The Book Smugglers

Finally the conclusion to this amazing series. I will preface this review by saying I highly recommend reading book 4, 5, and 6 all in a row (or at least 5 and 6) because there were some things I had to go back and look at in order to really read this one. Having the characters and sequence of events clear in your mind might be helpful.I really enjoyed this finale. Book 5 left on a huge cliffhanger and we pick back up right where we left off for this book. Milo and crew are still trying to outsmart the Alchemist. With so much happening before this point, our crew is hesitant with who to trust and rightfully so. Here we meet an important character Merlin and we learn much more about Milo and how bookwandering came to be. In this book the characters travel into older stories like Greek myths so there is also that side of it too.Overall, I did enjoy this book, but not as much as the others in the series. Imagining stepping into the Boxcar Children or the Secret Garden was more interesting to me than the myths and things in this book. However, the suspense and thrill was still there as well. You are trying to solve the mystery right along with the crew and I found myself saying to the characters, "Can we trust them?"I highly recommend this series and this is a series that I honestly would recommend binging all the way though. You fall in love with the characters right off the top and then spend the rest of the series going on adventures with them and solving the mysteries. I am not a huge fantasy reader so this would also be maybe a good fantasy series for those who want to try a new genre. I could definitely see myself rereading this entire series in a few years just to experience the magic again!Quotes I loved:“As I discovered how to shape and use imagination, I made a record. It contains the sum of my knowledge, all it can be used for and the ways to control it, to give it, and to take it away” pg. 63“Remember what endures. We may all be rulers of our own realm, but it does not mean we know what happens next” pg. 225“See, a happy ending. For now. If you can endure the winter and her snows, then spring and her blossoms will always come back around” pg. 226“Who we were, who we are, and who we hope to be. Stories show us where we came from - the lives of people before us, their hopes, their failings, their dreams. But not everyone’s stories we remembered, and even this speaks to our history - what we value, what we protect, and who we let tell our stories. In the present, books are a thread to follow, a way to reflect and understand and grow. They allow us to escape and roam and learn beyond our own limits and experiences, to think about who we are and what we stand for, and to find our way back again. And finally stories help us decide who we want to be” pg. 231“You may tell a tale of great adventure or one of quiet purpose, and both have equal value. And hopefully, when the thread is run out, you will look back and say that was a life well told” pg. 233