I absolutely loved aspects of this book. I thought the writing was amazing and the story was fascinating. The main reason I couldn’t give it 5 stars is that there were so many loose ends. I definitely need someone else to read this one so we can talk about it. What was the cause of the illness? What did the last scene mean? But, I’m excited I’ve found a new author and will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books!

I found this book intriguing but also endlessly drawn out. It was rich with imagination and description, I felt transported to every exotic and mundane location that was visited in the novel. However, I did feel bored at times. I still recommend this title, especially for a book group that could discuss the beautiful descriptive locations and the tenacity of the female protagonist.

This was unlike anything I've ever read before. The concept hooked me immediately. Audrey cannot stay in one place for long or her sickness tries to kill her. Cursed to walk the earth, and mostly alone, she spends her life meeting indelible characters, having grand adventures, and just tries to stay alive.

I will say, the writing took a bit to get used to. The timeline was a bit confusing, as each chapter may be a different decade. It's also not very dialogue heavy, which I didn't mind as much as I thought I would. I really enjoyed reading this.

Thank you Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive this ARC.

A short Walk Through a Wide World is an adventure about self-discovery.

Transported back in time to various places, this story is told in a unique, non-linear way, giving you glimpses into the past.

This was a great read, full of magic and emotion. Most definitely a tear-jerker.

Solid 4.5/5

This book was literally a wild ride across the world. As a scientist, there's a part of me that really wanted to "know" where Aubrey's ailment came from, but that's kinda the whole point of the story. It is whimsey and adventure with a dash of burnout.

The story itself had its ups and downs for me. Some sections I was just lukewarm about, others really snatched my attention. The library allegory is still a little loose for me, but I can suspend belief/reality enough to still enjoy the read.

This was such a heartfelt story full of magic. Aubrey's illness is honestly horrifying, but was handled really well. It took me a little bit to get used to the non- linear timeline but that was minor. But what really drew me in was the descriptive and lyrical writing. I love Westerbeke's style and look forward to reading more from him! Such a beautifully done story

I loved this novel. Full of emotion and magic. Was a new author for me and look forward to seeing more by them.

As always, thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC!

Wow, this was such an interesting read! I'm not normally one for historical fiction or magical realism, but I had been immediately drawn in by the blurb for this book, and I'm glad I requested a copy.

Aubry's tale is wonderfully told, giving us glimpses all over the world and through pieces of time. We see how she interacts with others, how they view her mysterious illness, and finally, how things reach a beautiful conclusion. Given the story that was told, the time period chosen was perfect. I don't think it could've been told properly if the author had tried setting this in modern times.

I also really enjoyed the jumps through different points of time, Aubry's story being revealed piece by piece! Definitely recommend readers to give this a try once published.

A Short Walk Through a Wide World
by Douglas Westerbeke
Pub Date: 9 Apr 2024

Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death.

When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she’s already been.

From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s...

Fiercely independent and hopeful, yet full of longing, Aubry Tourvel is an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders to find a place she can call home. A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.

3.75 stars

this book really makes you think. i could see it being read and analyzed in an English class one day. there are so many symbols, parallelism, foreshadowing and all the literature things. i have to be honest -- it was a little difficult for me to get into at first, but then i was hooked. i needed to know where aubry's sickness came from, and i wanted to better understand the things she would see in the world. i do have to say i was getting a little worried our poor aubry wouldn't get a happy ending after EVERYTHING she's been through -- but she did! this book has so many themes and touches on so many important aspects of life. it highlights the importance of friends and family and how you can find them most anywhere. it highlights the difficulty of being alone. you also get to travel the world with aubry, so that's pretty cool.

1885. Aubrey is a young girl in Paris who finds a round wooden puzzle ball and becomes so attached to it that she refuses to fulfill a promise to her sisters and get rid of it. That night while she sits at the dinner table she begins to bleed out of every orifice and her bones feel like they are all breaking. Convinced she is cursed, she leaves home and begins a lifetime of wandering the globe, always in search of a place she can stay and finally call home. The curse keeps her moving, and she lives a lifetime experiencing other cultures, other people and learning that maybe life isn't about a destination. Will she ever find a place she can settle for good?

I was thinking not like the first third but f this novel about a girl who has a disease that forces her to travel and if she doesn’t she will bleed to death. Even though the blood thing was a little strange I was intrigued. But by half way through the novel she was still just traveling, a secret library was revealed. There was a lot of interesting parts but it didn’t seem to tie together at the end. I wanted more explanations.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for providing me with an ARC!!!

This story almost instantly sucked me into its world. Westerbeke has pretty, easily readable prose. I will happily check out anything he writes further. He does a lovely job of highlighting the joys of travel and connecting with others. It's both bitter-sweet and joyful at the same time.

I feel like the main character and many of the people she meets actually feel like real human beings. Aubrey is a well-rounded character. Her sickness is interesting, and I was fascinated by the magic ball.

The one thing that doesn't make this 5 stars for me is the ending. I refuse to give away any spoilers, but I think some additional foreshadowing would be great!

I also think further development of the "demon" that accompanies the main character's malady would be fantastic.

What I loved the most about this book was the vivid imagery the author created to paint a picture of each place Aubry traveled to. Since she cannot even cross a path she has already taken, each step forged was brand new to Aubry and the reader. We were taken all over the world with Aubry, and within in so many different cultures. Though towards the end it seemed more rushed than it did in the beginning, and the imagery wasn’t as strong.

The magic was also incredibly confusing to me. It had such great potential, but left such wide holes that I couldn’t look past it. Where did it come from? What strengthened it/enabled it? Is the only thing that it wanted was to grow Aubry’s moral character? The magical libraries Aubry encountered were such a great idea.. but then that’s all that they felt like. It didn’t feel like these foundations of the novel had a strong depth to them, but if you’re looking for a feel-good story then this definitely has that. This story is all about how the journey is what really impacts us, not the destination, and the people we meet who touch us too.

Thank you @netgalley and Avid Reader Press for this ARC!

I don’t often read books in the magical realism genre, but I very much enjoyed this book. Each chapter was a new adventure with rich characters, fascinating locations, incredible challenges and danger, and amazing escapes. Aubry cannot stay in one place for more than a few days due to a unique condition she acquired at the age of eight. She lives a lonely life but also connects deeply with a cast of characters as she travels the world never able to return to the same place. Books and libraries are her safe haven taking breaks from the tumultuous wandering life she leads. Doug Westerbeke’s unlimited imagination and descriptive writing style makes this a fun and exciting read if you’re prepared to suspend reality for a magical ride. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for honest feedback.

A short walk through a wide world is perfect for fans of Addie Larue and who enjoy a coming-of-age novel full of wanderlust. The premise of her having a bleeding disorder where if she stayed in a town too long or returned to it, she would begin to bleed, but as long as she kept traveling, she would live was initially hard for me to accept, but it soon became clear that more was at play and the mystery kept me hooked on the story.
The story frequently time jumps, which I found engaging, but it may not be the best story for you if you don't like that form of storytelling.

I'm sorry but I couldn't finish reading the book, so the star rating shouldn't be applied... The writing was okay but nothing special, and the story, though I tried to accept the concept of a girl who had to continue moving or will bleed to death, it pushed the logic too far for me to accept.

Thank you to the Publisher for my arc!


I actually really enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. The premise is super interesting and definitely a must read if you enjoyed Addie Larue

This was a strange read... I really liked the way it began. It was wholly original and evocative and I was absolutely captivated by the premise. As it went on, the somewhat nonlinear format struck me as a little unusual, but on the whole I didn't mind because each chapter did announce itself with enough specificity that I never had trouble keeping track of things.

Unfortunately as the book went on it started to lose me a little bit. The descriptions of her various adventures felt more like interludes than an ongoing narrative of a life, and while each one was beautifully laid out and incredibly detailed, they started to feel repetitive after a while. I get that this was probably intentional, at least in some measure, and it certainly captured the tension of Aubry's life, but it didn't always make for the steadiest read. And then at one point when 25 years seem to skip by in the blink of an eye, and the extended tenure in the library occurred, followed by the last bit in the jungle, it really started to lose me a bit as far as following the overall thread of where the story was trying to go and what it was trying to tell me.

The writing was always wonderful, with evocative descriptions and intriguing characters, but I'm still not entirely sure what I was supposed to take away from the whole thing. It's not a bad thing necessarily, although it did leave me with a lot more questions at the end than I had when I started, which generally isn't a positive in my mind. Still, the use of language was absolutely magical and the premise was so fantastic that I would definitely seek out the author again.

At first I wasn’t sure how I would like this book but as the story progressed, I liked it more and more. It’s a strange kind of magic within the words. The emotions come alive in this book and I felt it along the way with the main character. A book about adventure/traveling, human connection, the journey of girlhood into adulthood. Overall, beautifully written and a captivating story.