Hello my friends, I hope you are all doing well. I know I shouldn’t apologize but at the same time… I feel like I should say something to address how this readalong turned out. I can’t believe I started this book in September and finished it in November. It’s mind boggling considering how big the font was in this book.
I don’t really read middle grade and this was the first middle grade book I picked up in a long time so I don’t know how to compare it with others in terms of quality. That’s why, I’m going to be mainly just discussing how I feel and maybe I’ll discuss it more analytically once I read more middle grade. As of now, if I was to rate this book, I’d give it three stars.
I think the length of time it took me to finish this book really had an effect on my enjoyment of it. In the beginning, I was wooed. A goofy man named Jupiter North, a dark and witty young girl who’s not ready to fake it for you, a hotel that changes everyday, I loved it all. I loved how whimsical and magical the world was yet how real the characters were, especially Morrigan.
Overtime though, I think I started to get a bit tired of the story? It got a bit repetitive, Morrigan going on trials, not knowing anything, being told they’ll be told everything soon, and soon just never actually being soon. And when the reveals started unfolding, I ended up liking many of them but I was waiting so long for answers that I felt like I could have loved them even more and they kind of felt anticlimactic.
I think the writing felt a bit surface level but I don’t know if this is just a middle grade thing? I don’t think you need a ton of prose to make a scene or plot deep and complex. Subtly is charming, and often times, this book was charming in how it addressed darker topics such as being unwanted by your own family, wanting to be wanted, and people literally celebrating your death. It’s a lot for a middle grade and the subtle way Townsend addressed all this for middle graders to comprehend, hit me, an older reader, in a whole new way. It somehow felt more powerful? Can you imagine, living your life knowing that you’re living it in a world that has a countdown for your death? Can you imagine living a life in which everything is leading up to a death people who are supposed to love you are looking forward for? And this is exactly why I really appreciate Morrigan Crow as a character. The way she handles all this while still being so head strong and unwavering in who she is just refreshing and lovely.
I liked Jupiter North in the beginning but towards the middle, when things started to just feel really repetitive, his care free attitude and spunkiness wore out for me. I understand that a lot went on in the background but since we didn’t get to see all that, I felt like his quirkiness and attitude just came off as carelessness, not as amusing as it was in the beginning, and a bit irresponsible at times.
Towards the end of the book though, I started to get back into it and my reading experience took a turn for the better. The tension increased and I loved the build up of the anticipation, especially when it led to an unfolding of reveals like that.
While I did enjoy certain reveals, I did find a part of me feeling like some of them were just a bit anticlimactic. The reason why I’m still hooked onto the story and am curious for the second book is because of those few reveals that really had me shook. There’s just a lot left unknown after the end, that it feels like we’re back at square one when it comes to how much we know about this world and what’s going to happen to Morrigan Crow. I’m excited to see how Jessica Townsend runs with all that she’s left unanswered.
Morrigan Crow is such an interesting character. She’s not the typical character you’d see handling these tropes, so I’m curious on how what her story is going to look like in the rest of the series.
Another aspect that I loved about this book besides Morrigan, the whimsical world building, and surprising darkness, are the friendships. I loved the relationship between her and Hawthorne. It’s so pure and I love how Hawthorne’s ready to say “we” and support her. I loved how his character is so mischievous and funny but his role in the competition part of the plot is so different. It just shows how well Jessica Townsend can write middle grade characters with such complexity.
Overall, I liked this book. I loved the beginning, the middle wasn’t mind blowing and it felt a bit repetitive and dragged on, but the last part got me intrigued again. I’m still planning to read the sequel because I enjoyed the parts I liked enough to continue on.
Did you read this book? What did you think of it?