Gora was a tiny kingdom near Prussia. Pawel, "a solid careful strategist...transformed an inconsequential patch of impoverished farms into a grand and powerful non-Christian state...". "As a warrior [he] built a kingdom. As a scholar he built a city-a bustling cultural city, inhabited by people of talent-and housing works of beauty from around the world...He built the kingdom for himself-he built the city for his family...". At age 44, Pawel "needed to find a nation worthy of uniting through marriage to Gora." He found Kristina, a 19 year old intelligent and gentle Swedish beauty. "...it was only necessary to observe him to understand the depth of his love...". Upon her death in childbirth, Pawel, half mad with grief, now spent his days walking the halls of the castle, chasing the ghost of his beloved Kristina.

King Pawel, believing his children Princess Alexandra and Prince Krysztoff were the most important people in the kingdom, provided them with talented educators. The king had an iron-clad rule. Employment was for life, no exceptions. In 1431, the King's cook, Agnieszka along with the storyteller, Tycho fled the castle. Tycho left his journals on Samuel's bed. Samuel was determined to relate Tycho's story, the story of a gifted storyteller. In Samuel's words, "My life's training has been as a jester...I have no idea how to tell this story." "I'm a dwarf huddled under a fur, writing by candlelight, my hands covered in ink...I shall introduce Tycho."

"Tycho was a wanderer...without a destination...beneath the charm and the winning smile...we saw the sadness of a soul...forever in transit..." "Tycho and I performed the same duty at the castle, walking about...bringing light to people's faces with jests and stories...while I agree that his stories were remarkable, what truly amazed me was the endless stream of entertainment the boy could provide regardless of audience, language, setting or mood." His stories were playful and irreverent. Women adored "this scamp who slept with every women in the castle."

As the years went by, King Pawel prowled the darkened castle looking to reunite with his soulmate. Nightly, in the storyroom, six individuals were assembled to hear another of Tycho's fairy tales. The Prince and Princess, in bed under the covers, Agnes, the cook and Samuel, the jester seated in chairs on either side of the bed, Ahab, the elderly astronomer, listening through the stone wall and recording the tale while Tycho stood at the foot of the bed telling his audience to "Close Their Eyes". They were in for a treat! Stories of love, romance, loneliness, loss, isolation and camaraderie would follow.

"Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale" by Chris Tomasini is a beautifully written tale set in the imaginary 15th Century city of Gora. The quest for love is ever present. For King Pawel, his love had been turned to ice cold wanderings. Tycho enticed women, but love, I think not! Others from their close inner circle approached the concept of love from different perspectives. What is love you ask? For this reader, love is a copy of author Tomasini's enchanting, and captivating historical, adult fairy tale. Highly recommended.

Thank you Chris Tomasini and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the perspective and idea behind how this story was told. It made it feel more personal and an immersive experience. I do think that there was an over use of advanced vocabulary words. I get it that they were used to give an intimately regency Era feeling, just didn't think it needed quite as many. Overall, a fun and easy read.

What a beautiful and enchanting tale. I requested a copy of this book on NetGalley because the description did look interesting, and the title had me questioning what this could be about. I did not expect to be swept away as quickly and completely as I was. Tomasini's writing is eloquent, captivating, mystifying... all the adjectives that could adequately describe a fairy tale. Sam, a little person and the court jester, is our narrator, piecing together his own written history, as well as excerpts from his friend Tycho's journal and the diary of a twisted Bishop to create a lovely but heartbreaking tale surrounding Tycho (the castle story teller) and Agnes (the royals' cook).

In the novel, readers are given the pleasure of taking a seat in the Story Room with Sam, Anges, the prince, and princess to listen to many of Tycho's stories that he, almost divinely, let spill from his soul. This is one of the many reasons I was enchanted. Tycho is a handsome womanizer, always jolly and seductive, but he is haunted more than anyone really knows. This inner darkness he faces comes to a head when he must decide what to do about the woman he loves that will never love him back, a decision that will alter his life completely.

I do not know what else to say about "Close Your Eyes." I am almost left in a thoughtful speechlessness. While some of the characters are only teenagers, I would recommend this book to a mostly adult population. There were no explicit scenes, but a lot of sexual and lustful themes that would be more appropriate for a mature audience.

I give this title a 5/5, and it will be hastily added to my favorites shelf.

#netgalley #arc #fairytale

The author subtitles this novel about an imaginary Eastern European country in the late Middle Ages/Renaissance, A Fairy Tale. It is a very grim one. The story is engaging and well-paced. The characters are of the fairy tale variety in that they are fairly one-dimensional rather than actual fully-fleshed out human beings. One comes closest to empathizing with our narrator, Samuel, the court jester (though oddly we never see him "jest," unlike the other central character, Tycho, the storyteller, whose stories play a significant role in the book).

The theme of the book is love--though it does not work out very well for most of the characters: both Samuel and Tycho are alone at the end--Samuel because he is a dwarf and Tycho because he cannot love anyone.. Alexandra, the daughter of the harsh king is also alone..

There is alot of death in the book--the queen, Beauvais (Alexandra's ill-fated suitor), the Bishop, Ahab and the King himself. There is only one happy couple in the book--Agnes and her husband (we really only know him as a name). Agnes stands for fidelity, The bishop stands for gluttony (did we really need this character?), the King for hubris. Interestingly, it is the women who prove the stronger and more sympathetic characters.

The writing is good despite the occasional anachronism. Did they really greet each other with "Hi" in the 1400's? Overall, an interesting and fast-paced story with a depressing message--love is the most important thing in life but very very few ever get there.

Interesting take on multiple anthologies put together. Each story had its own beautiful writing and story for the reader to grasp to.

I loved Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale, a beautiful novel set in early 1400’s Northern Europe. The story is told by Samuel, the Kingdom of Gora’s court jester, who is struggling to share the reasons his friends, Tycho the storyteller and Agnieszka the cook, have illegally fled from service. Tycho has left Samuel a scroll as a parting gift, and after spending four years learning to read and write, Samuel, a dwarf who lived a life as a traveling entertainer before coming to the court to amuse the King’s daughter, uses his storytelling techniques and skills to unfold Tycho’s tale, “hoarding secrets, {and} revealing them only as necessary”.

The novel provides background on Samuel’s early life as well as the life and tragic love story of the King and his two children. Another important character is Ahab, the court astronomer, who becomes obsessed with learning Tycho’s destiny. The servants of the Kingdom are not free to leave the castle, and Tycho’s storytelling ability is a balm to a court living with an overwhelming cloud of grief. Ahab wonders where Tycho’s stories come from, and this initiates a contemplation of storytelling as an art form. As Tycho falls in love with Agnieszka, he will face difficult decisions that bring him and the reader to a deep understanding of the power of true love.

This was a beautiful, sweeping tale that presents much food for though regarding true love and storytelling (my favorite topics). I felt as though I was at the mercy of a skilled storyteller as Samuel wove together several narratives that ended with a beautiful and uplifting message. The book took me to another time and place and made me wonder about the human desire for meaningful connections and purposeful work. Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale is the perfect read for anyone who is interested in love and storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

The subtitle describes this novel as a fairy tale, set in 1400's Europe. Light fantasy is another term that comes up oh so often with regards to Close Your Eyes. An apt description, seeing as the story's setting is not a historically authentic one, more of a romanticized version of medieval Europe.

Chris uses a storytelling technique I first noticed with Umberto Eco, where the story is told in first person, but not by the same person the story is meant to be about. Like Adso of Melk tells the story of William of Baskerville in The Name of The Rose, here it is Samuel setting out to chronicle the story of his friend Tycho. And when parts need to be told of which Samuel could not have been a first hand witness, Tycho's journal is used instead.

I've described the setting as romanticized based on the larger than life characters which Chris manages to brings alive between the pages of this book. He does so using Samuel's voice, which is gentle, warm, caressing. The way Samuel writes about those people makes it clear he cares for them a lot, and there is more to this story than just Tycho (who this story is supposed to be about).

That being said, the gentle voice of our chronist makes for a rather touching read. Action this is clearly not, nor will a lot of exciting things happen. It's a quiet book, made to be read alone in a cozy atmosphere, touching, moving, sometimes kind of philosophical. It's the right kind of book to be read during moody autumn sessions.

Talking about mood - I think this stories is best described by one of the riddles that is used within, where the hero of this book is asked whether he would choose the life of a slave, knowing nothing but misery and one hour of love everyday, or the life of a free man, knowing nothing about loss but also nothing about love, eventually dying alone one could winter day.

Aye, it is this kind of story, a well woven one that gets you thinking. What answer would be best? You have to decide for yourself.

Disclaimer: I've received a free Advanced Reader's Copy and am leaving this review voluntarily.

I honestly didn't expect anything but wow how such a delightful it is. the writing itself is really impressive. I know it is Historical Fiction but normally in Historical genre we sometimes kinda feel tense, serious, and heavier but this is just like a the book pull you in with their own magic, fantasy.

For the plot and characters itself at first I'm a bit confuse and I realize that the book has quite different layout from normal book that I usually read which is for me is really good idea. It's like you read every character's diary but it's connected to each other so it engaged us as reader.

I really enjoy this book and to be honest I was looking before a book that has a fantasy & magical feel with historical element with not so much heavy but we still get the lesson at the end. this book totally satisfied my craving.

With newly literate Samuel decides to write a story about the Kook and The storyteller and why they fled the king service. He has the princess essence beta reader and good friend. He talks about him leaving home at 13 and how he entertain the masses with his 7 foot tall partner and as The Comedy group “high and low“ they were then called to perform for the king in would be offered employment in his kingdom for the benefit of the prince and princess. This is a job he has covenant since leaving home at the age of 13 this is when the story truly begins in make no mistake this is not your ordinary fairytale it is realistic and thoroughly entertaining I totally totally enjoyed it. this isn’t a book you will easily put down if you put it down at all before you’re done. I know I couldn’t and I also know this is honestly a book I will read again in the future. I received it from net Gally and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Review-Close Your Eyes by Chris Tomasini by Shirley W. 7-22-22

Delightful fairy tales of love take place in the city of Gora (western Poland), in the castle of Pawel the King and his wife, Kristina in the early 1400’s. A young man named Tycho is a gifted storyteller. He and his friend, Samuel, a dwarf, and court jester become wards and friends to Prince Krysztoff and his sister, Princess Alexandra. They often tell stories in the evenings along with the cook, Agnieszka. There is even a ghost who roams the halls of the castle.

The author Chris Tomasini writes with sweet, sensitive understanding of love in all forms; lusty infatuation, time-grown friendship, deep marital love, and abiding, separated love. Bravo, it hit all right tones!

I received a free advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I did not finish this book and will not be leaving a review on any platforms. I got to 59/Close Your Eyes and am not interested to read more. There is too much exposition for me to enjoy.

Thank you for providing the ARC and giving me the opportunity to review.

"Love it would seem, requires a crusade - a crusade fought with kindness and generosity, and acclaimed by the joyous bells of a thousand city squares: bells which ring out across blue horizons, telling a continent to close its eyes, to dream beautifully and to wake with hope."

Every now and then, you will come across a book that just makes you feel like sighing with joy and happiness and an eagerness to tell the whole world about it. Close your Eyes by Chris Tomasini is one of those. It reminds you of the pleasure of reading a fairytale, while being thankful that you are an adult and finally understand the deeper meanings behind our beloved fairytales.

This isn't your typical "Once Upon a Time" fairytale. Rather think Canterbury Tales or A Knights Tale with a court jester as our story teller. Samuel wanted to tell the story of his dearest friend, Tycho and being an illiterate, it took him four years to obtain the mysteries of the written word and to finally tell the story of a brilliant storyteller who left the blueprints of our story in scrolls of an infrequently kept journal.

What magical tales sprang from these scrolls! Kings and Queens, princess and princesses, knights in shining armor and loyal to death servants - all on a quest for love in its various forms. The story is narrated with wit and wisdom and reads like a collection of fairytales with fact and fiction, made-up-tales and reality, blending together in a perfect happily-ever-after tale. Once again, do not expect your typical "and they lived happily ever after" ending, as we as adults know - you can only live happily ever after on a day to day basis.

Deep sadness and unhappiness are part of every tale, but what makes this tale worthy of the title of a fairytale, is that hope springs from every ending and by the wonderful life lessons hidden between the pages. Isn't hope, love and wisdom the basis of every fairytale?

It's rather difficult to believe that this book is basically a debut novel for Chris Tomasini. The writing style is superb with the most beautiful prose and symbolism woven into the tale. I do hope that Chris will continue to write, the world can do with more tales like these.