This is such an enchanting book. This book combines folk stories and travel in to a beautiful creation, each chapter focuses on a specific place somewhere in the world where there are folk stories or myths attached to it. This book takes you all over the globe with evocative writing and little known stories, all illustrated in a way that is modern and lovely. I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a little more creativity than a travel guide book.

In this travel guide, Sarah Baxter takes readers to magical, enchanted and, well… mystical places around the world. Starting in her own country, following the legend of King Arthur, and with pitstops on every continent. Colorful illustrations by Amy Grimes take the place of photographs in more conventional travel guides. I must say that I looked up pictures of the places on the internet, because the illustrations are beautiful but don’t show all the details you can see online. I’m curious as to why the author chose these particular places. In the introduction she mentions other places she could have included, but she had to choose 25, even if she doesn’t explain why she picked those. A prettier version of Atlas Obscura, Mystical Places will help readers travel from the safety of their couch.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/White Lion Publishing!

5/5 Stars!

I absolutely adored this cozy and fun read. After reading this, I have added each of these places to my to-go list. Very well done! I will be picking up each of Sarah's books written prior to "Mystical Places".

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

This book is an absolute must for anyone who loves old myths and fantasy, especially when colliding with the real world. I absolutely love mythology and reading about how myths have impacted the reality around us. One of my favorite pastimes is falling down the wikipedia labyrinth about mystical places and dreaming about visiting them one day.

The stories are great to read, and even though I've studied many of these stories and locations for years, I still learned something new, which is always exciting!

While the illustrations are nice, almost Disney like in quality, they seem a little more whimsical than mystical. Some of the pictures seemed a little too bright and cheery when the stories/locations would have been better served by something darker and moody to really set the atmosphere.

Overall, a nice job, and something I would have in my library.

The writing style here is so over the top in its desire to capture the magic of these places, but it doesn't achieve any of that. The information provided is so surface level that unless you are already familiar with the locations, there's nothing there to make you interested in it. Likewise, the illustrations, while pretty, don't give you a good idea of what the place actually *is*, so unless you're already familiar with the chosen location, you won't have a clue what you're supposed to be looking at. What's the point of a travel book that assumes its reader already knows a lot about each of the places it mentions?

I thought this was going to be so much more interesting than it actually turned out to be.

An interesting book, full of ideas for spiritual places to visit. I appreciated the style of writing and the illustrations.
It made me travel and add some of the places to my bucket list.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

How delighted I was to be able to read another book by Sarah Baxter having enjoyed her “Hidden Places” which forms part of a series with this title and two others.
Amy Grimes continues with her vibrant and bright illustrations to compliment this edition which bring each location into a rich focus and prompt further investigation.
Sarah has in this book identified a number of places across the world which create and sustain an aura, stirring the sense of the unknown, spiritual places or unique spots where the unexplained adds to their mystery but where latent magic endures.

What such books do for me is to regard the world beyond its tourist stops which one ticks off, buys a souvenir and gets a selfie with said evidence in the frame. Me with Niagara Falls, on Safari and where that film was made, no not just any Beach!

But this kind of writing opens my mind up to the unfocused, the recently discovered, examples of the endurance of spiritual belief and human endeavour. It creates for me a new type of destination and brings evidence that indigenous peoples the world over were not waiting for civilisation to come to them from Europe or elsewhere.

Having recently been spellbound by Stefan Zweig’s essay on the building of the cathedral at Chartres. I was pleased Sarah included the labyrinth hidden under the chairs in this sacred place of pilgrimage. Along with the Hartz mountains, also mentioned here I have now 2 new places I wish to travel to while I have a mind and an able body to undertake such journeys.
Living in the U.K. I guess planning a jaunt to France and Germany doesn’t capture the global dimension this book brings and should leave with the reader.
Perhaps I’ll surprise you and myself by making it to more far flung locations like: Cadair Idris, Wales; Mount Mani, South Korea or Lake Guatavita, Columbia.
The truth is this book has inspired me like any fine travel writing, as Sarah writes with a wonder and with rich emotive and descriptive language about the places she identifies as inspirational.
I trust you will find this guide equally moving.

I love these inspired travel places books. This compilation of Mystical Places does not disappoint. This look at 25 mystical places worldwide has an explanation of each site and an accompanying drawing. Many of these sites were new to me, and I enjoyed reading a bit about each site and how they are unique. This would be a great book to peruse at leisure or read a chapter a day.
Highly recommend this and it's companion books.

This is a lovely, short guide to some of the world's most magical and ethereal locations. The illustrations are as important as the words and the artist deserves at at least as much credit as the writer. It would have been nice to have had more detail of some of the locations but this kind of overview is not easy to do and Sarah Baxter deserves much credit for leaving you hungry both for more and longing to visit most of these places. In the current conditions this is both frustrating and testamant to the book's power.

This travel log is amazingly beautiful. During a time where most of us are quarantining the idea of traveling to a mystical place seems to good to be true. Each page is illustrated with remarkable drawings that exhibit exactly why each place is so special. I recommend this one highly.

My imagination ran away with me reading this beautiful book. I was taken to magical and mystical places around the globe. I learnt about the history of each of the 25 sites from Tintagel, England to the Nazca Lines, Peru. Beautifully illustrated and presented I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this amazing book!

Much like this team's 'Hidden Places' book of secretive areas of wonder, this merges arty artwork and slightly flowery text to convey the magic of places rich in folklore. What we get is not to be used strictly as a guide book, then – although you certainly gain some tips for what you would find in the Harz mountains, and it's got the new bridge to Tintagel covered by both word and image. No, this is more a cosy fireside companion – a way to get a sense of the places and their stories without getting wind-blasted or having to get to the far east of Iceland. Or attacked by golems. It merges the facts of the sites and the folk of the people who have lived or visited there really nicely.

I adore Sarah Baxter’s Inspired Traveller's Guides series and her latest offering is absolutely gorgeous! Filled with stunning illustrations and intriguing text, it takes you to 25 of the most mystical areas of the world including Xanadu in China, the Gedi Ruins in Kenya, the Nazca Lines in Peru, and The Pinnacles, Australia.

Ah what wonders await you as you open the first page and find yourself entranced. You’ll want to add these amazing sites to your bucket list as you dream longingly from your armchair.

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 15 Sep 2020

Thanks to the author, Quarto Publishing Group — White Lion Publishing, and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#MysticalPlaces #NetGalley

The cute greeting card style drawings actually diminish the impact of the sites. And the breezy narrative captures none of their dignity or majesty. An interesting enough list to suggest further research, but I was not otherwise taken by this volume. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.