Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

Information

Goodreads: Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow
Series: Nevermoor #3
Source: Purchased
Published: October 15, 2020 (USA)

Official Summary

Review

Nevermoor is such a sweepingly imaginative story that I’ve been nervous ever since that the rest of the series won’t hold up, but Townsend hasn’t disappointed me yet. The second book, Wundersmith, is also amazing, and I called it “close to sheer perfection” in my review. Maybe I wouldn’t go quite that far for Hollowpox, but this installment does have all the wonder and originality I’ve come to expect from Townsend, and I was turning the pages late into the night to see what Morrigan and her friends would do next.

One of the most impressive things about the Nevermoor series may be that the world-building gets cooler with each book. Townsend doesn’t exhaust her imagination, and she doesn’t go too over-the-top trying to introduce new things. Instead, readers learn more and more about Nevermoor, but it’s also interesting and unique and seems just right; I loved learning about the concept of “ghostly hours” in Hollowpox. (And that’s all I will say. No spoilers!)

Townsend also continues to nuance her character here, both of Morrigan and of Wunsoc as a whole. Morrigan, though happy with her life, still has anxieties related to being rejected by her family and related to being a Wundersmith, and Townsend explores that with care. She also addresses some of the questions I had about Wunsoc in book two, about their place in Nevermoor society and why they see themselves as better than others and how other citizens react to that.

We also get more of villain Ezra Squall in this book, which is fascinating, AND Townsend gives hints that there are more layers to be discovered. I can’t wait to find out more about his past, his motivations, his powers, etc. as the series continues because I’m just waiting for some sort of big reveal.

Finally, the plot is as engaging as always. It was definitely an experience to be reading a book about a new and highly contagious virus during 2020 (fitting, and yet something I’ve been avoiding so far. I’m not one of the people who picked up Contagion this year.) Watching the characters try to figure out the virus and how to deal with it, both curing and preventing the spread, probably felt different than it would have at another time. At any rate, it was interesting.

If you haven’t picked up the Nevermoor series yet, I highly recommend you do. If you’re reading the series but haven’t gotten to Hollowpox yet, I guarantee you will enjoy it!