I was super excited to read this book after finishing the first book. I would argue that you could almost read this one without the first book, but the nuances and connections would be somewhat lost.

Written in 3rd person instead 1st person like Once a Queen was, Once a Castle follows the adventures of the younger Addison siblings along with the Heapworth siblings and the Rastegars' grandson. There are some mentions of what had happened in the previous book sprinkled throughout.

This book felt darker in some ways, mostly because it dealt heavily with the evil sorceress and her actions, but there were some great parts with facing flaws and accepting them as well as realizing that strength comes in different forms. It may be a bit harder to keep the characters straight at first, but I enjoyed this book immensely. Now to wait for the next Carrick Hall novel.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. It definitely reminded me of the Narnia series. How good always triumphs over evil, even when the outcome looks bleak.

There is so much going on in this book! Wow!! Once you have read the first book in this series, you must read this one!!! Jack is one of the main characters in this story. And you have to love Georgie! Really, there are lots of great characters. If you love fantasy-good vs. evil-you'll love this book! Great for kids or adults.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance e-copy of this book! All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This is the second book in the Carrick Hall series. This book takes place a few years after the first book Once a Queen. I do have to say this one seems a bit more put together than the first. The series overall gives Narnia-like vibes. I think it would be a good series for young readers, but it lacks the magic C.S. Lewis captured to hold the interest of most avid readers.

Thank you NetGalley and WaterBrook & Multnomah | WaterBrook for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I personally had a really hard time writing a review for this book because while I enjoyed the book, the plot and the characters nothing sticks out to be as being my favorite thing about the story.

If you loved Narnia growing up this definitely brought out the nostalgia feelings and made me think of Narnia.

Overall good sequel of Once a Queen. Bit slow-ish. Too many characters in once made it bit messy. In few places feels like missing something. Interesting plot ideas and nice writing style compensate it tho.

The tone is considerably darker than that of "Once a Queen." It feels like we spend the vast majority of the book watching the villain rampage around doing horrible things to our main characters. Still, the writing remains excellent and the characterizations strong, and the story ultimately fulfilling.(And maybe the darkness makes it a good fit for the times we live in ....)

Side note: I hope we get more Lord Edward in the next book. He's an especially intriguing character. And I'm wondering how much of his characterization, if any, was based on Lord Peter Wimsey. :-)

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Once A Queen, so I was very excited to read this follow up. It can be difficult to keep track of characters and I should have reread OAQ before I started this one but I absolutely loved it. Clean storylines, characters who you can't help but root for, good versus evil...just so, so lovely! I can't wait for my daughter to be just a little older so she can read this series!

I loved Once a Castle by Sarah Arthur!! This book took me back to nostalgic memories of Narnia and beyond! This book has echoes of Lewis while being its own story altogether. The messages included in this story were effortless woven so as to gently bless the reader. I enjoyed the first book in this series and was looking forward to this book. I was not disappointed!! I give this book 5 stars for style, messaging, and just straight enjoyment. This book will appeal to young adults and adults who love Narnia, England, fantasy, and a good story!

This book was fine as a sequel. I did have to re-read the first book before I read this one. it has been a while and I am glad I did. I would have forgotten the names and what had already happened. I feel this book relied more heavily on the cute/innocent moments in the story and then kind of forgot who its audience was. I felt like the writing would appeal to younger readers more than older teens to be honest. I feel like the amount of viewpoint changes would confuse a younger reader. I admit, I got lost a couple of times keeping track of who was speaking. Overall, it was not a bad story

I read this hoping that the Narnia-alikeness would morph into something new and fresh but, well, no. There's even a "Eustace". Sigh.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley.

I really enjoyed the whimsical feel of the book. It was really good. Although it is the second book on a series I was a little confused on what was going on. But other than that it was really good.

This is one of those books I find hard to review. There were moments when I was totally engrossed and loved the book. And others where I was confused and not sure who the audience is supposed to be. The publisher has it for ages 12-17 and that's probably appropriate, although sometimes I felt like the writing would appeal to younger readers more than older teens. Why did I finally decide on 3 stars rather than 4? There were too many viewpoint changes for me, plus it sometimes felt too derivative from writers like Lewis and Tolkien. In spite of this, I DO recommend the book for readers who want a hope-infused fantasy novel.

Frankie and Eva have grown up and written a book based on their adventures. Now, Frankie’s younger siblings and the other children are embroiled in the fate of Ternival. They have to work together with the creatures of the land to defeat an evil witch and a giant.

So so cute and whimsical. It didn’t feel like a “filler” second book to set up for the third and could probably be read as its own standalone story. There was a delicate discussion of racism that I think was really well done and I loved how the magic was expanded upon in this book. Definitely looking forward to the next one.

I was pretty excited for this read, after enjoying book 1--but just enough time has passed since I read book 1, I'd forgotten most of the details ... and book 2 didn't really recap past events. A lot of times, I'm ok with that--certainly Harry Potter suffered from #alltherecaps in every single book!--but this one would have benefited from more than it had.

There were so many new characters and plotlines, I had a hard time engaging with it and wanting to continue. So, I'm setting it aside for now and may revisit after publication/I've re-read book 1. I think they may benefit from being read more or less back to back.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was given access to once a castle by Sarah Arthur through a free pre-publishing app called net gallery. All opinions here are my own. I received no compensation of any kind.
Wow.... Having had the privilege to read once upon a queen and now book number two wants a castle. I have to say Sarah Arthur does it again. She brought together the same cheerful lively cast of characters that I had the pleasure of meeting . In her book upon a queen. And I was able to take part in their adventures again in once a castle. I have to say she has done a wonderful job giving the characters proper age as they grow with wisdom and maturity without losing the child like love and innocence. That enables us all to believe in fairy tales if we only remember to listen and look in the right way. Not with our ears and eyes but with our heart. I love the fact that she has woven together these two stories and it sounds like even maybe a third together, but also within these tales is the thread of the magic of c.s Lewis's, the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, which I thought I detected the flavor of before and now finding out. She is a fan of his and works to preserve the memory of these stories and the magic they hold to me is all the more wonderful and appropriate. To my way of thinking, this brings that old magic to the ears and eyes and imaginations of today's youth while also reawakening the imaginations of adults like myself who even at 43 Feel as excited as I did at the age of 10 when I first encountered this magic for myself.
To you Sarah Arthur, I say thank you and huzzah well done and I only hope that you will grant me the privilege of reviewing your third book now that I have the taste of its preview lingering in my imagination.

This sequel to Once a Queen really requires readers to have read and remember that book in order to make much sense of this one. And while the first was a little twee, this one leans much more heavily on the cutesy-names-and-wide-eyed-innocents tropes of the more treacly fairytales. I was far less impressed with Once a Castle than Once a Queen, and really had to force myself to finish it.

I was so excited to get a chance to read the second book in this series! If you loved Narnia as a kid then you will love reading this book!

It's been so long since I read book one in this series (which I believe I enjoyed) that I didn't remember anything about the characters or the world. This made this being a very confusing read and I feel like characters were being introduced left, right and centre which did not help with the confusion.

I had to put most of my time reading into figuring out who each character was, and therefore my rating will me rather low. I'm sure if you read book one and book two back to back that you get more out of it.

A fun sequel to Once a Queen. If you love the Narnia series m this is very similar to that. I definitely enjoyed it though I had a bit of a time trying to keep the large cast of characters straight.