Tween Tuesday

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

by Jessica Townsend

Publication date October 31, 2017

Summary by NetGalley:

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks–and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.
But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.
It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Confession:

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. 

I kept seeing this book all over the place in the library journals that I subscribe to.  I just loved the cover and the premise of the story intrigued me.  I was thrilled when I got an e-galley for it, and I was not disappointed.  This is such a wonderful story full of quirky characters and a new magical world to get caught up in.  And that cover, who wouldn’t want to pick it up and take a look inside. 

Poor Morrigan, you can’t help but feel sorry for her at the start of the book.  It is very obvious that no one in her family really cares about her and she has no friends because of her curse.  She is resigned to her fate even though she isn’t very happy about it. But once she arrives in Nevermoor and things start to look up for her you can see how resilient she is.  She is also very resourceful and kind brave, but she can still have doubts about herself.  The perfect heroine for this age group.  Her friendship with Hawthorne, a dragon rider, is also fun to watch develop from a chance encounter to something magnificent. 

Jupiter North is a fascinating character and a good mentor and father figure to Morrigan, even though he doesn’t give her all of the facts about the trials or her knack (talent).  His Hotel is a marvelous place that is always changing depending on it’s mood and the moods of it’s residents.  Jupiter is obviously a very well repected member of the Wundrous Society and is away on business most days.  But the times he spends with Morrigan are special and often magical

There are lots of quirky characters that populate Nevermoor and many of them have a quirky talent of some sort.  These talents are not necessarily magical, but special never the less.  There are also some fun creatures like Fen, the magnificat, who helps run Jupiter’s hotel in Nevermoor.   

The trials that Morrigan and Hawthorne have to endure to get into the Wundrous Society were interesting and scary at times.  It was fun to watch them go through these trials and achieve success.  The last trial where they have to show off their knack was the most interesting.  Morrigan witnessed some interesting knacks. Morrigan’s own knack is finally revealed at this trial and even though I had guessed what it was before the big reveal, I’m not sure many kids will have figured it out. 

Overall a great read that I highly recommend.  It is full of quirky characters and some fun adventures.   I hope to see a lot more of Nevermoor in the future.