I was provided with a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I quickly fell in love with the world that Moriarty created in her Kingdoms & Empires series. This is middle grades fantasy at its best -- the kind that provides incredibly detailed world-building with just enough whimsy to make you giggle, but characters who can tug at your heartstrings too.

Oscar from Elsewhere is a great addition to this series. Part of me wants to say that I hope students will see themselves in Oscar, but part of me doesn't want to say that because I hope that students are never made to feel the way Oscar is made to feel by his teachers and principal. There's so much good stuff here -- the character development, the ongoing mystery with its riddles and puzzles, the world-building.

My only complaint is that a few of the narrative choices felt a little *too* convenient, but overall this was a great story. Fun and heartwarming.

I wanted to enjoy this as the premise sounded super promising, but ultimately I was left wanting more from both the characters and the plot itself.