Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale by Chris Tomasini is a smoothly written work. Set in the 15th century, it is about a dwarf who is an entertainer for the king’s children. Samuel is a thoughtful, kind, and wise soul. Through him, the tales of characters within the castle are told, weaving in and out of varying perspectives, years, and events. Among the people in the castle is his dear young friend Tycho, a (perhaps supernaturally) gifted storyteller, and Ahab, the old court astronomer. Longing for love, Samuel finds himself the observer of his friends’ desires. He sees how love can build and destroy, how it can mend, and how it can break. This is a fairy tale unlike those you have read before.

I thought that this work by Chris Tomasini was incredibly interesting and refreshing. It is not a long read and I wish it had not ended so soon. It is told in an unusual style and is certainly creative. I have never read anything similar previously. It is very well written and has the potential to be made into a TV show, film, or even a musical. It is both happy and sad and leaves some of the characters’ fates to the reader's imagination. Close Your Eyes is an unforgettable story, and I will certainly remember to read other books by this author in the future. It will appeal to those interested in adult fairy tales, but also might attract readers interested in historical fiction.

Close Your Eyes is a historical/medieval romance novel by Chris Tomasini. Set in the early half of the 15th century, the book follows Samuel, a court jester serving under King Pawel of the last remaining autonomous kingdom in the west, Gora. It opens with Samuel narrating the escape of Tycho, a gifted storyteller, with Agnieszka, the cook. Samuel recalls the madness of King Pawel, who slowly loses his mind grieving over his beloved deceased wife, Kristina. Added to the mix are Pawel's children, Prince Krysztoff and Princess Alexandra, to whom Samuel and Tycho are beholden. While the ghosts of the past haunt the castle halls, Tycho's philandering escapades do little to fill the void of his soul. Will leaving the castle lead Tycho to his true destiny?

A surreal romantic odyssey that transports you to medieval-era Europe, to a time of fearsome kings, beautiful princesses, forbidden love, and politically motivated arranged marriages, Close Your Eyes is an exploration of love in a myriad of its forms. Filled with romance, courtroom drama, humor, and heartbreak, Chris Tomasini's ode to love is an enthralling read from start to finish. The delightful prose and quick-witted dialogue make the narrative breeze past without a single hitch. The characters are brimming with life, and their colorful personas make them pop out of the pages. Samuel, Tycho, Ahab, Agnieszka, and Alexandra are likable characters you can't help rooting for. I thoroughly enjoyed Close Your Eyes. If you enjoy historical romantic fiction, I highly recommend it.

Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale by Chris Tomasini is an exploration of love told from the perspective of a jester. Set in the 1400s, this fairy tale follows Samuel as he watches events unfold that lead up to the moment when storyteller Tycho runs away with Agnieszka and learns that love is at the root of all their actions. As he depicts the story of his friend, Samuel shares the revelations he discovered in the castle such as ghosts that haunt the halls. One such ghost named Jeanne d'Arc was a constant presence whispering in Tycho's ears, pushing him to forgo everything he knew to return to the places where he once lived and discover the destiny that awaits him.

The literary style explores love and revelations during a time of religion and is set within a kingdom mostly unnoticed by the Pope, Christian kings, and the Holy Roman Empire. These historical details help to establish the story in a specific time period with a writing style that reflects the storytelling of that time. The story is narrated by Samuel who tells a tale about his friend Tycho through whom he learns to understand love and the heart. The reflective nature of the writing creates a hint of sadness and nostalgia. Chris Tomasini weaves a successful story within a story with Samuel's commentary and thoughts on Tycho's story, which is one he's writing. Its a complex structure that works well with the premise and pulls you into the tone of a fairy tale, the historical setting, and the attitudes of the characters. Tycho's stories are an important part of the plot and each one stands out as an extension of the character with a poignancy that Tomasini uses well within the literary style. The belief in love is at the heart of Tycho's story and taking a chance on love defines what Samuel learned through watching his friend's journey. Blending a historical setting, the beautiful tone of a fairy tale, and the poignant presence of the past, Close Your Eyes explores the belief in love through the narration of a jester watching from the outside as love unfolds.

Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale by Chris Tomasini is a story told by Samuel, a dwarf born to a normal family in the early 1400s in Europe. Samuel recounts his own story as well as those of the people he has met and befriended throughout his life. He shares the tales of his friend Tycho and Agnieszka who, alongside himself and Ahab, all worked in the castle for the great King Pawel in the kingdom of Gora. Samuel retells the story of his friends and why they ultimately decided to flee from the castle and how he, a mere jester, came to tell these stories to begin with.

Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale by Chris Tomasini is not at all what you expect it to be. From start to finish this book surprised me with how captivating it was. I found myself enjoying this book so much, especially in the way it is written. This book unfolds as a fairy tale told by Samuel and that seems to give it a certain charm. Although Samuel is only taught to read and write later in his life, his ability to share the tales of his friend gave an even more charming aspect to this story as a whole. The book is well written and the characters are interesting and so easy to empathize with that you become enchanted as you go through the various tales of each character. You truly wish to know more and see more of their lives and what they’ve been through. This book was really beautifully done and I would highly recommend it.

Delightful fairy tales of love take place in the city of Gora (western Poland), in the castle of Pawel the King and his wife, Kristina in the early 1400’s. A young man named Tycho is a gifted storyteller. He and his friend, Samuel, a dwarf, and court jester become wards and friends to Prince Krysztoff and his sister, Princess Alexandra. They often tell stories in the evenings along with the cook, Agnieszka. There is even a ghost who roams the halls of the castle.

The author Chris Tomasini writes with sweet, sensitive understanding of love in all forms; lusty infatuation, time-grown friendship, deep marital love, and abiding, separated love. Bravo, it hit all right tones!

Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale
By Chris Tomasini

This book is hard to describe: it is about a supposed small European kingdom named Gora in the 1400s. It is at once a history lesson, a character study, a tale of mysticism, and a story of love in all its different aspects.

The narration is shared. Samuel, a dwarf and court jester, is writing this story, ostensibly about his friend Tycho, the court storyteller. But parts of the story are brought out through Tycho's journal, Ahab's (the astronomer) writings, and the letters written by Bishop Gieuseppi Tonnelli – who has been banished by Pope Martin V to this atheistic country – to said Pope.

This is a book about storytelling, but it is also a string of stories – some sad, some ennobling, some with happy endings. Ultimately they all deal with some aspect of love and what we do in its name. It is a beautiful, lyrical work and well worth reading.