Wonderful tale with lots of twists and turns. The adventure keeps you hooked until the end. Wonderful characters to follow along with through the adventure. Very exciting and good book to read.

I would rate this about 2.5 stars. I struggled getting into the story and staying focused. I can't put my finger on what it was, though.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

The Doorway and the Deep is the second installment in The Water and the Wild series by K.E. Ormsbee. It's a fantastic sequel to The Water and the Wild and even ends on a cliff-hanger to leave you wanting for more! I really enjoyed it!

As we return to the land of Limn, we find that Lottie, Eliot, Adelaide, Oliver, their father, and Fife residing in the land of the will-o-wisps. The land of the will-o-wisps is such a fabulous, imaginative place! It's one of my favorite locales in Limn. I want to sleep in the trees and explore the area and its beauty right along with the children! Similarly, I'd love to visit the Northerly Court area and explore the caves and passageways.

The characters in these books are just wonderful. They're complex and well-rounded and yet, there's a simplicity to them that is also refreshing. Maybe it's that Ms. Ormsbee did so well in conveying the children's point of view. I don't know. It simply feels very authentic.

The adventures that we find in this book's journeys kept me on the edge of my seat a lot of the time! In fact, I finished this book in just one night because I was riveted to the story and just didn't want to put it down. It was MUCH better than the first installment of the series and seemed shorter (even though it wasn't really) because it never seemed to bog down or get tedious.

This book ends on quite the cliff-hanger, so I'm really excited for the third book to be published. Unfortunately, the author's website does not indicate when that will be. I hope it's not too far away!

An interesting alternate world, but I object to series books where if you don't start with the first installment, it's difficult to figure out what's going on. A more skilled author would be able to make each book stand independently. Here, it starts without sufficient explanation and ends on a cliffhanger. Interesting ideas, but not terribly well executed.