From a New York Times bestselling author: our beloved heroine battles a new evil as a strange, frightening illness takes hold of Nevermoor in this captivating and heart-pounding tale. 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 … 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’ve been reading this series with my children (they’re 10 & 11) and we absolutely love it. We have the print books, and the audio and we’ve listened to them more than once. Although all the books in the series are great, I think Hollowpox is our favourite so far. This story deals with the outbreak of the mysterious “Hollowpox”, you learn more about Morrigan, the Wundersmiths and the purpose of the Wunderous Society (which was very cool). These books are beautifully written, the descriptions are vivid and the characters are heartwarming.
This series is so fun! I found Hollowpox to be really interesting, and even though the book is a little chunky it didn’t lag. I’m recommending my daughter start this series, because I think she’ll love it.
After this great third installment, this is officially my favorite middle grade series of all time. Everyone should check this out. Can’t wait for more Morrigan Crow!
If you’ve read my reviews of books one and two, you know I’m a huge fan of this series. Just can’t get enough of Nevermoor! That said, book three hits a bit harder in the reality department (I know that’s an odd thing to say about a book with giant talking cats and a group of kids who are Tim Burton’s version of the X-Men). By reality, I mean we get to see Morrigan Crow grow up and step out on her own. In the first two books, we are as much a gob smacked tourist of Nevermoor as Morrigan.
In book three, the protective child-like vision of “Hey, things always work out in this Willy Wonka world of Wunimals and flaming trees, right?” is gone. That world we fell in love with over two books is still there in all its glory, but Morrigan learns the hard way that she’s going to have to “do” something instead of waiting to see what happens. And that’s what makes book three shine.
There’s a part of you that will want to crawl back into the cute and fantastical safety of book two, where at any moment Fen or Captain North will jump in and help when things get truly nasty. Not in book three. Just like Morrigan, the reader is forced to grow up. And that makes for one heckuva ride.
In my opinion, the best of the series so far. I saw a complaint that the circumstances of the story was too close to current events, but for me, that just makes it more immersive. There was so much excellent character and world building in this book, and it pleases me that 3 books in, characters who have been present from the first still have the ability to surprise me. Then there are new characters, like Sophia, President Wintersea, and Roshni Singh. They are great characters in and of themselves, but they also lend depth to the characters around them. Morrigan, Fenestra, and Jupiter outdo themselves in Hollowpox, and the 919 crew just gets more and more robust. I can’t wait to read more, and, as a library worker, I will never stop recommending this series to kids and families.