Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was an interesting read for me, because I've always been interested in unicorns. I've seen and read plenty of other "origin" texts, but they are usually about dragons or mermaids.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, and I found it took me back to my college days because it reminded me very much of an academic paper. Lots of research and work was obviously put into this, but because of the format it may not be for everyone. I particularly enjoyed learning about the real animals that unicorns may have been based on. If you want a non-fiction type read about unicorns, I would check this out!

The Reality, Mythology, and Fantasies of Unicorns is a non-fiction compilation of research into the history behind the belief in unicorns around the world. The author holds advanced degrees in anthropology and archeology, and uses those skills to delve through history for single-horned creatures that gave life to tales of unicorns. It’s an impressive endeavor. The book is filled with references, descriptions, and images. The Reality, Mythology, and Fantasies of Unicorns is well written, with touches of whimsy that lighten what could otherwise have been a heavily scientific tome. I think it will appeal to a wide range readers.

This book was a big snooze. The author talks about how he did a lot of research and "took lots of notes" into creating his novel, which is a story about a girl and a unicorn. The book reads like a mish-mash of notes and he certainly plugs his novel throughout.

I thought the depictions of unicorns over the years as well as possible origins for the legends was mildly interesting but the author kept cross-referencing himself (I will discuss this in a later chapter.... I discussed this in a previous chapter....). The book felt very unorganized both with chapters and the text itself. It could the formatting of the book on kindle but sometimes it felt like stream of consciousness writing and was hard to follow.

I was excited to read this book since I love all things mythology and unicorns but it felt more like a history lesson and a list of all the things the unicorn could NOT be. Unless you want to read something attempting to be academic about all the things the modern version of the unicorn is not, you want to pass on this book.

This is a good introduction to the myths and natural history that the unicorns appear in, and in a variety of shapes and sizes.
I really enjoyed the wide detailing of their origins and history, but I missed more depth. I did enjoy all of the pictures that illustrated what the author was talking about though, and the writing style was simple and accessible! I also liked how far back the history of these creatures went, and the book described interesting rituals surrounding them.
Overall I wish this had more depth and more detailed scholarship, but it is perfect as an introduction to the history and myths of the unicorn.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4150382730


Thank you Netgalley for providing me the ARC.

I love unicorns, so it was logical for me to request book about them :)

Well, I cannot say that I loved this book, but I did not hate it either.
As non fiction it was well written, however I was missing something, maybe more about the literature which includes unicorns, at the end there was a very brief mention, but I would say that it was too brief.

For me solid 3 stars, of course recommending to every unicorn fan :)

Expectation: an analysis of how unicorn myths and imagery evolved from real animals that exist/existed to today's holographic rainbow glitterpocalypse horse.
Reality: an extended wikiepdia article with an attitude.
There are some very unacademic assumptions made here, any analysis present was superficial, and the design and formatting is lacking.

First, thank you Netgalley, W. B. J. Williams and Dragonwell Publishing for the ARC.

An interesting summary of unicorn lore. I didn't realize there was so much evidence of them.