Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow is a 2017 novel written by Jessica Townsend. It is part of the Nevermoor series. The book was critically acclaimed, winning Book of the Year at the Austrian Book Industry Awards in 2018. A sequel was released in 2018.

Little Miss Snarker Morrigan Crow is supposedly a cursed child, serving as a convenient target for blame and forced to write sarcasm filled apology letters to people who has had the slightest misfortune. She is viewed as a burden by her father, the chancellor of Great Wolfacre, and has very little interactions with her family. Worst of all, and there's no way to put it softly, she will die on her twelfth birthday. No exceptions. No way out, no way to save herself, the death is a 100% guarantee, and Morrigan has accepted this fact for the entirety of her life.

But wait, there's a way out because the rest of the series needs to happen. It all lies in the ginger Jupiter North, who takes her away to the city of Nevermoor in the Free States. Unfortunately for Morrigan, she has to leave her family behind. Fortunately for Morrigan, her family doesn't really care about her. Jupiter takes her to the Hotel Deucalion, which he owns. Unfortunately for Morrigan, she doesn't have a visa to be there. Fortunately for Morrigan, there's to stay without a visa: the Wunderous Society, whose members cannot be deported. Each year, they accept nine aspiring new recruits to join their ranks, and Jupiter has chosen her as his candidate. Unfortunately for Morrigan, there are around three hundred candidates taking part in the trials each year. Fortunately for Morrigan, she has a special and unique ability which none of the candidates have...

For more tropes, visit the page dedicated to the Nevermoor franchise as a whole.


 * Alpha Bitch: Noelle Devereaux, who is never mentioned after the first book.
 * Arc Words: Step boldly! The phrase is first uttered when people jump off the roof of the Hotel Deucalion, and is continually said in the rest of the book.
 * Foreshadowing: In chapter seven, Martha says that Jupiter "sees people the way they really are". In chapter eight, Jupiter reveals his Aura Vision abilities as a Witness, with the power to see more information about people or objects than what regular people could.
 * In Medias Res: The prologue of the book shows the coffin that contains Morrigan's apparant body, along with a public speech by her father Corvus Crow. The first chapter opens with the note Winter of Eleven (Three days earlier).
 * Spider Tank: The Octavia, a mechanical Steampunk vehicle which Jupiter North owns which is described as being two stories tall with eight legs. At the center is a pod intended for transporting passengers, and it is used for spiriting Morrigan away to Nevermoor. Only two were created.