Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow

“Is that a children's book you are reading?” was the comment my mum made when she saw this sitting on the front seat of my car last week, there was a slight hint of mocking in her tone. My response was a resounding “yes” and in the back of my mind I was also thinking that yes it was the same series as my 7 year old daughter was reading the first book from. Was there any shame in my response, absolutely not. You see I believe firmly that just because a book is written for children does not mean it should not be read and enjoyed by adults alike because sometimes it's absolutely okay to read something just for the sheer magic of it and to relive the joy of childhood. And as a mum of 4 it also regularly allows me to sound of new and exciting authors and series that they might also enjoy.

Nevermoor was one of my favourite books of this year, I read is way back in January now and it's stayed with me ever since. It was a refreshing story of cursed child Morrigan Crow who is blamed for every single bad thing that befalls the people she knows and on top of that she is told her curse will cause her to die on her eleventh birthday and so on the eve of said birthday she is whisked away to a magical land called Nevermoor by an unusual man called Jupiter North where she is offered the chance to compete in a series of trials to allow her to join the coveted Wondorus society and gain the one thing she's always wanted, a family. I fell in love with Nevermoor, it was so whimsical and unusual and full of great characters and settings that I couldn't wait to get my hands on Wundersmith and was first in line at the library for this book when it hit the shelves.

Wundersmith was just as special as Book 1 and we are right back with all those magical characters we met in the first installment as Morrigan begins her training at Wunsoc, the magical school where members of the Wondrous Society are sent to learn all they need to know to use their magical talents. The only problem is that the only other Wundersmith alive who shares Morrigan's talent is the most evil man alive, Ezra Squall, and people are not keen for Morrigan to learn to use her talent in case she also turns bad. So with the help of her friends, her patron Jupiter and all the quirky and unusual guests who share her home at the magical Hotel Deucallion Morrigan has to find her way alone but people are disappearing in Nevermoor and suddenly she is being looked at as a suspect.

This book is another winning installment in what looks, and I hope will be, a long series following Morrigan's journey through Wunsoc. It was brilliant to get to meet all the great characters from Book 1 again like Fen the Magnificat and Morrigan's best friend Hawthorn. The magical setting is mesmerising and we can see a building story with Ezra Squall which we are unwinding book by book which suggests that perhaps he is not the only dark element in Nevermoor. I unashamedly encouraged my bookworm 7 year old to pick up Book 1 this month afte buying it for her and she is loving this series and we share our love of it together which let's be honest it's what makes children really engage with books when they can share their experiences with someone else.

An absolutely deserved 5 out of 5 for this book and I'd be very surprised if both of installments of this series do not show up on my top books of 2018 list in a week or so.