This is one of the best books I have read all year and it keeps climbing up in my all time favorites the more that I think about this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster and the author for the ARC of this novel in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

How to describe this novel? It is a sweeping adventure story with elements of the otherworldly, part fictional memoir, part fantasy, and part romance, but not the sappy kind.

A fantastical story of a life of constant movement and discovery, new connections and love, exploring the world and everything it contains. But Aubry’s life is also one without rest or continuity, with little comfort or ease. There is a mysterious magical element to this story, of course: the underground library labyrinth that swirls through space and time, sometimes delivering Aubry to the place she most needs to go, sometimes trapping her for years in their depths. And there is a mysterious force, traveling with her, living in her mind and soul, making her sick if she stays too long in one place or returns to a place she’s been. This enigmatic force has shaped and guided her life, showing her remarkable things but also keeping her from the people she loves the most.

I’m honestly not sure I fully understand what this book is trying to tell me. As much as Aubry witnessed in life, some of which we are told would not exist without her there to observe, her life has been full of near-constant loneliness and grief. Sure, she has days of happiness and love, sometimes even weeks, if she is lucky. One time she had a friend and traveling companion for a few years. But I feel like, even at the end of her life, when she’s set free and allowed to finally stop moving, in the mysterious forest where orphaned kids are sent to be cared for, if she could go back and choose a normal life, she would.

Because of the writing style, following Aubry’s perspective but at a distance, I never really felt like I knew her or understood her. I’m also not a fan of flashback-style narration - it’s yet another thing that keeps me at a distance from the storytelling, and I feel less attached and involved. Aubry’s life is full of wild adventure and magic, but I never felt the thrill of it, the joy and sorrow of it. And it’s unsatisfying that, even at the end, I don’t know what the sickness or creature guiding/torturing her is.

3.5 stars

Douglas Westerbeke’s debut novel, “A Short Walk Through a Wide World,” is a captivating tale that blends elements of “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue” with the adventurous spirit of “Life of Pi.” The story follows Aubry Tourvel, a young girl cursed to wander perpetually, unable to stay in one place for long. Her life becomes a globe trotting adventure, from the scorching sands of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow capped Himalayan peaks.
This is a thought provoking and inspiring novel that reminds us that life’s true meaning lies in the journey, no matter how long it lasts. Highly recommended for fans of magical realism and epic adventures.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF - I attempted to start this book and it just did not hold my interest. This may be a book I come back to in the future.

This was beautifully written and gave a nostalgia that I perfectly couldn’t put my finger on. It was a mix of historical fiction and GOT/Witcher in a very very mild way. Not exactly, but something that was just an essence. I loved it. Great cover and title as well,

This is a remarkable story about a woman who travels the world trying to outrun a childhood curse. Aubry's adventure around the globe are described in lush detail and she meets so many interesting people in her travels! I found a lot of interesting elements in this story (her illness, the puzzle ball, the library) but I struggled with the narrative structure and how it jumps around. I think I just prefer a more linear storyline and found myself losing that interest in certain parts. If you love traveling or reading about grand adventures. give this a try!

Unfortunately I was unable to download this book before the archive date, so I'm not able to leave a review. I look forward to reading and reviewing books by this author in the future.

3.5 stars

I wanted to like this one more than I did. In the end, it started to feel like two different books. One is set in this beautiful, mysterious, labyrinth of a library. It’s cozy and quiet with food and stories and safety. And the other is an adventure, an escape from a mysterious illness, and an inability to stay still. And while I may have liked both halves, they did not come together in a way that felt natural.

In a Nutshell: A historical fantasy that feels like an endless walk through a wayward world. Poor character sketching, random timelines, ad-hoc plot development, needless exoticism, unsatisfactory ending. This will be among my biggest disappointments of the year. However, to those who believe that reading is more about the journey than about the destination, this ride could be *trippy*.

Plot Preview:
When nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel, a pampered and stubborn girl, finds a wooden puzzle ball, she is surprised that no matter how much she tried to throw it away, it keeps coming back to her. A few days later, she begins to bleed uncontrollably from every orifice of her body. When medical treatment doesn’t help, she runs away, only to find the mysterious ailment disappear. Soon she realises that this act of being on the move keeps the affliction away. Whenever she stops at a place for more than a few days, it returns. Thus begins a lifelong journey spanning years and continents and a mysterious library and some unexpected paths. But being forced to leave behind anyone that she interacts with as the disease demands newer locations to venture into, Aubry has to learn how to navigate her “short walk through the wide world” by herself.
The story comes to us in Aubry’s third-person perspective.

With such a great title, cover, and premise, it goes without saying that I had expected a lot from this book. It is an creative and ambitious debut work, no doubt. But that alone isn’t enough to deliver a memorable experience.
The blurb calls this “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi.” I have not had the pleasure of reading either of these books, so I cannot say if this claim is true.

Bookish Yays:
🌎 The imaginativeness of the premise – fabulous. I wonder what I would have done were I in Aubry’s place. (Well, I definitely wouldn’t have done most of what she ended up doing.)
🌎 The title and the cover – appealing.

Bookish Mixed Bags:
🏝️ Aubry – interesting, determined, and resourceful, but also adamant and self-serving. Many questions about her personality aren’t answered. Also, her character doesn’t seem to grow much (maturity-wise) over the course of the story.
🏝️ The places through which Aubry travels – Mostly well-written and quite vivid. But it is basically a list of all “exotic” locales in the world, India included. Not once in all her decades does Aubry’s wanderlust end up in a boring white city.

Bookish Nays:
💸 The lack of detailing on Aubry’s “curse” and the resultant illness. I might have been happier with the book if the end had offered at least some basic explanation for the events. But we learn only the whats and hardly any whys.
💸 The minimal elaboration on the other two key fantastical elements of the story – the puzzle ball and the magical but elusive libraries. They pop up fairly regularly but we don’t learn anything significant about them.
💸 All the coloured characters in every location falling over backwards to satisfy the needs of the white ‘memsahib‘ – ugh! Even the appearance of India didn’t satisfy me as it was mostly (stereo)typical.
💸 The conversations – very stilted and artificial in tone.
💸 The deus ex machina at the end – I always hate such “jump the shark” kind of endings.
💸 The regular headjumping across characters, even though the narration was in Aubry’s third-person perspective – annoying.
💸 The timeline, which is as random in its meandering as Aubry herself. I get that she lost track of time over the years, but the lack of detail makes things that much difficult for us readers. I am not talking of just months but of years and decades without time indicators. The narrative also goes back and forth in time, with only the chapter titles helping a bit.
💸 The character development for the other characters is barely there. We only know what they do for Aubry without going into their motives.
💸 The blurb calls it an “inspiring” story. What is it meant to inspire: endless travel? Enjoying the journey with the focus on material and physical needs? Learning how to deal with problems by running away from them? I am not a deep person anyway, so if this book aimed at something metaphysical or philosophical, it bounced right off my thick skull.
💸 Graphic violence against animals. There are many other triggers, but this was the only gratuitous one that wasn’t necessary for the plot and could easily have been toned down.

All in all, this book is for those who believe that reading is more for the journey than for the destination. To me – a lover of journey AND destination, this seemingly never-ending sojourn went nowhere. Imagine reading 400 pages to end up with a dozen question marks – what a disappointment!
The first half was still an okayish expedition, but I wandered through the second half of the voyage more out of duty than interest. Perhaps the book should have taken the title seriously and limited the plot to a short trek of maybe half the length.
Then again, many readers have enjoyed the globetrotting experience this book offers, so do read other opinions before you decide whether to embark upon this odyssey.
1.5 stars. (rounding up because this is a debut work and the author is a librarian – viva la library!)

My thanks to Avid Reader Press for providing the DRC of “A Short Walk Through a Wide World” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.

Wonderful story, great character development, great writing! Highly recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it

This felt disjointed and choppy, I didn’t have the thread I needed to connect it chapter to chapter. I liked the message that we can be fulfilled with a non transitional life.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World, a novel by Douglas Westerbeke is a spellbinding adventure fable about Aubry Tourvel, a young French girl who finds a wooden puzzle ball meant to be sacrificed, but even though she tries to get rid of it, it keeps finding her. After becoming very ill suddenly, she and her family seek medical treatment but nothing helps once she returns home. She soon finds that she cannot stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place she's already been.

There were times when I wondered, why not just stop walking and stay places until she needs to move to the next place, but instead she keeps wandering, meeting new people, seeing new places, and getting into some interesting troubles.

The book is full longing and hope and a slew of interesting characters as well as a daring tour of the world's most incredible places. Highly recommended.

This one feels like a copycat of another book published not long ago. One would hope that years and years of living would result in a philosophical depth of a personality, as well as some sort of impressive knowledge and wisdom. Instead these books always focus on mere meandering and the most shallow and mundane aspect of the existence. Another disappointment.

I really loved reading this debut!

Aubry discovers a wooden ball when she’s nine years old and soon after she begins to bleed out. Once her parents get her moving and to the hospital, it stops. Only to begin again. Aubry’s affliction means she cannot stay in one place for longer than a few days before she suffers that same fate.

Wow, what an interesting concept! I loved spending time with Aubry on her adventures and seeing how her life progressed once she was on her own. She really had to learn to take care of herself and survival skills at such a young age. My heart broke for her a few times. While I enjoyed this story for the most part, it did begin to feel a bit repetitive. Still very impressed that this was a debut and I can’t wait to read from this author again.

Thank you to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for a review copy.

This was one of my all time favorite reads of this past year! Such a unique story that will stick with you. Could not have loved this book more!

This held an interesting premise and delivered. I enjoyed this story a lot and wonder...will there be more? Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke!

I wasn’t able to review this book before it’s publish date but now that I have read it I am giving it 4.5 stars.

The synopsis sounded amazing, and I was excited to dive into this book. That shortly changed as if felt repetitive and as if the FMC was only repeating what she was doing for a travel magazine. There was little to connect to, and I never felt connect to Aubrey. The magic system was there, but seemed as if there was no attempt to explain it.

I want to thank Netgalley & Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster for an ARC of this book.

This book is compared to Addie LaRue though I haven't read that so it was nice to just compare it to anything. This was a great debut and I enjoyed the adventures it took me on as Aubrey tried to outrun her illness. I liked the magical realism woven in and related to the need for companionship.