Morrigan Crow and her friends have survived their first year as proud scholars of the elite Wundrous Society, helped bring down the nefarious Ghastly Market, and proven themselves loyal to Unit 919. Now Morrigan faces a new, exciting challenge: to master the mysterious Wretched Arts, and control the power that threatens to consume her.
But a strange and frightening illness has taken hold of Nevermoor, turning infected Wunimals into mindless, vicious Unnimals on the hunt. As victims of the Hollowpox multiply, panic spreads. And with the city she loves in a state of fear, Morrigan quickly realizes it’s up to her to find a cure for the Hollowpox, even if it will put her – and everyone in Nevermoor – in more danger than she ever imagined.
I loved diving into the world of Nevermoor again with this sequel. This time I loved the addition of Ghostly Hours, where Morrigan was able to glimpse the past at specific dates and times of the year. I also loved that Morrigan was able to “unlock” another level of the Wunderous Society and improve her magical skills. Last but not least, I liked that this novel focused on wunimals (which were animals with intellect).
I enjoyed the plot twists toward the end of the novel. The tension of the series escalated as Morrigan faced a decision that made her question what was the right thing to do—a decision that impacted her future as a Wundersmith.
I absolutely loved the first two books of Nevermoor but I felt that this one suffered the middle book syndrome. It took a while for things to happen. Sure, wunimals were acting funky and Morrigan was going to Ghostly Hours everyday, but the story wasn’t enough to hook me until about halfway through. It felt like this book was just a jumping stone to get to the turning point of the series that occurred at the end of the book (which was a big one).
The cast size exploded. In addition to Morrigan’s friends from her cohort at Wunsoc and from the Deucalion hotel, she gained yet another set of friends as she began to learn the Wretched Arts. It was all a bit overwhelming, and I felt that there wasn’t as much focus on each individual relationship.
Related to this, I missed the days of book 1 where we saw lots of Hawthorne and Jack, who were my favourite characters. Even her relationship with the father-like figure Jupiter felt diluted in this book.
3/5 fishies!
Even though this isn’t my favourite of the Nevermoor books because of the middle book syndrome and the large cast, because of the cliffhanger ending I’m looking forward to book 4!
Photo by Donald Giannatti on Unsplash
SOPHIE LI 
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