Once More Upon a Time is a light and fantastical fairytale reimagining that follows Imelda and Ambrose, a king and queen who have lost their love and have to venture on a perilous quest for a chance for freedom. First off, I’m just obsessed with this cover, and I absolutely loved the writing in this book. The prose flow so beautifully! The narrator is playful and witty, and Imelda and Ambrose are so vivid and strong—plus there’s a talking cloak that thinks it’s a horse that just never failed to make me laugh. The development of these characters is so great and organic, especially in a book that’s only 144 pages. I loved Imelda had a bite to her—she is headstrong and feisty and I love her take-control attitude. Ambrose too is so chivalrous and good-natured. My only complaint is I wanted more! Even with the shorter length though, nothing felt cut short or unanswered. The magic in it is whimsical, and the whole world built is beautiful and artistic and completely whisks you away as a reader. Truly, this is such a fun read!

This was a fun quick romance! Nice to read in between bigger books!
It is nothing really special, but I flew through it! Plot was fast-paced, and characters were interesting! I would have prefered a longer and more elaborated story though!
The writing is nice, just in Chokshi's other books!

An absolutely delightful novella. Some might even say charming…!

Honestly, Chokshi’s narrative is fantastic. There’s just the right balance of wit and humour applied to this topsy-turvy fairytale that makes it somehow brilliantly modern. The banter (or magic-induced-loathing…) between Imelda and Ambrose is entirely on point, the cast of eccentric supporting characters (such as the wickedly amusing talking cloak that believes it’s a horse…) are believable and hysterical in equal measure, and the work itself strikes just the right tone and is immersive from the very first line.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC. - it was a privilege!

Extremely well written as I'd expect from Chokshi. I was less enamored by the general narrative and characters. Overall, a good fairy tale style story.

roshani is one of my favorite authors and there’s no surprise that i absolutely love this book. i was thrilled when she first announced it and i absolutely loved every bit of it

Once upon a time there was a prince and a princess who loved each other very much. That is, until the princess died. A witch appeared and granted the prince her life back, but in exchange she took away their love. They are sent to Lover’s Keep, where the land only prospers if the King and Queen are in love. A year and a day pass and they are being kicked out. The witch appears again and offers them their hearts desire, but again happiness has a price. Join Imelda and Ambrose on a journey to claim their hearts desire. Along the way, they may figure out what that truly is.


The prose in this was absolutely wonderful; the words flowed beautifully! This fairytale was a quick read and also exhibited some valuable life lessons. This definitely was a fairytale like any other! Love can be taken away, but can it be reclaimed?

I loved how strong Imelda was. She was not going to take any crap from anyone, especially a man. Imelda has been controlled by her father her whole life, what she wants is to be free.

Once More Upon a Time was a quick, easy read that hit all the right buttons when it comes to fantasy romance novellas. It was fun and engaging, with a sweet romance executed between the main characters. I love Roshani Chokshi’s evocative, clever writing and OMUAT didn’t disappoint in that regard. My only “complaint” is that I wish it was longer, I felt there wasn’t quite enough pages to truly fall in love with the characters and the story, but under the page constraints of a novella it was certainly engaging enough to keep me interested. As a quick taster of her writing before her much anticipated The Bronzed Beasts releases, it functions perfectly. I’d recommend if you’re looking for a short, single sitting type of read that is still chocked full of whimsical fantasy romance.

*Copy provided by NetGalley* I've loved everything I read by Roshani Chokshi so far, and while this wasn't quite as good as some of her other works, it was still a charming read. I really liked how she used this novella to explore one of the other sisters from the 12 dancing princesses fairy tale and what affect it had on her her. But I also really enjoyed how Chokshi used that as a starting point for her own new fairy tale. The ending isn't surprising, but I enjoyed the trip there, especially with the beautiful and whimsical writing and the adventures the MCs have along the way. Left me feeling happy.

I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! Roshani is a phenomenal writer. This book is perfect for fans of second chance romance or readers who enjoy angsty books. I loved Imelda and Ambrose.

This is delightful. Very fun and romantic fairytale novella about no-longer-in-love married royals falling in love on an enchanted road trip. There is an off-page sex scene and an on-page removing of a bodice before they jump into bed! Romance readers, what else do you need?

I'm struggling to categorize the genre. It's a fairytale/fantasy romance but it reads like YA (that bodice part was like 2 seconds and then it's fade-to-black). I think both teens and adults would enjoy it. Lots of hijinks and humor, but also vulnerability and a solid romantic arc. I'd recommend it for fans of Shrek, Ella Enchanted, and all other fairytale subversions/retellings.

4/5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for giving me a copy of this book! This is my honest review, all views are my own.
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Once More Upon a Time is a charming tale that weaves together some existing fairytales with an original story: the cursed king and queen of Love’s Keep. In order to save his newlywed wife Imelda, Ambrose sacrifices his love of her to a witch, turning them into near strangers. A year and a day later, the same witch asks the two of them to collect a potion for her and in return receive their hearts’ desires.
The story was a lot shorter than I expected, but that didn’t take away from the plot or the romance. The writing style was casual—the Witch narrated half of the story, while it otherwise switched points off now between Ambrose and Imelda—and it was very readable. I quickly read through 25% without realizing I had gotten so far in the book! Both of the main characters were strong-willed and intelligent, and I only wish I got to know them better! The plot itself was fine; it’s a relatively simple adventure where the reluctant couple travels to secure a prize and falls in love in the process. The side characters were more two dimensional simply because they were not as relevant to the story as the romance and the couple’s relationship, but they served their purposes as plot devices very well. There were a as few points where I got confused or disagreed with the author’s choices (such as the horse cloak), but overall I think it was a sweet story about re-falling in love and how sometimes one’s desires in life change. 4 stars.

RC has written some of my favourite fantasy books, so I was so excited to see how she would approach a classic fairytale story.

For what this is, it's fine. It's cute, quick, and stays true to conventional fairytale storytelling. But that's all. I know RC is capable of really amazing world-building and characters, so I'm sad that this feels pretty shallow. But again, this is how most traditional bedtime fairytales are. so as long as you going into this expecting that kind of story, nothing intricate, you won't be disappointed.

I personally would have liked something more but, for a short story, it's adequate.

Once upon a time … there was a prince and princess who fell in love. Shortly after, the princess ate a bad tomato, but a witch arrived in the nick of time and offered a deal to the prince: give up their love in exchange for the princess’s life. So he said yes.

A year and a day later, the prince and princess can no longer keep up appearances in their kingdom of Love’s Keep (because it runs on love, and without love, it just can’t sustain itself). Before they part ways for forever, the witch appears again with a new bargain: travel to a kingdom on the day of a new king and queen’s wedding and steal a potion vial from the new queen for the witch. Then, in exchange, she’ll give them what they most want.

But what DO the prince and princess most want? Will they reclaim their lost love or do they value their freedoms even more?

What I Loved:
- There were a handful of funny and quirky characters (a cloak that can talk and thinks itself a horse, a honey badger in the midst of an identity crisis, and more!).
- There was a lot of wit and humor throughout this novella and I found myself smiling and chuckling at regular intervals.
- The witch herself is the main narrator and has a handful of little asides as she tells the story. This added an extra level of humor and fun.
- It gave me old school Shelley Duval Fairy Tale Theater or even Enchanted (Disney movie) vibes, and I loved that!

What I Didn’t Love:
- As other reviewers have said before, this book is a novella, so it’s under 200 pages, but it easily could’ve been drawn out (with more little adventures and challenges for our leading couple to overcome) to become a full length novel. That said, I don’t know if I would have loved it more if it were to have been longer or not. I think it was the perfect read for me when I needed it!

Overall:
Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It incorporated plenty of wit and humor, quirky and silly characters, ridiculous scenarios, and characters the reader could root for. I highly recommend this read for high school readers and above (and I think adults would especially appreciate it!). I think younger YAs or junior high schoolers might not quite be able to follow the story as well or fully get the humor, but maybe some could? It was definitely a fun read, though, and with the right audience, I think it would really land!

This was exactly the story I was looking for as a palette cleanser between longer books that had completely disappointed me. Be aware that this is a Novella, though I wished it was a full length novel. ✨ Thank Netgalley for this arc✨

The story is an adult fairytale (not for children) about a King and Queen that lose their love for each other after making a deal with a Witch. After a year and a day they must leave their loveless castle and go their separate ways, but they each yearned for more. They make a new deal that leads them on an enchanted magical journey where family secrets are revealed and they find love for each other once again, or do they?

It was fun, goofy, and silly but in a good way! This story was adorable. A cloak that believed he was horse (so cute, lol), a sneaky honey badger, and an enchanted bed that tried to eat people! Need I say more? 😂 and some serious built up passion/angst toward the end that made my heart flutter and feel all warm inside. I enjoyed all of it! Definitely give this a read if you are looking for something quick, carefree/silly with a bit of passion that sweeps you off your feet. I’m starting to realize I have a thing for fairytale romances. I loved this cute short story!

Roshani Chokshi's books are always filled with luminous prose and enchanted, fantastical plots and creatures. She has a reputation for lush descriptions and love stories that are different than most teen fiction. I really liked this book as it was like reading an extended fairy tale - one that doesn't end so shortly and easily, because you don't want it to end, you want to keep reading all through the night, even though this is a novella. The romance between Prince Ambrose and Princess Imelda was not easily won - which made it all the better and more satisfying. It was based on true love and sacrifice in the beginning, and then a hard road to reignite and restore that love that was stolen from them. I loved it! The only fault is that it is a novella, it should have been a novel!

What a fun and fresh fairy tale from an amazing voice in YA. Imelda and Ambrose have a story that can be passed down from generation to generation.

This was an extremely charming fairytale.
I wish it were a full novel because the charm, sweetness, and silliness were so enjoyable, and I love how the narrator said what we all were thinking; travel scenes can be boring, so that we can skip them.

A magical land with a twist to two separate tales that interconnect and a Prince and Princess who have to relearn to love one another or who can go their separate ways and find the lives they wish to. As this is my first novel from Roshani Chokshi, I am thrilled I ordered the gilded wolves; the writing and storytelling skills were lovely, so I am excited.

Two things drew me in to this book: 1. Roshani Chokshi, 2. Fairytale.
And let me tell ya, it delivered everything I wanted.

Roshani has the ability to construct the most beautiful story that hits every point I need. Her characters are easy to meet, the settings are easy to envision, and the dialogue feels so natural.

A quick fabulous tour in fairy tale universe : Grimm Brothers’ famous Twelve Dancing Princesses combined with Little Briar Rose ( dark version of Sleeping Beauty) and Dragon’s Tail, Two Brothers with Maleficent vibes!

This is a story about cursed and unforgettable love of an unfaithful prince who loses everything he has in his life and a princess who only prays to gain her own freedom without being trapped in a place or being condemned by any other man!

Imelda was one of the twelve princesses who was roused up from her sleep at each night, found her slippers scuffed at the each morning as if she’d danced all night. You may already know the fairytale about princesses or you may read the modern version: “ House of Salt and Sorrow” ( highly recommended if you didn’t read it yet) Those girls found a passage to the fairyland where they danced till they passed out! One of her sisters already found her prince who was also a gardener’s assistant tipped by witch about how to solve the curse.

But this story is not about that sister. This is Imelda’s story. Imelda who found love and lost it against the curse.

Her love of her life was prince Ambrose. He was one of the three sons of the king, who loses the battles for being kind, good hearted. He aims to do the right thing for the benefit of the kingdom including saving a dragon’s life in expanse of losing the throne.

And now he’s about to lose his kingdom at Love’s Keep. For staying as a king of the place: he must be in love with his queen. But for saving Imelda’s life who is poisoned, he makes a deal with the witch in expanse of forgetting his love for her forever!

Now they’re two strangers who can’t bare to be in the same place. Imelda doesn’t want to go back home because she wants to be free from her overprotective father and his strict methods to trap her in the place.

Ambrose lurks around the woods, sulking, lost, unhappy. Their one year and one day long time is about to end. They’re so close to be ousted from their kingdom.

But the very same witch who cursed them makes an offer they can be both benefited. Imelda and Ambrose will work together to steal a potion from ruthless witch queen and if they succeed, they can move on with their lives: Ambrose can have his own kingdom and Imelda can finally earn her freedom.

But what if this long, adventurous journey is the way to remember what they meant for each other!

I’m stopping right here! The smart, sarcastic cloak of Ambrose is my favorite character at this book!

I liked the combination of different fairytales and conclusion of the story but I wish it could be a little longer.

I’m giving four careful what you wish for, tribute to Grimm Brothers, fairytales, fables stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This book was such a quick read and a great palette cleanser after reading several heavier books. I loved it! It was just so cute, and made me laugh out loud more than once. I really had nothing about this book I didn’t like - if anything I wished it was a bit longer.