Special thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Goodreads: Once More Upon a Time
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Published: 05 October 2021
Genre: Romance Fantasy

Panda Rating:

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Once upon a dream, there was a prince named Ambrose
and a princess named Imelda who loved each other…
But alas, no more.
“What a witch takes, a witch does not give back!”
their friends and family warn.
They resign themselves to this loveless fate…
A year and a day pass.
And then their story truly begins…

Embark on a perilous journey with Imelda and Ambrose as they brave magical landscapes and enchanted creatures on their quest to reclaim their heart’s desire… But first they must remember what that is..

This was another wonderful (and super fast) buddy read with Julie @ One Book More! 😍 Chokshi is an author I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now and this small taste has convinced me I’ll enjoy her work!

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TL;DR: Once More Upon a Time was a great novella that has great fairytale vibes! Despite being so short, it feels like a fully formed story with a fantastical setting, a journey full of magical creatures and adventure, and a good dose of romance. This has a sweet HEA that brings the story around full circle and I loved it! 😍

This was a super fun spin on classic fairytales and I had a great time reading it! I loved Chokshi’s writing and enjoyed how she twisted some classic tales and gave the story a darker fairytale vibe. Seeing as it’s a novella, the world-building isn’t very detailed and the character development was very swift, but I was happy with how the story progressed. There was never a moment of boredom as we journeyed across this fairytale land and encountered a town full of cannibals, a tricksy honey badger, an evil witch queen and a castle full of stone statues, a cursed village and flying glass slippers, just to name a few things! 😉

There are three POVs and all of them were engaging! Our hero and heroine were so easy to root for and I loved how Chokshi expanded on their backstories, taking us down a not-so-happy route that leads them to where they are today. I adored Imelda and Ambrose together and I loved watching them fall back in love again over the course of their very adventure-filled journey to steal from the Witch Queen. They each want different things without thinking that perhaps what they’ve been looking for has been in front of them the whole time. Was it a little cheesy? Maybe! But it’s also a fairytale so you should expect it (and the warm fluffy feels that follow)!

Aside from our hero and heroine, other notable characters include a magical cloak that believes it’s a noble steed and it was absolutely hilarious! We also have a narrator who is the third POV and although their chapters aren’t long, I still loved their sassy and witty voice! These characters had distinctive voices that I could so easily picture the story playing out like a show in my head.

Have you read Once More Upon a Time or is it on your TBR?