Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Thank you to NetGalley and special thanks to TOR for granting me an e-arc for a fair and honest review.

Check out my reading vlog!
This vlog discusses Middlegame’s plot and all the plot of Over the Woodward Wall *as it appears in Middlegame*. I never divulge new material in the new book, but a lot of it is in Middlegame already. That said, I highly recommend reading it because it really changes how you read Middlegame with a new level of appreciation for the references.

I love this book. But I don’t know what to say. I knew this might be the first of the series. What I did not know was that the story would stop right at the climax.

It feels like it’s a little incomplete and I’m not sure if that’s a criticism or just the kind of series it is. It isn’t like the Wayward Children series; those series those stories are concise with clear endings. It feels more like the Lord of the Rings with a story that clearly isn’t over.

The story is clearly meant to continue, so the question then becomes is this book sufficient as the first in this series. I think so.

I didn’t expect it to end like this. However I can see there was a clear evolution in our characters and in the plot. Essentially leading us to a new stage in the story with new characters (figuratively speaking) new goals and potentially a new ending.

Of course, I love Middlegame, so I’m desperate to find reasons like this book. Luckily he isn’t that hard.

4.5/5 stars bc the conclusion still didn’t feel entirely natural but I’m rounding it up because it was written by the Queen of Stories (aka Seanan McGuire).