Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow was one of the books I was most desperately looking forward to in the latter half of this year. Admittedly it hasn’t exactly been long since I read the first novel in the series, Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, back in September, but I loved it so much that I’ve honestly thought about the sequel at least once a week since. Now I’ve finally managed to get my hands on it, and it did not disappoint.
Plot summary: Morrigan Crow has been invited to join the prestigious Wundrous Society, a place that promised her friendship, protection and belonging for life. She’s hoping for an education full of wunder, imagination and discovery – but all the Society want to teach her is how evil Wundersmiths are. And someone is blackmailing Morrigan’s unit, turning her last few loyal friends against her. Has Morrigan escaped from being the cursed child of Wintersea only to become the most hated figure in Nevermoor?
Worst of all, people have started to go missing. The fantastical city of Nevermoor, once a place of magic and safety, is now riddled with fear and suspicion…
Star Rating for Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow: * * * *
I’ve been so nervous about starting this book – would it have the same quirkiness, the same loveliness, the same excitement? I needn’t have feared – it totally did.
Morrigan is now a member of the Wundrous Society and classes have started in order to teach the new members how to use their new powers. Only the school isn’t too thrilled about having to teach a Wundersmith and Morrigan doesn’t have too easy a time of it. The schoolroom setting means that the atmosphere of the first book, when Morrigan was going through the Trials, is preserved and the general feel is the same.
The imagination of Jessica Townsend is wonderful. Everything she creates is so unique and quirky, whilst having an over-arching plot that doesn’t feel at all contrived. There are some fantastic ideas in Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow and I have zero complaints about the way any of them were executed. All the old characters are present (plus some new ones), as is the wonderful Hotel Deucalion. I really wish my bedroom changed according how I was feeling…
It does have Middle Book Syndrome, in that Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow doesn’t really advance the plot much, if at all. I feel that this book could be safely removed from the series and no gap would be felt. That said, it was only afterwards that I realised this, as I was having too much fun reading it. In short, it’s an unnecessary book, but a really enjoyable one.
There was a plot point that annoyed me, which is why I gave this book four stars instead of five, like the first. It was one of those ‘you really need to give this information to somebody in authority’ things, and they wind me up like nothing else. A reason is given, so I’ll give the author a nod for recognising the problem, but it didn’t really sit right in my head.
I do love this series and Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow was absolutely not a disappointment. It was only one niggle away from being just as good as the first, and that’s high praise for the second book in any series. I love the tone, the story and the characters and I’ll definitely be pre-ordering the third book as soon as it’s announced.
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