It was not what I expected. I expected a novella, but the style of this one was absolutely not for me. It reminded me of a movie script of some sorts, not even integrating the dialogue but just stating NAME:. The rest isn't much better either, as there is very few description at all and it also in script-form: NAME enters; does this, does that.

When I mentioned this is a reading update, the author did in fact state that it had indeed started out as a movie script. (So it wasn't just me then, after all). Unfortunately it didn't work for me at all. I normally like different styles/settings, but this was an exception.

The story, I don't think it was for me either. It was almost slapstick at points, but not in a way I thought was funny. I just think I wasn't the right person for the story. Had it been a movie, it would have been the kind I don't watch either.

It was very different from what I expected after reading the blurb:

Is he the ringmaster or just another trained animal, trotting out the same old tricks?

 

This gave me the impression that there would be more to the story than I eventually found.

It was not for me, perhaps other people will like it better.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I've seen this as all kinds of different challenges before, but that wasn't really what I was looking for. I've got enough of a challenge ahead of me, and mostly I was just curious to see how many and what countries (and states in the USA) I was going to visit with the books I'm reading this year. Since I don't have the money nor the time to travel all around the world, I'm happy to do so in books!

I'm keeping tracks of the places I've visited and plan on updating the maps every ten books. Prepare and get ready for the first ten stops!

I started 2015 in Spain (The Barefoot Queen), which I left for one of my favourite cities: London, UK (The Paper Magician). I travelled to Berlin (Germany; Until the debt is paid), also one of my favourite cities and definitely a reason for me to pick a certain book up. Then some ocean hopping, first to Tennessee (USA; The Last Breath), back to London (The Last Magician), again to the USA, North Carolina this time (The Wonder of All Things). I've missed the exact location of Every Ugly Word, but it's definitely somewhere in the United States. The road-trip ended in Texas (USA; The Elephant on Sixth Street). Once Upon a Time is non fiction about fairy tales, so it doesn't really have a location of its own. But I finish this part of my trip back in London (From the Cradle).

Part 1-10:

Countries Visited: 4 (Germany, Spain, UK, US)

Continents Visited: 2 (Europa, North America)

American States Visited: 3 (North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas)

New Places: 6

Most Visited Country: USA (4)

Most Visited Place: London, UK (3)