Like many of the great classics of children's literature, Townsend plays with the fallibility of adults. We follow Morrigan as she begins classes as the Wundrous Society, and follow her on a journey about belonging and finding yourself. Once again, Townsend pulls you into a world of wunder and whimsy, and doesn't let go. What can I say except I LOVE THIS SERIES. The magic will give you Harry Potter nostalgia, but the story is unique and wonderful too. I thoroughly enjoyed this and read it all in two sittings, and I highly recommend this as one to just lose yourself in for an evening. Overall, the plot and the magic were great and the characters became even better in this one too. Nevermoor has so many secrets to offer if you can just start to understand it and believe in it, and this is the real beginning of Morrigan's time to explore. There are seasonal celebrations, festivals, dramatic events and wondrous surprises that Morrigan can barely believe. What I loved about this was seeing the streets that changed as you went down them and the markets which were filled with magic and mayhem. Also, there's a whole lot of people disappearing strangely and she is more than likely going to get mixed up in the trouble because trouble just seems to find her. She is forced to attend some mind-numbingly boring classes and yet she is also expected to keep her magic under wraps, and she has to do all of this whilst her guardian is once more absent for most of the book. Morrigan is still very much unsure about her Knack and what she needs to learn about it as time goes on, but she quickly realises that although there are some firm friends who support her, she needs to earn the loyalty of those others in her group. After some troublesome trials in book 1 we know that many of the students were dropped without a chance of making it to the Wonderous Society, but now it is time for the ones who have made it to go to WunSoc and learn about just what they can do. This book continues where the first one leaves off. I think if you like the first you will love the second! There was so much to like in this book, and Morrigan's story felt a bit darker and the stakes were higher too. I think this one gave me all those nostalgic feelings of when I first read Harry Potter, and I couldn't help but to fall in love with the world once again and get emotionally invested in the characters. Wow, this was brilliant fun and in my opinion even better than the first in the series.

Wundersmith