This manages to be a great Les Miserables retelling by drawing inspiration from the source material in an effective and loving way while also being its own thing. You need no knowledge of Les Mis whatsoever or even to like classics to enjoy this. Having read Les Mis will give away some twists but also delight you with some great nods to the original as well as the musical adaptation. The source contains elements that work really well in modern YA, like nun and thief characters and the upcoming rebellion plot. The book was exciting, made you care for the characters and had some really effectively written moments. Being set relatively late in the Les Mis story line and taking the lead from a certain character, however, made some things not work as well as they could have, e. g. the connection between Alouettes father and Lamier. It is very noticeable that the authors love the source material and they're introducing it to a whole new audience with their SciFi and YA take on it, which I think is such a wonderful thing. It was a really good read and I'm looking forward to the sequel coming out later this year.