I struggled a lot twitch this one. I felt the plot had a lot of holes and could have been great but it was missing too much and I didn’t stay interested with it.

This copy was kindly gifted to me from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (submitted on Instagram)

Just the kind of whimsical, magical, delightful middle grade fantasy story that made me fall in love with the genre as a child. It reminds me of being young and innocent and determined to one day seek adventure and freedom and magic fearlessly for myself.

I have never read a Roshani Choshki book before, and I fear I started with the wrong one.

Once More Upon a Time seems to mimic the juvenile-yet-deep writing style of the Princess Bride; instead it comes off as kitsch and awkward.

I enjoyed the reimagining of lesser known tales all mashed into one, and the characters were likable. Besides that, there were not many other positives to make this book truly memorable.

I never knew I had missed stories like this until I read this book. It was quick, cute and plus you get this gorgeous cover.
This book is great for those looking for a fast read and those who love fairytale like stories.

It was quick, cute and wrapped up neatly into that perfect fairytale ending. Imelda and Ambrose embark on a journey to find their true heart's desire and what they meant to each other before the curse. With different twist and turns, and a few of the Grimm's brothers stories mixed in, you get this sweet fairytale with a happy ending.

I didn't like this one, I couldn't get into it at all. I've been hit or miss with her books previously, so I'm not shocked

I enjoyed this book - it’s a great story that many will love. I can’t wait for my kiddo to be old enough to read this.

"Imelda knew there was no freedom in love. But there was no freedom in heartache either.

Ambrose knew there was no trust in love. But there was no love in trusting that truth either."

"And they lived hopefully ever after."

As expected from Roshani Chokshi, the storytelling is beautiful. So it's about Prince Ambrose being betrothed to Princess Imelda. They will rule the kingdom of Loveskeep but the kingdom has one rule; The king and queen must stay in love.

Imelda died and a witch resurrected her in exchange of their love for one another. A few months in their rule before getting exiled, they were on a quest and in that quest if they succeed, they will get what they both truly want—freedom.

Upon hearing they would still be married hence being loveless in a kingdom that should be filled with love, I knew what direction the book was going and how will it end. Surprisingly, I wasn't wrong.

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖
𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Once More Upon a Time
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Roshani Chokshi
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy, Romance
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐇:
• cute, quick, and fast read as this is a novella
• loved the cover and the synopsis—sounds like a fun read

𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐄:
• This is more ‘it’s me not you’ situation. I didn’t feel like this book was for me as I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and at times it felt predictable.

𝐈𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
✔ slow burn romance
✔ enemies to lovers
✔ only on bed
✔ fairy tale retelling

𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫: fans of fairy tale retellings, enemies to lovers, slow burn romance

Thank you to @NetGalley and the publisher (@Sourcebooks Casablanca) for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐣𝐨𝐲.𝐜𝐨𝐦

This was such a cute and fun fairytale. It was very easy to read and short and reminded me of Shrek and Rapunzel in terms of story telling and visuals.
Once More Upon a Time is a take on the star-crossed lovers trope.
Imelda is a princess controlled by her father her whole life and Ambrose is a prince, the middle child, the always forgotten one.
After they get married, Imelda nearly dies and a witch saves her in exchange for their love. For a year and a day they can live together in their kingdom but afterwards, they have to split up.
And that nearly happens until the witch asks them to help her in exchange for gifting them that which they want the most. So they go together in a journey full of perils that helps them discover themselves and each other.

This was a fun read. It was short and quick. I really enjoyed the plot. The characters were also well developed. It was an intriguing story.

This was such an enjoyable story! I loved the format and found the characters to be interesting and intriguing. The overall feeling of this story was so much fun, the fairytale parts were so well done. Chokshi is an expert storyteller and this book is no exception. If you've read her previous work you know, but she just doesn't miss.

I did not realize this was such a short book until I paused my reading and saw I was half way through it after an hour! Having said that it was a delightful read that I would recommend to everyone. One of the things I love about books is when characters go into detail about their feelings and have conversations and thoughts about how they feel about each other. I felt that there was a lot of angst in this and I loved it. Their journey seemed to be pretty easy and wasn't described in too much detail, so there wasn't really a big bad, but I like Imelda and Ambrose together so much I didn't care about what they ran into, I just wanted to know what they were going to say to each other. Also I don't really know the motivations of the witch but that just made the story more fun. Once I got around to reading this I couldn't put it down!

Once More Upon a Time was such a fun mashup of different fairy tales. I thought the world building was beautiful and thought it moved at a quick pace.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

A whimsical and enchanting fairytale mashup that packed a punch in its short 144 pages!
This novella was full of magic, adventure and wit - was it predictable? Yes. Did I care? No. Do I now long for a horse-cloak of my own? Nothing would make me happier!

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

RC is one of my all time favorite authors so I was super excited to pick up this short story. It was exactly what I would expect and I loved it so much! The characters had charm, sass, and the horse cloak had me cackling! It’s a quick story so it is pretty surface level… but I actually really enjoyed that aspect! Thank you netgalley for me free review copy.

Thank you Netgallery and the publisher for this ebook!

3.5/5
This novella is a very quick fantasy read, in which takes place after the fairy tale of the twelve dancing princesses. While this novella is short the story itself is not rushed and is easy to follow along. The story was paced out perfectly, keeping you intrigued the entire time. The only reason this did not get four stars instead is I love a slow burn romance, and the romance seemed to end just as quickly as it began. The enemies to lover’s arc is very well done, having a one bed trope included. Which was not what I was expecting, and I loved that. Not to mention the ballroom scene!

I loved how this story felt like a fairy tale when reading it. For me I found myself easily caught up in the world and finished quickly as I couldn’t put it down. I recommend this book to any fantasy/fairy tale lover, especially fans of beauty and the beast.

This was a quick retelling of a few different fairy tales (Little Briar Rose, 12 Dancing Princesses to name a few)

It was shorter than I thought. I wish we has more on Imelda- who found love and lost it and Ambrose- a prince who loses battles due to his kind good heart. When Ambrose is about to lose his kingdom, he makes a deal with a witch. A lot happens after he makes a the life-changing deal to save his kingdom, love, and a dragon.

With breaking curses, rediscovering love, and saving the kingdom, I wish we had more to the story. It felt rushed and a little disappointing.