Once Upon a River just didn’t float my boat

It’s magical, it’s folklore, it’s skilled storytelling.  But it couldn’t keep my interest.  I am most certainly in the minority here as reviews and blogs are raving about this book. So…yeah.  I abandoned it.

We start off in a tavern called The Swan.  A large man stumbles in, apparently bloodied and beaten, and in his arms is a little girl. The local nurse comes to check on her and making the pronouncement that she’s dead, the girl is placed in a room for the night. The next day she is alive and not a mark on her. That’s some of the magical element in the book.

I only read a bit more after 50 or so pages.   What grabbed me about this book was the description and the gorgeous cover art, that’s why I asked for an advanced copy. As I said, people seem to love this lyrical tale but I just found myself putting it down and it flat out didn’t keep my interest. There are too many books on my to-read list so I cut my losses if a book doesn’t engage fairly quickly.

Much thanks to NetGalley for this advanced copy. Opinions are mine and I was not compensated for the review. Publication date is December 4, 2018.