This was an audible only book for the longest time, so I was excited that it was being released as a book!

There where a lot of fairy tale elements woven together, as well as lots of hijinks and humor. The story focused on Imelda and Ambrose, I liked that we got a story that was more centered around the loss of love and finding it again. You don't see this a lot in fairy tale fantasy books, and I enjoyed the different take on the genera. I think the only thing I wised is that this would have been longer, I think it would have fleshed out the story a bit more. I think it would have given the story more context and understanding of the characters relationship if the story included the year and a day they where together rather than being told snippets of it. Other than that the story was enjoyable the romance was good and its a good story to read if you want something light to read. I would recommend it.

P.s. the horse cloak is the best character.

Many thanks to Netgalley for my review copy.

This is quintessentially fairytale. I mean it IS called “Once More Upon a Time”

There is an evil witch who cast a curse that divides the happiness of two people once married and in love. We get a noble “steed” (if that’s what we can call him), Talking animals, poisoned fruit, and a whole cast of characters pulled from classic fairytale tropes.

It’s short and sweet so you can finish this one within a day or two. It has an odd little narrator at the beginning of each chapter — which I could have done without — but I still found it fairly entertaining for what it was meant to be. It had me laughing a few times and there were some good romantic scenes that were well done and closed door.

Overall a fun fantasy novella. I really loved A Crown of Wishes and so I would like to try more of this authors more recent full length books.
3.5 stars

Once More Upon a Time is marketed as a second chance, young adult romance about two magically cursed royal folks (husband and wife) on a quest. This is untrue, only in that it is much, much more than this.

Reading a book by a particular author for the first time can be a bit of a nervous event, never knowing what to expect. I got everything and more with this book. The story starts off at a reasonable pace from start to finish, I never felt as if the pacing dragged. The relationship and romantic development between the two characters goes at a pace that never feels rushed or too stagnant. Without giving too much away, this book lacks the faux pax of losing out of all the banter, snark and personality of characters as a book goes on. It perfectly balances character development alongside continuity.

The actual atmosphere was enchanting, It had a level of world building also gave me Shrek vibes in its level of satire , but never cheesy or self deprecative. Anthropomorphic animals, enchanted objects , magic that seems to fit naturally into the universe never detracts no matter how silly.

Sensitive topics such as PTSD, ab*se, familial issues did reach a very emotional level for me and may be sensitive to some younger audiences, but was tastefully done and never too graphic. The spicy aspect of this book seemed perfectly appropriate for the books rating and age system and could be good for high schools ranging up to adults of any age.

If you are unsure on this author, take it from a skeptical reader and give this book a try. In under a few hours of reading I laughed, cried, and I felt attached to characters and expanded my repertoire. This is a fantastic study in character development, exposition, healthy depiction of relationship conflict in a fantasy setting, romance, whimsy. My only regret is there aren't more stars to give it.

Charming, but not in the way of some woodland creature. A fox? No. A beaver? No. A honey badger? Yes, not like THAT at all.

2.5?

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me access to an advance copy to review!

Once More Upon a Time is a quick read that combines elements of many different fairytales to tell a story of a prince and princess falling in love for a second time. I liked the messaging about getting to know people before you judge them, and the nature of good relationships, but I think this suffered from a bit of an identity crisis. It is very short (only around 144 pages), so things are brought up and resolved very quickly, and you just have to take it in good faith that the characters are growing and changing. The humour came across as very cringe at some points, and as someone who doesn't usually enjoy books that set out to be funny, this didn't quite come back around to the 'so bad it's good' end of the spectrum. I think this would be better off as a novella or something published on the author's website for fun rather than a full-blown novel, as there just isn't much to it at all. I was also thrown off by the tone - at points it was quite childish, other times there was a lot of sexual innuendo, and there was also an Italian-American beaver (sorry, badger)?

TLDR: for people who really love self-aware fairytale-remixes, or who absolutely adore Chokshi's writing, but otherwise just not substantive enough to be anything more than 'okay' in my opinion.

A delightful little book! From the beginning I could tell it would be a fun, quirky tale and it did not disappoint.

Once More Upon a Time is a fun and adventure filled book that is absolute joy! Roshani Chokshi is a talented writer. You read so easily that you forget how great the writing lures you into the story.

This is a fun romance about a king and a queen who were in love, but were cursed so they forgot they were in love. Now they have to leave their kingdom. They go on an adventure together. There are some fun scenes and funny references to other fairy tales. For example, the queen was one of the twelve dancing princesses. I found some of it really humorous, like the very funny honey badger.

Once More Upon a Time
Roshani Chokshi
Imelda and Ambrose
What a delightful tale- truly full of delight. From the beginning the humor just jumps off the page. It reminded me a little of Princess Bride in it’s humor and love story, not in it’s storyline. Told like a fairytale, it has a lush beautiful world and enchanting characters.
Imelda (who owns several carriages of shoes- what fun) is one of 12 princesses who are looking for a prince. Ambrose is that prince and they fall in love. But on the day of their wedding Imelda is poisoned by heirloom tomatoes- yes, heirloom tomatoes! Luckily there is a witch attending who gives Ambrose the choice to love her and let her die or for both to forget their love so she can live. He chooses the latter.
As a wedding present they were given the kingdom of Love’s Keep- which can only be held if their majesties are in love.Which Ambrose and Imelda are not. After a year and a day on the throne they are tossed out. The witch is there again and she send them on a quest. And that, as the author says, is where the story begins. The quest involves a cloak that thinks it is a horse, a bed that is a cannibal, a trickster honey badger, and a queen with the power to turn people into stone. Can they find, or remember, true love?
I would recommend this book to my patrons.

This book was so interesting! I flew through it in one afternoon and I will be reading more by this author. The plot was fast paced but easy to understand. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends.

A charming, enchanting tale the likes of which only Roshani Chokshi could weave together so beautifully. A story that integrates fairytale tropes into something utterly unique. I could not put it down and finished it in one sitting. It was such a fun, magical, romantic tale that feels like a classic while still brand new. This book is definitely going down as one of my favorite reads this year.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of Roshani Chokshi (absolutely LOVE The Gilded Wolves, literally cannot wait for The Bronzed Beasts) so of course I downloaded this when I saw it on Edelweiss and requested on Netgalley!

Once More Upon a Time is a short (print says it’s 176 pages) fairytale-inspired romance about a cursed couple who lost their love and will lose their kingdom if they don’t get it back. Sent on a quest to retrieve a potion by a witch in exchange for bearable futures for the both of them, fairytale trials and tribulations ensue, from suspicious inns to suspicious talking animals, magic shells containing shoes, and a talking cloak that thinks it’s a horse.

There were cute moments, it was quaint, it fit all the vibes and aesthetics that fairytales require, but I can’t say I really loved, or liked, this novella. I liked what Roshani was doing, making a fairytale about essentially exes rekindling their love for each other in a fairytale setting, which I haven’t seen done before (since it’s always first loves and soul mates) and she did execute that goal, so it wasn’t bad.

Perhaps I just wasn’t in the right mood for it, but it didn’t seem groundbreaking or meaningful to me. It was a very short read, but halfway through I was sort of bored and put it down and had to kinda talk myself into picking it back up and finishing it.

Overall I would say I felt it was average. Maybe I would’ve liked it more had I been in the mood for a fairytale romance novella, and would definitely recommend people pick it up were THEY in the mood, because I feel like this would be received better as a mood read. Regardless, very middle of the road for me. I don’t really have any other thoughts on it.