I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The book is full of math and its connections to literature. As someone who is not mathematically inclined, this was a bit difficult to get through, especially as an audiobook. There was a lot of information, a lot of math information, in a short space. With some effort, you can get through the book.

This was really fun, but exceedingly difficult without the accompanying PDF that's referenced in the audiobook. As an audiobook, reading equations was challenging to follow and I found myself zoning out at times.

On the other hand, the narratives and examples from literature were so enthralling! There were so many fun examples given throughout the book, and I enjoyed the narrator's/author's enthusiasm.

I want to start by saying thanks to MacMillian Audio, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC of “Once Upon a Prime” for an honest review of this nonfiction book about the connections between mathematics and literature, which is available on shelves everywhere starting Tuesday, April 11, 2023.

I feel the need to start this book by saying that this book feels like it’s for a very specific niche, but in all honesty, provides so many great references, and insights that I feel like it could be loved by a much more general audience. Now, personally, I am a math person, I work for a Math tutoring company, I enjoy learning math and sometimes research topics in math just for fun. So when I saw the title: “Once upon a Prime” my interest was immediately piqued and I knew that I would have to read this book. Overall, Hart explores her love for literature through the lens of her mathematical mind and reveals many facets of numbers, pacing, and “rules” of writing that we have seen in books (Alice in Wonderland, A Gentleman in Moscow, Moby Dick, and The Holy Bible to name a few) She writes using language that makes math accessible and allows you, the reader, to be curious and ask questions. Overall, I loved this book - it was a great piece of nonfiction and I plan to buy this book later this year.

5 stars. BUT, I do have one thing that I do wish was different … an online resource guide would easily elevate the overall experience of the audiobook. I would love a chance to look at graphics, and charts that she references, and have a list of resources that allows me to explore the book on my own. However, since this didn’t deter me from the book, or ruin the experience in any way it would impact my overall feelings about the book.

I like the title of the book and thought looking at literature through math was interesting. I appreciated the author providing definitions and examples of some of the mathematical terms, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a math class. I really liked the variety of literature books that were used as examples. I’ve read about half of them but some were read decades ago. Since I listened to the audio book I’m not sure if there is a list of books that are discussed so that I could go to a specific section of the book. One thing that frustrated me was the reference of PDF’s listed in the book that as a audio book you couldn’t see. This is a book I will have to buy a paper copy so that I can make notes in it.

I’m going to recommend this book to a couple of English and Math professors. While I did enjoy the book overall, I had to do so in small segments because it became a little overwhelming. The book would be good for those with a mathematical background or understanding but not necessary.