Reviews

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

katiemulcahy122's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It's been quite a while since I started the series, so some of the details were fuzzy, but it was easy to get caught back up in Nevermoor. However, while the first book had that joy of discovering a new world and ended with a great reveal, this one was more frustrating and I felt a bit bogged down by the mystery element, without the tension of the trials to propel the story.

Overall, the vibes were very Chamber of Secrets with a sprinkle of Umbrage, but I still adored Morrigan. 

snharcourt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

nosailamorgan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

pawsitivelybookish's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

jscheper's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

5.0

racheleanne06's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was a good continuation of the nevermoor series and a solid 4.5 star read.

There’s a lot going on in this book. Morrigan faces pressure, blackmail and prejudice while starting school with her new unit AND trying to solve a mystery of some strange disappearances.

The plot is fast paced and exciting, and there’s some gears that are starting to turn, which we will hopefully get answers to later in the series. 

There’s a lot of morally grey characters in this series which I like a lot, you don’t know which way the story is going to go, or who is manipulating who. It’s not clear to see who’s good and who’s bad which makes things very interesting! I’m looking forward to reading Hollowpox to find out more!

saunsack's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

joanna1905's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

asreadbykat's review against another edition

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4.0

True Rating: 4/5

Originally, I was going to say my true rating for this novel was 4.5/5 stars. After all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and seeing more about Morrigan's journey in Nevermoor. However, I dropped that final half star because I realized that as much as I enjoyed seeing what happened...there was so much happening in the story that it felt like nothing happened at all.

In this novel alone, Morrigan has to deal with the prejudice and discrimination against Wundersmiths; the mysterious disappearances; her own powers; and her schooling with her new group. That is A LOT to cover, and while "Wundersmith" is a thick read, it's important to remember that much of that bulk comes to smaller-sized pages with fewer words on it. There simply isn't enough space in the story to cover every single one of those plot points well, and it ends up hurting the story a bit. While a fun read, it's hard to get as fully sucked in because we're jolting from one issue to the next, without getting any real depth to them, and without truly getting to know the newer characters.

While it makes sense for plots to get more complicated as a series goes on, there is such a thing as making them cluttered, and this definitely feels like it. All of the plot points I mentioned could have worked together better, but rather than somehow seamlessly tying into each other, they all felt distinctly different to me.

That being said, I still really enjoyed the book and the world it kept expanding, and it still managed to make me excited for the third one.

TL;DR: Still a fun and interesting read, but maybe took on too much plot-wise.