I guess I didn't realize what the overall tone of this book would be... I really liked the sneak peek and it seemed like a book I'd be into. However once I got in the (very dense, very weighty) meat of it, it was just... too much magical realism for me when I wanted some epic fantasy, maybe? And there are SO MANY characters, and it gets off to such a slow start with all these interwoven little threads and details just not quite connecting to make whole cloth. I feel like Once Upon a River gets too bogged down in the details, which is a pity because the details are GORGEOUS, but they just get in the way of letting the actual STORY develop. I prefer books that are a little faster paced and that focus on only one or two main characters, rather than this dense web of people and places and plotlines.