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.

Aubry Tourvel, a precocious young child in France, falls violently ill without warning. Writhing and bleeding, her family immediately seeks medical attention. But the farther Aubry travels from home, the better her aggressive symptoms become. When returning from the doctor, the illness strikes again, before she even crosses the threshold of her front door. It quickly becomes apparent that the only prevention for Aubry’s terrible symptoms is movement.Therefore, she is fated to a life of constant travel. If she stays in one location more than several days, her illness returns. So Aubry drifts to one destination after the other, never allowed to grow roots, make lasting relationships, or call a single place home. She spends her life as a witness to humanity and the world, reveling in the beauty of each place and each person she encounters.

I found this book breathtaking. Westerbeke’s way with words was wonderful, beautiful, and unique. Each sentence was crafted with care. I am not a frequent annotator, especially on Kindle, but I couldn’t help myself from highlighting passages because of how stunning things were phrased. I desperately wish I had a physical copy of this book to hold and go over the many aphorisms that inspired me while reading. The only other novel that had the same visceral effect on me happened to be V.E. Schwab’s, Invisible Life of Addie La Rue.

Writing craft aside, this book falls just shy of a masterpiece for a few structural and content reasons. This review DOES include some SPOILERS.

I struggled the most with the novel’s overall structure. I absolutely love non-linear narratives, but this book liberally leaped all over the place in a manner that was actually difficult to follow. My background as an English major taught me the value of playing with a plot’s structure to add value, but in this case it obstructs the reader from understanding when plot points occur. If the structure is mimicking memory, which is not always chronological, then I think Aubry needs to track time in some fashion. Guessing how old she is, or how much time has passed, only confuses the narrative and the reader more. Some sections focus in detail on a relationship, almost slowing time, while others are mentioned briefly, speeding up time. The pacing and amount of detail spent on Aubry’s experience is inconsistent. For example The Prince versus Marta. This plays with the reader’s thoughts about time, the longer Westerbeke spends on a character there is an assumption of importance or time spent that the reader makes. Days feel like years with some characters, and years felt like days with Marta. This is something to be noted. If chapter headings were marked with years, this could easily be remedied. It does not have to be exact, but having some, any sense of “when” would help this issue. Otherwise, it’s a bit of whiplash each time she tells part of her life story, especially after moving through one of the library doors.

That brings me to magical realism and libraries. I desperately want to understand what the library represents. I thought the metaphor would jump out at me, but I sit here still feeling dumbstruck. Libraries are a place which hold collective or unique experiences – each book adding to the scope of human knowledge. So in a way Aubry is a librarian. She holds the secrets of the planet and of all the people who have confided in her. What she witnesses becomes real, which is a large theme that is explored. But the physical manifestation of doors throws me. Why can’t anyone else enter? In Aubry’s early days with Marta, they find a door. Aubry assumes it is the library, but when entering they find nothing but creepy old bones. Why can’t others enter or see it? Why is Aubry the only witness to this library? Does the library represent her sanity? Doe’s she only find a door when she desperately needs respite? Only in her dreams and in the library does she communicate with her personified illness. Does the illness live there? Why isn’t she sick when she is inside the library? Does time stop in the library leaving her out of the grasps of her illness? If so, why does she age?

She constantly tells those she passes by that they won’t believe her — yet they always seem to take her word. Is the reader supposed to doubt? Is she unreliable, crazy, dead? Is the library purgatory? It definitely felt like purgatory at the end of the novel when she is calling out to herself. She hears voices, which turn out to be her own. She sees shadows, which seems to be a past permutation. So does time work differently inside the library? There are so many issues and unanswered questions surrounding the library. Because of the volume of wonder, it makes the reader feel like they are missing something obvious. When really, I think the library needs to be better explained, its limits and reasons more defined as the book progresses. That way it’s not this large mysterious force, but a character. Clearly the library is important, but the reader loses interest when everything about it feels like it’s going over their head. Some mystery is great, but too much and it becomes frustrating.

Another incredibly frustrating thing is the illness. It is never explained. Aubry never discovers where this disease originated from or why it selected her. We assume it relates to the puzzle ball she finds in the street as a child, or the water well with a monster face, but that too is left unanswered. She is cursed, but why, by whom, by what? Does it move to another once she expires or is she the only one? If she is the only one – why her?

The puzzle ball seems to be alive, it seems to lead her to the first doorway to the library, seems to be a consistent motif. It appeared in Aubry’s life just before she fell ill. Did the puzzle ball cause the disease? If so then what do the contents inside the ball at the end of the novel indicate? The puzzle balls’ mystery and existence is just as confusing as the library. It is another element that I wish Westerbeke better defined/explained. Because of the reemergence of the puzzle ball, the ending isn’t a neat bow on a beautiful life spent traveling. So much is left unsaid, and so many new questions arise when she finds “home” in the final chapters. The end introduces new characters, new magical realism like fast healing bones, another well, and the painting… It felt like the story continued on too long, leaving more to the imagination than necessary, yet again.

This book has so much potential, and I wish it simply defined the laws of its universe a bit more obviously so the reader felt more included. Readers love Addie La Rue because we understand the curse, and the consequences it creates for her. But in A Short Walk Through a Wide World, so much is left ambiguous that it all feels random. If that is the intention, then it needs to be stated. If it’s not, then sections need edits. I think readers need to better understand the disease, the library, and the puzzle ball which seems to link those two together. It would take this book to the next level, which is remarkable for a debut book! I hope these notes prove to be helpful and useful criticism before publishing. I love this novel, and want the world to love it too.

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced digital reader’s copy, in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this story quite a lot, I found it very interesting and compelling. I think I may have liked it a bit better than The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

Thank you to Douglas Westerbeke and NetGalley for an egalley of this book in exchange for my thoughts on it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this read, and would strongly recommend it to any fans of Erin Morgenstern, especially the Starless Sea. This book is cover-to-cover full of rich descriptions that draw you into the different places Aubry travels to.

I loved the library not only because it neatly side-stepped the logistical concerns of intercontinental travel in the 19th century, but also because it established Aubry's archetype as a storyteller/keeper. This book effectively used Aubry's storytelling as a narrative device to give us snapshots of her life's highlights in a way that felt natural and had a very conversational flow. The personification of her illness was also super interesting to me- it really shifted the relationship from a general frustration with the unknown to a much more directed one of simultaneous antagonism and care. I like that we never got a physical manifestation of it, with it instead being a more sentient force as if it was coming from (or was) the Earth.

Would read again!

An interesting premise regarding a young girl who is required to travel and can’t remain in one place. The story follows adventures through her life as she navigates through the world and the relationships she forms during her travels. Elements of science fiction are weaved through the story. Great debut novel. Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting story and great writing about a young girl who gets a mysterious illness which causes her to be on the "run" from it, literally. She is not able to be in the same location twice as she wanders the world through her life, only stopping for short periods of time. Although it's hard to build long relationships with others, Abby is still able to experience life and has a few intimate moments with people she meets along the way. Douglas did a phenomenal job on his description of the places Abby visits along with having the wonder how the story will end. I definitely will recommend this book to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Books Go Social for the ARC.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book quite a bit. It jumps around in time and space in a way that should (and at times did) feel chaotic, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed reading the main character, Aubry's, pov.

The book takes you through a ton of places and to mee a ton of people. Due to the nature of Aubry's travels her time with the people was short, so we really only capture who they are in a moment of time and the only character we really see go on any kind of journey is Aubry.
I wish the places had been more distinct. Maybe this is a purposeful choice made because of Aubry's constant travels, but the places she visits blend together and I didn't feel that we experienced as many distinct locations as I wanted to in a book like this, especially considering how many places we did see her go.

Review cross posted to Goodreads and StoryGraph

What a phenomenal gem! While I wish I had not read the editor's note at the beginning, because it gave away the suspense of the wonderful writing at the start of the book, this was one of my favorite books of the last few years. With an unusual story, phenomenal themes that make you think throughout the book, and a great ending, I just wish there was more to read by Westerbeke. Taking you from the streets of Paris through a crazy journey through the world, the messages intertwined throughout are deep and meaningful.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley.
This book has a lot of magic and mystery about the world so just suspend judgment and enjoy the ride...errr...the walk. It kept my attention and brought up some questions in my own life about how we value a life lived differently from ours.

As a young child, Aubry develops a strange and incurable illness: she cannot stay put in one place for longer than three days, or she will rapidly start to die. Thus begins her lifelong journey to outrun her curse. She travels the world, never able to return to where she has previously been. The longer Aubry travels and the more places she sees, it becomes clear that the world she treks is not the same as it is to everyone else.

Thank you to @netgalley and @avidreaderpress for the ARC! This book was described as The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi, which was an intriguing combination. The story was interesting but sometimes I struggled with the plot as it was kind of chaotic and difficult to keep some of the locations straight. I feel like the book tried to be too much like Addie LaRue. Aubry is a French woman whose life is forever changed by a curse brought on by an ignorant mistake, which is essentially the premise of Addie. The curse was never fully explained in this novel however and that really frustrated me. It felt like the book was coming to a close several times but when it finally did end, nothing was resolved. I did enjoy all of the people and places Aubry visited along the way, and the writing itself was very good. I think this would have got a higher rating from me if there was a true denouement, but the end left me with more questions than anything.