“Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow” by Jessica Townsend

Thinking Nevermoor was probably overhyped, I avoided reading it for as long as I could. But the book is mentioned so often by bloggers and booktubers I follow that I got curious. It wasn’t until I read the Captain’s review of it that I decided to give the book a try.

I placed the book on hold at my library, which had it on order, and was glad that I was first in line to receive it. I began reading as soon as I got it and was immediately sucked in. I enjoyed visiting Nevermoor.

Genre:

Middle-grade fantasy

Series:

Nevermoor, book 1

Pubbed:

2017

Quick overview:

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow is a middle-grade fantasy novel about a girl, Morrigan, who everyone believes is cursed because she was born on Eventide, an unlucky day to be born. Children born on this day are blamed for everything that goes wrong within their vicinity…or town. (Morrigan is blamed for every misfortune.) It’s also said that cursed children don’t live past age 11 because they die at midnight on their 11^th birthday when the Hunt of Smoke and Shadow comes after them. (Morrigan dreads this.)

Advertisement

Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to All!!

It’s now become tradition on this blog to do a post like this every Christmas day to honor the holiday on Zezee with Books.

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I always get excited when it comes around. No matter what has happened in the year or if I’ve been sad and angry for the majority of December, I always get happy and excited by Christmas. I love the holiday because it carries with it a sense of unity and community, and there’s always a touch of magic in the air.

Each year I celebrate the holiday on here by featuring a bit of artwork that I think captures the spirit of Christmas. This year, I chose “Christmas in Color,” which features a scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling:

“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2” by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne, and J.K. Rowling

I wasn’t excited for this story when it was announced, but, out of curiosity, I bought a copy of the special rehearsal edition when it was published. I delayed in doing so because I wasn’t sure if I wanted a Harry Potter story that to me was not part of the “canon.” But because of the negative reviews it has received, I decided to give it a try.

I unintentionally waited a year before reading it and am glad I did. By then, I was desensitized from the mixture of reviews it had received as well as the hype. And because of that, I liked the story and appreciated what it sought to accomplish.

Goodreads summary:

The Eighth Story. Nineteen Years Later.

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places. (Goodreads)

The Pottermore Presents E-Books, content by J.K. Rowling

Last year, Pottermore collected and published in 3 separate e-books the supplemental texts J.K. Rowling had written about Hogwarts and the wizarding world and its people. Although I was curious about these e-books, I held out for as long as I could on purchasing them in hopes that physical copies would be printed and available at my library.

Last year, I didn’t see the point in purchasing these e-books since their content were (probably are) available for free on Pottermore. However, this year I succumbed to my curiousity and purchased all three e-books because of the convenience of having all that content in one place and not having to click around on a website to find it. (I’d still prefer a physical copy of them, though.)

I was driven to these e-books by my craving for more stories set in the Rowling’s wizarding world. Though these collections do not contain stories, my craving were satiated by the short pieces within them that provided facts about beings, individuals, places, and occurrences at Hogwarts and in the wizarding world.

Hogwarts Tag

Since yesterday’s tag eased my headache, I decided to do another Harry Potter-themed tag. I found this Hogwarts Tag over on Read All the Things. I do not know who the creator of it is.

Am I a pureblood, half-blood, or muggle born?

Considering how superstitious my family is and tendency to foretell events from their dreams (I’m not making this up, though I’m not sure if what my family members foretell always occur), I’d say I’m half-blood, but we’re super secretive about having magic because we mix so much with muggles.

Harry Potter Tag | via Bookidote

I have a migraine and it seems that it’s here to stay for the week, which means I can hardly think straight so there won’t be any book reviews (as I’d planned but didn’t share on here) for some time. However, a painful head puts me in the mood for Harry Potter (not really but any excuse is welcome) so here’s a Harry Potter book tag.

The tag was created by Trang over at Bookidote and the graphics were created by her as well. The only rule for this is that we’re banned from using the Harry Potter books in the answers. Oh boy.

A book you found the theme interesting, but you’d like to rewrite it.

Gilded Cage by Vic James is a YA dystopian fantasy novel set in the present day where some people, called the Equals, have magical abilities and enslave those who lack them, the Commoners. The novel was published earlier this year and has received mixed reviews. Though I liked it as I read, the story suffered from several plot holes that made parts of it unbelievable. I don’t think I’d do a good job if I should rewrite it, but I do wish the story had a stronger foundation.

Friday Face-Off: A Blue Road

The Friday Face-Off is a bookish meme hosted by Books by Proxy that compares book covers to decide which is best. Since I wasn’t able to do a Friday Face-Off last week, I’ll combine last week’s theme with this week’s. So that’s

Last week’s theme:

Like One, That on a Lonesome Road

A cover which features a road

+

This week’s theme:

You Got the Blues

A cover which is predominantly blue

=

A hybrid theme:

Rolling down a blue road

A cover which is blue with a road

Exploring My Bookshelves: A Companion Book

Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme created by Victoria at Addlepates and Book Nerds and co-hosted with Shannon at For the Love of Words. Visit either blog for the list of topics.

This week’s topic:

A book that explores another book by a different author

Harry Potter Book Tag

It’s the Harry Potter Book Tag!! Guess who’s happy? 😀

So there I was reading through blog posts one day when I found this tag on Summer’s blog. Her answers were hilarious and I delighted in reading them. I began to think to myself “Gosh, this would be a great tag to do” when I got to the end and realized that Summer tagged me to do it. Ahh!! This crazy Harry Potter fan was overjoyed (and silly for not checking her notifications feed). Thanks for the tag, Summer! Let’s get to it.

Favorite book?

Uhh, hmm…umm…I think it’s a tie…

Exploring My Bookshelves: Sorry, I can’t trust you with this

Exploring My Bookshelves is a weekly meme created by Addlepates and Book Nerds.

First, you post a picture of your bookshelf (preferably literal but e-shelves work too):

overflowing and messy