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unluckycat13's review against another edition
3.0
A fun book. Obvious at times, surprising at other times. The biggest issue for me is that you really are just spending a year with the main character in her magic escape. That can be cute and fun, but the result is that it takes a lot of time for the story to pick up. I could do without the reverence for rich men of industry who are uniquely talented and make society function, but I guess it's a common children's book trope.
No romance was an excellent aspect though, and the main character is a great female lead.
No romance was an excellent aspect though, and the main character is a great female lead.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol and Child abuse
Minor: Death and Child death
readingoverbreathing's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'll admit right off the bat that I had pretty high hopes for this book. As much fun as it's been returning to middle grade and the books that have passed me by, all along I've been searching for that sense of utter wonder and immersion you get reading as a kid, and I guess I shouldn't be as surprised as I am to report that, as an adult, I have yet to find that again.
This book, however, came pretty close.
Townsend's imagination is clearly limitless, and the world she creates here is unlike almost any other. Every aspect is rich with detail, from Morrigan's bedroom in the Hotel Deucalion to the lush descriptions of each and every character to the thoughtful plotting of the trials themselves. Nevermoor is the kind of world any kid would want to live in, full of secrets and surprises and pure fun and joy at every turn.
She also doesn't shy away from some dark subjects, which I've noticed contemporary middle grade has become rather skittish of: death, abandonment, failure, greed, destruction. All are handled with both the lightness and the seriousness that the best middle grade is able to balance.
Honestly, it's actually quite hard for me to put my finger on what really held me back here, beyond the fact that I as a twenty-four-year-old, am not the target audience. I think the main thing was Morrigan herself, whom I found to be rather insipid a lot of the time, especially in comparison to the dazzling world and vivid characters around her. I do, however, understand that that was ultimately part of the point.
All in all, I really wasn't anticipating any strong desire to carry on with this series, but those last fifty pages or so have convinced me otherwise. This truly was such a lovely reading experience, and I don't know why I'm so surprised that I'm already craving a return to this world — more Nevermoor for me, please!
This book, however, came pretty close.
Townsend's imagination is clearly limitless, and the world she creates here is unlike almost any other. Every aspect is rich with detail, from Morrigan's bedroom in the Hotel Deucalion to the lush descriptions of each and every character to the thoughtful plotting of the trials themselves. Nevermoor is the kind of world any kid would want to live in, full of secrets and surprises and pure fun and joy at every turn.
She also doesn't shy away from some dark subjects, which I've noticed contemporary middle grade has become rather skittish of: death, abandonment, failure, greed, destruction. All are handled with both the lightness and the seriousness that the best middle grade is able to balance.
Honestly, it's actually quite hard for me to put my finger on what really held me back here, beyond the fact that I as a twenty-four-year-old, am not the target audience. I think the main thing was Morrigan herself, whom I found to be rather insipid a lot of the time, especially in comparison to the dazzling world and vivid characters around her. I do, however, understand that that was ultimately part of the point.
All in all, I really wasn't anticipating any strong desire to carry on with this series, but those last fifty pages or so have convinced me otherwise. This truly was such a lovely reading experience, and I don't know why I'm so surprised that I'm already craving a return to this world — more Nevermoor for me, please!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
presco's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Death and War
belacewol's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Blood and Toxic relationship
potato456's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death
maeverose's review against another edition
2.5
Disclaimer: I am very much an adult and not the target audience
I wanted to read this after hearing someone talk about the third book being a response to jk rowling’s bigotry, and from people calling it a non-problematic version of harry potter. I expected something better… it felt like hp fanfiction at times, and this first book at least had some minor bigotry of it’s own. Not as bad as the hp books but still…
Here were all the harry potter similarities I noticed:
I wanted to read this after hearing someone talk about the third book being a response to jk rowling’s bigotry, and from people calling it a non-problematic version of harry potter. I expected something better… it felt like hp fanfiction at times, and this first book at least had some minor bigotry of it’s own. Not as bad as the hp books but still…
Here were all the harry potter similarities I noticed:
- Morrigan has an abusive family that doesn’t care about her
- Said abusive family gifted her a terrible christmas present once
- The over-the-top magical world vs the normie world
- Jupiter reminded me a lot of dumbledore if he were young
- The trials
- Very ron-like best friend
- Very draco-like antagonist
- The Halloween and Christmas celebrations
- villain who’s name scares people
- Disfigured (slightly) villain
- Villain who mysteriously disappeared due to being weakened by a fight
Villain who kindly waited until after the trials to make his move Shadowy creatures coming after Morrigan (even once while they were stopped on a train…)
It has the ’bitchy preppy girl rival who hates the female mc for literally no reason’ trope. It has the withholding of information from the mc for no real reason trope. I’m not sure how I feel about the only two Black characters (one with the last name ‘Blackburn’) initially being bullies (also for no reason), even if they did both come around in the end. It was just an odd choice. And the whole ‘Jack faking a disability’ thing was also odd. It obviously was kind of resolved in the end but the whole ‘faking a disability’ idea is a bit questionable. A lot of actual disabled people get accused of faking their disability for one reason or another and that being in the book the way that it was just rubs me the wrong way. This is very very minor but at one point a character says ‘he or she’ instead of ‘they’ and that will never not be annoying to me. I’m also left feeling like the world wasn’t explained very well. It’s probably explained more in later books, but I feel like the first book should give you a decent idea of the world and I still have a lot of questions.
I was bored and mildly annoyed the whole book pretty much. I wanted to read it in full so I could form a full opinion on it in comparison to harry potter, but I don’t know if it’s worth it to continue in the series just for that. This might’ve put me in a reading slump.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Xenophobia, Bullying, Animal death, and Deportation
Moderate: Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Violence, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, and Blood
Eye traumasuspiciouspinecone's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-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
I thought this cover looked stupid. I thought it looked childish and silly and dumb. I thought it would be poorly written with flat, uninteresting characters.
I will never--never--judge a book by it's cover, ever again.
I loved this book so much, it is now my favourite book. I devoured it, and if I had access to the rest of the series, I would devour them too, because I just love this so much. I love every character, I love every concept, I loved it all.
Shout-out to Anna for buying me this absolutely wonderful book. Never would've gotten around to reading otherwise.
I will never--never--judge a book by it's cover, ever again.
I loved this book so much, it is now my favourite book. I devoured it, and if I had access to the rest of the series, I would devour them too, because I just love this so much. I love every character, I love every concept, I loved it all.
Shout-out to Anna for buying me this absolutely wonderful book. Never would've gotten around to reading otherwise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death
Minor: Fatphobia
amaramorgenstern's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Eignet sich definitiv zum nochmals Hören. Die Sprecherin ist einfach perfekt. Ein richtiges Comfort Hörbuch. Das Buch ist allgemein super empfehlenswert. Die Geschichte ist super süß und vermittelt auch gute Werte. Für 10-14 Jährige am Besten
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, and Death
Minor: Abandonment
anselm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.25
The start was a bit slow. But once you get through the first half it really gets going and is an engaging read. It has a lot of heart and defines found family.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Classism, Grief, Death, Deportation, and Child abuse
Minor: Stalking, Kidnapping, Murder, Police brutality, and Suicidal thoughts
victoriousbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Child abuse
Moderate: Death