Title: Under the Smokestrewn Sky (The Up and Under #4)

Author: A. Deborah Baker

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 195

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Since stumbling from their world into the Up and Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.

But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise. Not everyone will make it through unscathed. Not everyone will make it through alive.

We finally come to the end of Avery and Zib’s adventures in The Up and Under. Overall, I really enjoyed this series so much. There’s a bit of Alice in Wonderland in there, a bit of The Wizard of Oz, and so much wit and introspection from Seanan McGuire. Adding Jack to the mix in the last book really completed the group for the last adventure. The reveal involving the Crow Girl was just about the most perfect way to continue the story and bring the threads together. I appreciate the fact that we get a definite end to the storyline. Seeing the characters find their places was the perfect way to conclude. I’ll be excited to see what McGuire writes next.

The Up and Under

• #1 Over the Woodward Wall

• #2 Along the Saltwise Sea

• #3 Into the Windwracked Wilds

• #4 Under the Smokestrewn Sky

Next up on the TBR pile: