I really enjoyed this book! It’s like a combination of Alice in Wonderland, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Wizard of Oz all wrapped into one. Super fun for kiddos!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for a review.

A new fairy tale series (!!!) from Seanan McGuire, related to Middlegame (and perhaps more loosely to the Wayward Children series??), that reminds me of Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series?

TAKE ALL MY MONEY NOW PLEASE.

I loved Middlegame -- it was one of my favorite books of 2019 -- and when I saw that McGuire would be writing this novel, it immediately went to the top of my "want-to-read" list. I didn't realize it was a series until I got almost to the end of the novel and realized that the adventures of Zib and Avery were only just beginning. (To be honest, I sometimes get annoyed when that happens, but in this instance, it means more of this fairy tale world, and I am completely here for that.)

Novels like this really rely on getting the narrative voice just right; there needs to be that mix of child and adult, and McGuire nails it perfectly. I love the characters, and I want to know more about how the Up-and-Under works.

This is just what I expected it to be -- a novel full of adventures and hard lessons and friendship and courage. I'm excited for what comes next, especially as the story continues to build on what became the foundation for Middlegame.

Orderly, reliable Avery and carefree, unpredictable Zib are two children living in the same town, but they have never met. Until they find an impossible wall on their way to school, and climb it to find the Up-And-Under, where owls can talk and roads appear from nowhere, and you can always expect the least unlikely thing to happen. Thrown into an unwanted adventure, Avery and Zib team up with a girl who is also a murder of crows and a drowned girl trying to get back to her home, and find themselves pulled deeper and deeper into the fate of the Up-And-Under itself...

This is such a beautifully written book!! Almost reminiscent of a fairy-tale, deeper meanings are hiding behind the characters' words, without the moral jumping straight off the page. The language used is so beautiful, and the descriptions are so vivid that you start to see the Up-And-Under clearly in your mind. The plot flows along gently and perfectly paced, the atmosphere of the story reminding me a lot of the WIZARD OF OZ, and not only because of the (although not yellow) brick road the children are following. The writing makes this book feel like an old classic, or a book that you loved as a child and are re-reading now.

The characters were absolutely wonderful. Avery and Zib are complete opposites in so many ways, and struggle a lot with putting themselves in the other's shoes in the beginning, convinced that their opinion is the right one. But over the course of the book, they start to realize that they will only get out of this if they work together, and start to fully appreciate each other.

All in all, I can definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a magical, fairy-tale-esque adventure story set in a brilliantly written world, with interesting characters and sentences that you'll want to quote immediately!

This book was an utter delight. It's very familiar, clearly drawing inspiration from the Wizard of Oz, but that's not a bad thing. Especially since the kids both show so much agency, which is pretty different from Dorothy. The characters are interesting and likable, the world building fantastic, and the story gripping.

The only reason it's four stars rather than five is, well, honestly I expect more from Seanan McGuire (under any name). It was fun, but the most interesting thing to me was its connection to Middlegame, and again, it felt pretty standard, without the trope deconstruction and razor sharp creativity I generally expect from her. Still, charming as hell, and great especially for younger readers.