Nevermoor #1 by Jessica Townsend
Published on:  October 31, 2017

If you are very lucky every once in a while you will find a book you become so immersed in that it becomes the real world and the real world melts away. Where you read a scene in the book where it is pouring down rain and then when you look back up you are startled to find that the sun is shining and you wonder for a few seconds what has happened to the rain. That’s how this book was for me.

Nevermoor is a truly ‘wunderous’ tale of an eleven-year old cursed girl that is expected to die on eventide, but instead escapes her fate with the help of Jupiter North, a member of the Wundrous Society, and finds herself in the magical world of Nevermoor. Upon arrival in Nevermoor, Jupiter informs Morrigan Crow she is his candidate that year into the Society where to be accepted she must complete 3 trials and display a ‘knack.’

The Nevermoor world and the Wundrous Society trials are special and unique, but the reader is never overloaded with too much ‘wunderousness’ all at one time. Instead, the author uses Jupiter to help explain the world in his own eccentric way, who almost tells us how things work, but never really does so that we, along with Morrigan, are forced to explore the world on our own and to see it little by little. In addition, the trials themselves and her romps with Hawthorn bring Nevermoor to life and make Nevermoor a place I’d love to visit.

Audio Book Review: The audio book is fantastic. The narrator, Gemma Whelan, gave life and personality to each and every one of the characters. I loved every scene where Jack and Morrigan bickered and the way she made Jupiter sound so eccentric. The audio book does do one thing differently than most other audio books in that it plays whimsical music at the end of each chapter, giving the listener an audible cue to take a break should they want to. I enjoyed the audio book so much I have already made sure that Nevermoor #2 is on audio as well.

Cover:: I wanted to personally congratulate the cover illustrator on such a great job. It was the cover that first drew me in to look at Nevermoor and helped bring that excitement feeling you get when you think you have found something really special. I especially love how the color of the umbrellas and children pop against the more muted background.

All in all, this is an exceptional book full of whimsy and fun. I encourage anyone interested in trying a new magical adventure to pick this book up.