What a beautiful conclusion to The Restorationists trilogy!

Ravi's perspective was especially poignant, as he felt so alone and without a real family, even as The Restorationists try to make him feel welcome. I love how the nuances of the paintings minister to his heart just as much as the story of those who are welcoming him into their family.

This series is a must-read for middle-grade readers and adults alike! I learned so much about art, but like good art, the beautiful truths of the story are what will remain long after the facts are forgotten.

Beyond the Far Horizon is Carolyn Leiloglou's third entry in The Restorationists series. The first two impressed me quite a bit in that they were both original and thoughtful works of fiction for middle-grade readers. I'll be candid: I think this third entry is noticeably less strong than the first two, and I've dawdled on writing this review because of that. It's not that I think it's bad, really, but it lacks something the first two had.

What I enjoyed about Beneath the Swirling Sky and Between Flowers and Bones was that they both managed to have a plot that my kid found compelling and that they introduced children to a specific painter in a gentle way. They felt like art history/appreciation classes disguised as novels, and they pulled it off pretty well. Beyond the Far Horizon attempts the same formula, but it just doesn't quite nail it as well, in my opinion.

This book centers around Ravi and his journey from alienation to belonging, all while the kids try to prevent the heist of Washington Crosses the Delaware from the Met. Additionally, Leiloglou works to expand the "magic system" of her novels' world by introducing new Gifts/Skills. To be honest, though, it's starting to feel like too much; it's a lot of details and terms and names to remember, and it felt like it warred with plot advancement to me. Ravi's journey toward belonging also felt somewhat inauthentic to me. Not that it was altogether implausible or anything, just that there were some steps along his path that felt somewhat forced.

Perhaps these things won't matter to the average middle-grade reader; kids have a greater mental capacity than I do for keeping track of the details of complicated magical worlds, and maybe Ravi's journey is plenty sufficient to resonate with for a kid who has to walk that same path. I don't know. All I can say is that while it's not a bad entry in the series, it felt like it was simply trying to do too much in introducing a new main character, a new piece of art to study, new details in the magic system, new details about the Distortionists, etc. I'm sure my kids will still read it multiple times, though!

DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.