundertprozent überzeugt bin von der Story. Das ist aber keinesfalls die Schuld der Sprecherin, denn ich finde sie hat wie immer ihr bestes gegeben und die Geschichte so gut wie eben möglich umzusetzen.
Leider hat mich die Story selbst nicht wirklich fesseln können. Ich fand es zwar ganz okay, aber eben auch nur das: Okay! Ich fand die Handlung alles in allem ziemlich wirr und obwohl das Hörbuch erst einen wirklich spannenden Start hingelegt hat, hat mich die Geschichte nach ca. einem Drittel nicht mehr halten können. Meiner Meinung nach war der Sprung zwischen der ursprünglichen Handlung - der Rettung von Ninas Schwester' - und den darauffolgenden Ereignissen einerseits zu abgehackt und andererseits zu langatmig. Irgendwie fand ich den ganzen Plot total verschachtelt und verwirrend. Wie ihr nun seht, konnte mich die Handlung leider nicht überzeugen.
Alles in allem fand ich 'Der Hof Der Wunder - Teil 1' ganz okay. Leider konnte mich die Handlung nicht von sich überzeugen, denn meiner Meinung nach hätte der Plot noch viel mehr ausgearbeitet werden müssen.
Die Sprecherin hingegen hat wie immer ihr bestes gegeben, was man wie ich finde auch wirklich merkt. Leider konnte auch Marie die Story für mich nicht retten. Daher: diesmal leider keine Lese- / Hörempfehlung von mir.
coffeestarsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
thebookwormsfeast's review against another edition
4.0
“This is how it started;
with a sister weeping in her bed;
a child so terrified she sold herself to a thief;
a girl so lovely, the world went to war to possess her”
This book was so promising! I think I may have put just a little too much expectation on it. But I mean, come on - just look at that quote! How could I not!?
I must say, I was it super easy reading, and the last 150 pages or so were a delight. It felt we were finally getting to more of what I expected from the story. Before that, everything is super easy for Nina and it was lacking a bit of depth in my opinion. There are these flash-forwards in time rather than some character development, and a lot of fleeting glimpses of characters with some really juicy tidbits that aren't really explored.
Whether the fact I haven't read or watched Les Miserables, which I believe this book leans on for the setting from the promotional material I've seen, is a factor in my believing there is a lack of something - I'm not sure. With it also being called akin to Six of Crows, I expected a lot more plotting and scheming - and although we get some similar situations, the scheming is rather thin on the ground.
I feel I have been rather negative here, and I really don't mean to be. I did enjoy it - I'm just not sure what specifically I enjoyed. With enjoying the closing section so much more, I am looking forward to the next instalment.
3.5 stars, rounded to 4
lilmonkey30's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I cannot wait to pick up book two. The Court of Miracles has quickly placed itself as my second book in my top five this year!
aprilreads_andwanders's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
Synopsis: 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.
I enjoyed this! It was fast paced (maybe to a fault?) and I was immersed in the criminal underbelly of this alternate French world in no time. I guess my theme here for this review is I really enjoyed it; I just wanted a little more (not scope necessarily but depth)
This is how it started;
with a sister weeping in her bed;
a child so terrified she sold herself to a thief;
a girl so lovely, the world went to war to possess her”
One of my favorite aspects was the gritty alternate Parisian world where twelve guilds rule the criminal underworld. I am a complete sucker for a well developed, imaginative, intricate world and this definitely has the makings and promise for that. We get pretty well acquainted with a few of the guilds, but (and here comes my theme) I wanted more. I want to know more about their history, their sacred beliefs and traditions, which guilds are allies and which guilds clash and why. I want to know ALL the things. Speaking of the world I really hope there is a map in the finished copy and some kind of family tree for each guild would be AH MAZING
There is a well rounded cast of characters and I loved Nina's character and development. From a scared little half pint to the clever, badass, most lethal weapon of the Thieves Guild. I'm definitely intrigued by so many other characters (St. Juste, Grantaire (hilarious!), Monteparnasse to name a few) but I don't feel like I really got to know them. I love it when you have a cast of characters and each of them are developed enough to stand on their own. Where you feel like you know them, their history, what motivates them, their traumas, their quirks. And I think we had the start of that...just needed more.
I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling. The quotes from the Jungle Book and the added folk tales of the mice and cats added a nice little spin. My main complaint here is that it seemed a little jumpy. There were a lot of place and time transitions that made some of the writing feel kind of clunky. I think that things could have actually slowed down a bit and then maybe I could have had my details...my "more" and the pacing really wouldn't have suffered for it.
This is solid a first installment and I will for sure pick up the next book. I want to see where this goes and I want to meet those other guilds!
I received an advanced copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions of the book in any way. Thank you Knopf Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for the review copy!
Synopsis: 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.
I enjoyed this! It was fast paced (maybe to a fault?) and I was immersed in the criminal underbelly of this alternate French world in no time. I guess my theme here for this review is I really enjoyed it; I just wanted a little more (not scope necessarily but depth)
This is how it started;
with a sister weeping in her bed;
a child so terrified she sold herself to a thief;
a girl so lovely, the world went to war to possess her”
One of my favorite aspects was the gritty alternate Parisian world where twelve guilds rule the criminal underworld. I am a complete sucker for a well developed, imaginative, intricate world and this definitely has the makings and promise for that. We get pretty well acquainted with a few of the guilds, but (and here comes my theme) I wanted more. I want to know more about their history, their sacred beliefs and traditions, which guilds are allies and which guilds clash and why. I want to know ALL the things. Speaking of the world I really hope there is a map in the finished copy and some kind of family tree for each guild would be AH MAZING
There is a well rounded cast of characters and I loved Nina's character and development. From a scared little half pint to the clever, badass, most lethal weapon of the Thieves Guild. I'm definitely intrigued by so many other characters (St. Juste, Grantaire (hilarious!), Monteparnasse to name a few) but I don't feel like I really got to know them. I love it when you have a cast of characters and each of them are developed enough to stand on their own. Where you feel like you know them, their history, what motivates them, their traumas, their quirks. And I think we had the start of that...just needed more.
I did enjoy the writing and the storytelling. The quotes from the Jungle Book and the added folk tales of the mice and cats added a nice little spin. My main complaint here is that it seemed a little jumpy. There were a lot of place and time transitions that made some of the writing feel kind of clunky. I think that things could have actually slowed down a bit and then maybe I could have had my details...my "more" and the pacing really wouldn't have suffered for it.
This is solid a first installment and I will for sure pick up the next book. I want to see where this goes and I want to meet those other guilds!
I received an advanced copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions of the book in any way. Thank you Knopf Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for the review copy!
darkskybooks's review against another edition
4.0
The French Revolution is providing some fertile ground for fantasy literature at the moment - we already had Kat Dunn's excellent Dangerous Remedy, and now we get The Court of Miracles.
The Court of Miracles is essentially a retelling of Les Miserables from the perspective of Eponine (Nina) and the criminal underworld. What follows is a swashbucklingly fun tale of how Nina rises in the Court of Miracles (the criminal council that runs the underworld). Nina is a great heroine figure - adaptable and skilled.
The main thing to say about this story is that it is simply fun. It uses characters that we are familiar with from the classic telling of Les Mis and fleshes out their stories providing interesting twists on plot elements we already know. All the favourites from that story are here from Gavroche to Thernadier to Javert to St Juste. It removes a lot of the dour setting of the original and replaces it with a more exciting adventure stylings. What fantasy there is here is very much of the low variety lending a realism to the story as well.
Whilst this is nothing revolutionary in a literary sense, it is a fun retelling of a revolution.
The Court of Miracles is essentially a retelling of Les Miserables from the perspective of Eponine (Nina) and the criminal underworld. What follows is a swashbucklingly fun tale of how Nina rises in the Court of Miracles (the criminal council that runs the underworld). Nina is a great heroine figure - adaptable and skilled.
The main thing to say about this story is that it is simply fun. It uses characters that we are familiar with from the classic telling of Les Mis and fleshes out their stories providing interesting twists on plot elements we already know. All the favourites from that story are here from Gavroche to Thernadier to Javert to St Juste. It removes a lot of the dour setting of the original and replaces it with a more exciting adventure stylings. What fantasy there is here is very much of the low variety lending a realism to the story as well.
Whilst this is nothing revolutionary in a literary sense, it is a fun retelling of a revolution.
sophs_mood_reading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Alternate revolutionary France where the revolution has failed and the underworld criminals of the city of the wretched have formed guilds as part of the Court of Miracles.
Nina (Eponine) the guild of thieves cat burglar has already lost her sister to the guild of the flesh & is now trying to save Ettie (Cosette) from the same fate.
To do so she must enter in to bargains with other lords of the guilds but to what cost.
This is a brilliant alternate retelling of Les Miserables meets Six of Crows, that I could not get enough. Familiar characters wound into a non-stop adventure of mystery and corruption with a touch of desire.
Trigger warnings a plenty as there is no shortage of dark themes so check these before reading.
Read if you like
Historic Fiction
Magical/fantasy realism
Found family
Alternate realities
Nina (Eponine) the guild of thieves cat burglar has already lost her sister to the guild of the flesh & is now trying to save Ettie (Cosette) from the same fate.
To do so she must enter in to bargains with other lords of the guilds but to what cost.
This is a brilliant alternate retelling of Les Miserables meets Six of Crows, that I could not get enough. Familiar characters wound into a non-stop adventure of mystery and corruption with a touch of desire.
Trigger warnings a plenty as there is no shortage of dark themes so check these before reading.
Read if you like
Historic Fiction
Magical/fantasy realism
Found family
Alternate realities
ziyal's review against another edition
2.0
I received an arc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
My reaction to this book is a mixed reaction. One the one hand I found this to be an interesting book with an interesting dynamic. My favorite part would probably be the court dynamics and the court hierarchies. I just found that to be a very interesting element and I enjoyed learning about how each court was set up and just how the court system worked in general, I do wish we got to hear more about the Sisters because they seemed like a very strong court.
The politics of the royalty vs the commoners was intriguing and the only part about that that I did not like was that it seemed to the Les Mis aspect. The whole ball scene and the revenge on the royals was a masterpiece. Also I did not like the royal family when they were talking about how the peasants wronged them when they are the ones who started killing and I really wished Nina confronted the dauphin with all the deaths of the commoners when he was talking about the funeral professions for the nobility.
I also found our main character, Nina, to be an interesting character. She knew what she wants and she goes for it and I really appreciated her protector status that she developed. I also found her dilemma over whether or not she should trade Ettie for her sister was interesting. I loved that internal conflict and all the bits and pieces that went with it. I thought the Nina’s internal conflict of trying to justify selling Ettie to get her sister back was very intriguing and I think it added a lot to the beginning of the story. I do agree with her decision in the end and I think the path she choose says a lot about her character.
Now for a couple of the things I didn’t like. I didn’t like the fast pace. Usually I like my books to have substance and have action, but there just seemed to be action after action after action. I just felt as none of the big action scenes got the time they should’ve or deserved. For example when Nina broke into the prison. She talks of how hard it would be and how no one can do it, but yet she seemed to accomplish it pretty easily. Also there would be pretty major time skips with no warning attached. It seemed that when Ettie was kidnapped the next chapter jumped two years and there was no warning and no time stamps to indicate how much time had passed.
Nina’s development bothered me. We did not watch her grow at all and it seemed she was a master thief to begin with and I don’t think we saw her really be challenged by anything and that was disappointing. We did not see her plan anything and it seemed everything was done on the fly or planned off screen and it would have been really cool to see Nina’s thought process and her working things out. Because the whole deal with Ettie kidnapping kind of confused me. There was also no failure, no learning and since there was no failure and no learning there seemed to be very little character development. And because of the fast pace and that we never saw planning the ending didn’t really feel like the ending and there seemed to be a few points during the last few chapters that could have been better.
I did not like the romance aspect either. This was not just a simple love triangle because there were like three different guys that Nina all seemed to like and was seeming to be pushed towards. Probably my least favorite thing in regards to the romance was that when Nina first met the Dauphin she broke into his room and when he woke up she kissed him to distract him. Listen I don’t care that she was a girl and that she was trying to avoid to arrest, but it is 2020 it is time we stopped having non-consensual kissing in books between characters who don’t know each other because let’s be honest if Nina was a guy and the dauphin had been a girl that scene would have caused a lot of outraged. It was still wrong for Nina to do that.
The final thing I’m going to discuss is Nina’s relationship with her sister Azelma. It seemed at some points she was planning on rescuing her sister, other times she had given up on her sister, and then other times where she was thinking of revenge and not rescue. It kind of confused me, because we kept going back and forth on was Azelma alive and ready to be rescued. I just wished the Nina’s thought surrounding her sister stayed consistent, because I did not like being in a constant guessing game over whether the plan was to rescue Azelma or had Nina just given up on her. With that being said the found family aspect was strong and I did think that Ettie’s relationships with the ghosts was cute.
I was not pleased with the book and I do think there were a lot of things that could have be written or explained better.
My reaction to this book is a mixed reaction. One the one hand I found this to be an interesting book with an interesting dynamic. My favorite part would probably be the court dynamics and the court hierarchies. I just found that to be a very interesting element and I enjoyed learning about how each court was set up and just how the court system worked in general, I do wish we got to hear more about the Sisters because they seemed like a very strong court.
The politics of the royalty vs the commoners was intriguing and the only part about that that I did not like was that it seemed to the Les Mis aspect. The whole ball scene and the revenge on the royals was a masterpiece. Also I did not like the royal family when they were talking about how the peasants wronged them when they are the ones who started killing and I really wished Nina confronted the dauphin with all the deaths of the commoners when he was talking about the funeral professions for the nobility.
I also found our main character, Nina, to be an interesting character. She knew what she wants and she goes for it and I really appreciated her protector status that she developed. I also found her dilemma over whether or not she should trade Ettie for her sister was interesting. I loved that internal conflict and all the bits and pieces that went with it. I thought the Nina’s internal conflict of trying to justify selling Ettie to get her sister back was very intriguing and I think it added a lot to the beginning of the story. I do agree with her decision in the end and I think the path she choose says a lot about her character.
Now for a couple of the things I didn’t like. I didn’t like the fast pace. Usually I like my books to have substance and have action, but there just seemed to be action after action after action. I just felt as none of the big action scenes got the time they should’ve or deserved. For example when Nina broke into the prison. She talks of how hard it would be and how no one can do it, but yet she seemed to accomplish it pretty easily. Also there would be pretty major time skips with no warning attached. It seemed that when Ettie was kidnapped the next chapter jumped two years and there was no warning and no time stamps to indicate how much time had passed.
Nina’s development bothered me. We did not watch her grow at all and it seemed she was a master thief to begin with and I don’t think we saw her really be challenged by anything and that was disappointing. We did not see her plan anything and it seemed everything was done on the fly or planned off screen and it would have been really cool to see Nina’s thought process and her working things out. Because the whole deal with Ettie kidnapping kind of confused me. There was also no failure, no learning and since there was no failure and no learning there seemed to be very little character development. And because of the fast pace and that we never saw planning the ending didn’t really feel like the ending and there seemed to be a few points during the last few chapters that could have been better.
I did not like the romance aspect either. This was not just a simple love triangle because there were like three different guys that Nina all seemed to like and was seeming to be pushed towards. Probably my least favorite thing in regards to the romance was that when Nina first met the Dauphin she broke into his room and when he woke up she kissed him to distract him. Listen I don’t care that she was a girl and that she was trying to avoid to arrest, but it is 2020 it is time we stopped having non-consensual kissing in books between characters who don’t know each other because let’s be honest if Nina was a guy and the dauphin had been a girl that scene would have caused a lot of outraged. It was still wrong for Nina to do that.
The final thing I’m going to discuss is Nina’s relationship with her sister Azelma. It seemed at some points she was planning on rescuing her sister, other times she had given up on her sister, and then other times where she was thinking of revenge and not rescue. It kind of confused me, because we kept going back and forth on was Azelma alive and ready to be rescued. I just wished the Nina’s thought surrounding her sister stayed consistent, because I did not like being in a constant guessing game over whether the plan was to rescue Azelma or had Nina just given up on her. With that being said the found family aspect was strong and I did think that Ettie’s relationships with the ghosts was cute.
I was not pleased with the book and I do think there were a lot of things that could have be written or explained better.