Nevermoor and Wundersmith Review: Spoilers

Everyone who reads Nevermoor: The trails of Morrigan Crow and Wundersmith: The calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend seem to love it, so I wanted to see what the hype was all about and all I can say is that the hype is wholly deserved.

To rate my books I started using G from Bookroast’s CAWPILE system in April and that’s how I’m going to break down my review. In this review I’m discussing both of the books so far released in this nine part series.

Characters

I love the characters in both Nevermoor and Wundersmith. Morrigan is the most developed character I would say but as she is the main character that’s what I would expect. We understand why she does the things she does, she’s a scared little girl who’s confidence grows, and she never feels older than the age she’s supposed to be like can happen in some younger books. She just wants a family, to be loved and to be accepted. Hawthorn, Morrigan’s best friend, is such a cheeky boy, loves a joke, but genuinely cares about Morrigan, and their friendship is so pure. Jupiter North is so mysterious, but it never comes across as him not being developed, he’s vague and is careful not to give too much away. The residents of the Deucalion are an interesting lot, I won’t go into each one individually but Fenestra in particular is a wonderful character, again there is so much more than meets the eye and you can tell they love Morrigan and Jupiter. The ‘found family’ trope is something I really love in any story and it’s a real theme in this series. There is a particular scene in Wundersmith that shows just how much they care for Morrigan when she is having her lessons in the hotel and they are purposely being a nuisance to get her back into the society halls.

In Wundersmith we are also introduced to the other members of Morrigan and Hawthorn’s unit, we see how her friendship with Cadence grows and we get to see more of their knacks and hearing about their classes. We also meet some teachers, and can I just say Miss Cheery so clearly cares for the children in her care, and shows it with how much effort she goes to to make each of them feel valued, I get some Miss Honey vibes from her.

Atmosphere

Nevermoor and the Deucalion are such whimsical places, I was slightly tempted to class the Deucalion as a character as well with how it changes and reacts to Morrigan and Nevermoor itself and the Free State are so magic, it’s like in the film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ when Dorothy steps out of the black and white ‘normal’ world into the technicolour world of Oz. That how I felt when Morrigan left her mansion home with Jupiter. The world building is so done so subtly, we find things out at the same time as Morrigan, and it never feels like an info-dump.

Writing

I think I’ve touched on this in the other sections but Jessica Townsend’s writing is fantastic, her style is so simple and easy to read in the absolute best way. I love her writing, I was invested in Morrigan’s story from the beginning, and the way the story develops is great. The pacing is perfect, there were no slow parts but it never felt rushed.

Plot

The plot of Nevermoor is great, Morrigan is whisked away from an unloving family by Jupiter North to the world of Nevermoor, to join the Wundrous Society by completing the trials. The trials are amazing! They are so clever and the fact that she doesn’t find everything comes easily to her once she’s in the magical world. Wundersmith continues in a similar way, Morrigan continues to grow and doubt herself. She faces new challenges, is left out of classes, is constantly told she will become a bad person. She is made to feel like the odd one out and I just want to give her hug.

The relationships grow and develop, you continue to see the possibilities in Morrigan’s power. The big bad is introduced in the first book and I look forward as the story progresses to find out more about his back story too. This series is going to be nine books long, which I did not realise when I picked it up, for some reason I thought it would be a trilogy, I think it’s because I knew there were two out already and the third is due out later this year. Anyway due to this being a long series I understand that everything is not being given away straight away.

Intrigue

As I’ve already said the pacing is brilliant, the story keeps moving and I constantly wanted to know what was going to happen next, i wanted to know more, again because everything isn’t handed on a plate there’s always a reason to keep reading, the end of these two books was not a big dramatic cliffhangers but I’m still desperate for the next instalment. There are always stakes in the story, either in the first book with her being in danger of being banished from Nevermoor, or in Wundersmith where there’s the threat of being kicked out of the Wundrous Society and the big bad is on the outskirts waiting.

Logic

As this is set in a magical world it’s hard to talk about logic, but everything Morrigan does is logical, the world clearly has rules, the things that happen have a reason and are leading somewhere. At no point in either book did I think ‘why is this being thrown in?’

Enjoyment

If this glowing review was not an indication so far of how much I enjoyed this book I’m not sure what else I can do.

I have totally fallen in love with this world, the storytelling is immersive and real. As I’m an adult reading this I want to live in the Deucalion Hotel, attend Franks fabulous parties, travel on the brolly rail, and be a member of the society, teaching unit 919 (I think I’d go for history because I want to learn the history of Nevermoor myself) and spend my evenings in the smoking room and looking out for Morrigan and her friends. This is a heartwarming tale and an exciting story and I really can’t wait to see what’s next for Mog.

I have stayed away from comparing this to other children’s book series as I actually feel it’s unfair to make the comparisons especially to a certain boy wizard, of course the are similarities, it’s a children’s book about magic, but it’s not the only one. I love both series and they are different enough so far that I think Jessica Townsend deserves to be congratulated for writing fantastic characters in a beautiful new world and an interesting new magic system that I look forward to learning more about.

The next instalment Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow is due for release on 15th October 2020, as the dates have been pushed back a few times due to COVID-19 and I preordered it the day I finished the first book in May.