“Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow” by Jessica Townsend

Yeahie!! I’m catching up on reviews. Here’s another novel I completed in May for Wyrd & Wonder, a month of reading nothing but fantasy.

I had Wundersmith out from the library at the time, so I read it for the event. It’s the second novel in the Nevermoor series and was even more enjoyable than the first book.

Genre:

Middle-grade Fantasy

Series:

Nevermoor, book 2

Pubbed:

October 2018

Goodreads summary:

Morrigan Crow may have defeated her deadly curse, passed the dangerous trials and joined the mystical Wundrous Society, but her journey into Nevermoor and all its secrets has only just begun. And she is fast learning that not all magic is used for good.

Morrigan Crow has escaped her deadly fate and found a new home in the fantastical city of Nevermoor. She has also discovered that she has a strange and magical ability. But will her unique talent be a blessing or another curse?

Now that Morrigan and her best friend Hawthorne are proud scholars in the elite Wundrous Society, she is sure that she’s found a place to belong at last, but life is far from perfect. Can Morrigan prove that she deserves to be in the Society – or will an unexpected new enemy ruin her new life? (Goodreads)

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. Although I enjoyed reading Nevermoor, was hooked, and thought it entertaining, I thought parts of it were too derivative of the Harry Potter series. That worried me. The Nevermoor story is its own thing and the similarity to the Harry Potter books helped to make me love it more, but I worried that if the next book and all the others are so similar to Harry Potter, then I wouldn’t like it much. I would instead be annoyed. Gladly, Wundersmith doesn’t have as many similarities to the Harry Potter books, and I loved it for what it is.

Although Morrigan has escaped her curse and is now living in a place where she is accepted, loved, and cared for by those she lives amongst, she learns that because of her unique knack, the larger Nevermoor community might fear her and some of those closest to her might too if they should ever learn that she’s a wundersmith. Although I felt sorry for Morrigan for once again being in a situation where she’s an outcast, I loved this twist. It shows that she didn’t outwit her fate and that she has to find a way to deal with it. It made me wonder who it will shape her to be. She could easily allow the awful treatment to shape who she is and react by hating and resenting everyone, but instead she keeps choosing to be optimistic, to be grateful for what she has, and, more importantly, to rely on her instincts and who she knows herself to be and capable of becoming to guide her. I think that’s a great message and it’s part of the reason why I like the story. But my dark side thinks there’s still time for Morrigan to say “f— all that” and just be resentful and evil, lol!

Apart from that, a major reason why I loved this book is because Nevermoor grows larger for the reader. We learn more about it and in doing so, we (or, at least, me) become enchanted by it. In this way, Wundersmith reminded me of the early Harry Potter books when we were all charmed by the fantastical world as we learn more about Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. In Wundersmith, we accompany Morrigan as she joins her group of fellow new recruits to the attend lessons at the Wundrous Society. The place sounds amazing and so too the lessons, but unfortunately, because of what Morrigan is, she doesn’t have many exciting lessons. I wonder if this is why we aren’t provided with more details about the place. I crave to know more about it.

We are also introduced to more places in Nevermoor, such as the Ghastly Market, where knacks and wunimals can be bought and sold, and Tricksy Lanes, which are lanes that have a trick placed on it, such as flipping a person upside down when they’re halfway down the lane or making the person feel as if they’re running out of air the further they walk down the lane. It all sounds amazing, but I don’t think the world-building is consistent because I still have many questions, the biggest being if Nevermoor is a different country or a different world all together from the one Morrigan was taken from. That was touched on in this book, but I can’t remember the details (that’s what I get for waiting so long to write my review). I’d love to see a map of the world with the different worlds/countries in relation to Nevermoor. I just wish the world-building was more fleshed out.

Despite that, I loved the story. I loved the little adventures Morrigan goes on. I love that the reader, and Morrigan, is misled for part of the story. I love how Morrigan’s friendship with Cadence develops. I love that Morrigan learns more about her knack and becomes more comfortable about who she is (although she still has doubts). The only thing that keeps annoying me is Jupiter. I hate it when a character (or an IRL person) constantly and obviously withholds information, and he keeps doing that. It’s ANNOYING!! I mean, Dumbledore did that too but I wasn’t as annoyed. I think it’s because Jupiter is more present and obviously involved in Morrigan’s life than Dumbledore was in Harry’s. I just need him to be straight up with Morrigan. It makes me not trust him.

Overall: ★★★★★

Yea, I have questions and was annoyed by some things, but overall, I enjoyed this one. It was a fun read and had the Harry Potter charm to it that kept me hooked.

Buy | Borrow | Bypass

Because I want to Buy it.