The Trials of Morrigan Crow

it took a whole month and a half to read but mama i made it.

The introduction to the new world and cast of characters is done incredibly well. The characters are distinct, and the relationships develop in a very natural way over a realistic amount of time. The emotions feel very real. The pacing is perfect, and the overall intrigue remains present throughout the entire book. I figured out the character “twist” right away, which is to be expected since I'm considerably older than the target audience. However, I was so engrossed in Morrigan's emotional journey that the big reveal took me completely by surprise! That's how you know a middle grade book is well done. It accomplishes everything it sets out to do and much more.

This is absolutely a book I will be revisiting and a series I will continue. I wish Morrigan Crow had been around when I was a kid.

Loved it. Simply that. A video review is coming soon :D

I had a great time with this. Middle grade fantasy is so, so good when done right. And Townsend really did it right. The Trials of Morrigan Crow is the perfect blend of common tropes and refreshingly different. You can tell how much the author thinks of her readers. Morrigan is a fascinating protagonist, relatable for any who tend to blame themselves or feel undeserving. The secondary characters add a lot to plot and tone. The comic relief is well-timed and actually funny (Mog!). Townsend builds tension slowly, while keeping the stakes low enough that the reading experience isn't too stressful or bleak for the target age group.It's just a lot of fun. It will warm your heart and make you laugh out loud. But it also tackles heavier themes, like negative self-image, sense of belonging, and free will. It sets itself up nicely for a [b:sequel 36260006 Wundersmith The Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #2) Jessica Townsend https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1534386703s/36260006.jpg 57912592], which I can't wait to read.

4 stars I love Morrigan! I hate her family! I'm a sucker for the ‘found family' trope so this was right up my alley :)

This was really unexpected begining of a new series. Nevermoor is a place where you desperately want to live and want to return, no matter your age. Highly recommended for everybody! Reminds a combination of Harry Potter, Magisterium and The Testing.

I loved this book! What a fun read!!

There was a time, before the stories hit the big screen and the secret got out, where a small collection of avid book lovers fell in love with a little character called Harry Potter. Not everyone knew about the secret and when you read the books you got the opportunity to build the Wizarding World in your own imagination before the iconic faces of Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson were assigned to the roles of Harry and Hermione. It was a magical time and one difficult to recreate and yet here I think Jessica Townsend may have done just that.

The Trials of Morrigan Crow, the first in her new series Nevermoor, is a children's fiction novel about 10 year old Morrigan who has been classed as a cursed child for her whole life and held accountable for everything that goes wrong in her home town. Morrigan also lives with the knowledge that on her eleventh birthday she will die because that is just what happens to cursed children. However, on the eve of her 11th birthday a stranger by the name of Jupiter North bursts into her world and helps her cheat death by magicking her away to the mysterious world of Nevermoor.

Nevermoor is a world full of unusual sights and sounds, a huge cat who can talk, a hotel where the rooms adapt to create the room you would love the most, Vampire Dwarf's and a strange society known as the Wundrous Society where each year children compete to join their ranks through completion of 4 unusual magical trials. Morrigan finds herself thrust into the trials for the Wundrous society with the help of her patron Jupiter but the road ahead will not be easy.

This book was something really very special, from the very first chapter it is full of magical innocence. The world Townsend creates in Nevermoor is full of colour and magic and amazing characters that you fall in love with. Morrigan is a wonderful lead character, she is a child who has been devoid of affection and love in her home life but finds warmth and friendship in Nevermoor's colourful characters. Her relationship with her patron Jupiter is one that will be full of mystery but you hold faith with Jupiter's belief in our heroine and his amazing strength to pull her through.

I flew through this book, I couldn't stop reading, each chapter is so full of new discoveries about the world of Nevermoor and gives you plenty of characters to cheer for and those you just distrust and dislike on sight plus with the mysery of the strange Mr Jones who keeps appearing and offering Morrigan a change to form an alliance with his mysterious boss Ezra Squall there is much to engage us plotwise.

Book 2 in this series is scheduled for release later this year and I cannot wait to read it. I have a feeling that like Harry Potter once this reaches the awareness of the general public it has the potential to become iconic.

What an absolutely wonderful, magical book. Jessica Townsend has a great talent for world-building, creating in Nevermoor the same sort of fantastical, delightful details that readers loved so much in Harry Potter.

This was such a fun read! Yes it's a middle grade book ( Judge me!). I initially looked at it because I saw Morrigan Crow so no matter the synopsis (or reading level) I was going for it. Great world building, storyline, characters. Very much looking forward to the next one...whenever that comes out :(

This is a spoiler-free review
Read on In The Sheets

Whimsically Wonderus.

Where to being with Nevermoor? So often we hear books being compared to other series as “the next big thing. No, really! It's just like “. We then nod politely, roll our eyes, think nothing could ever be the next  and continue about our day.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that Nevermoor is the next Harry Potter, or Hunger Games, or whatever Divergent was, but I am gonna tell you that there will be movies, there will be hype, it will be successful, and one day someone will tell you that the book they just read is definitely the next Nevermoor and you'll nod politely, roll your eyes, and continue about your day.

Nevermoor doesn't try to be anything else. It's perfectly written, it never slows down, nor do you ever lose interest. You forget you're even reading and it's suddenly 2am.

There are certainly tropes used in Nevermoor, but they feel less overdone or like stealing from other series, and more like subtle nods to the people and series who inspired the author. It's confidant. It knows what it is and what's it doing, and it knows it can hold it's own while still including those nods. It's written in such a way that you recognize the nods and you laugh and you can just tell that Jessica had a blast writing this book. Her personality and humor comes through in her writing and it only adds to story. You can tell she just loves the universe and all of the characters living in it.

You can compare parts Morrigan Crow to a bunch of different characters from other series we love, as you can with Jupiter, but you can't compare them to any one character because there are no other characters exactly like them. They're charming, you care about them. They grow and evolve throughout the book, and it's just such a treat.

What surprised me and delighted me the most about Nevermoor was the subcontext throughout it, little life lessons if you will. The book refers to politics, immigration laws, gender roles, and misogyny, and handles those many difficult topics, with elegance and grace. They're like little seeds of thought subtly planted throughout the book. I'm just smitten. Never have I read a book, especially a “children's fantasy” book, that felt so exactly right to the times. These are the seeds of thought that the world needs right now, and it's just done so well.

I know I'm on this long tangent, I haven't even talked about the plot of the book and, honestly, I sort of don't want to. Every other review and the synopsis will do that for me.

I'm rating this book an easy 5 stars. It's one of those reads where you put the book down and you question every other 5 star rating you've ever given. This is truly a 5 star read.

Happy Hallowmas! (God, I love Halloween! This book is so good. It may have just been secretly written for me, I can't say for sure.)

P.S. I think I may have caught subtle nods to Monty Python and Star Wars? I could be crazy, they may not have been on purpose, but if they were, I see what you did there, Jessica! Even if they weren't on purpose they still made me laugh.