The Trials of Morrigan Crow, By Jessica Townsend

Morrigan Crow is a cursed child, destined to die at the age of 11 after a short lifetime of being blamed for everything that goes wrong. On her 11th birthday life suddenly takes a new turn when an eccentric stranger seems to offer her a way out of her fate by entering the weird and wonderful world of Nevermoor. Can Morrigan adapt to her new circumstances and take the chance of a new life or will she be dragged back to her dark fate? Owing a great debt to the dark fantasy of Harry Potter, there is also an element of Willy Wonka about Nevermoor. There is too much exposition in the first third of the book – it takes a while to get to the fun stuff. It holds some nice messages about friendship and community and how people live up – or down – to expectations. The scene is firmly set for inevitable sequels and it will be interesting to see where Morrigan’s journey takes her next.