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ashleykwbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
whovianpnw's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
kellyjmac's review
4.0
My son and I have both become big fans of James Riley and are working our way through all of his books. This one was a fun read that connects with the previous Twice Upon a Time series in that it’s in the same world and has some character overlap. I really loved Jin and the Cosmic Knowledge. It brings great humour to the series and that trademark sarcastic wit we love about James Riley books. Lena is a wonderful hero and protagonist. She’s small but full of strength and resilience and we can’t wait to find out what happens next thanks to that twist!
yapha's review
3.0
This one is a throw back to Riley's Half Upon a Time series, and is perfect for fans who want a continuation of that. It is not for fans of his other two series -- Story Thieves and Revenge of Magic. Readers who love fairy tale retellings/mash ups will enjoy this. For grades 3 & up.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss
phyrre's review
4.0
You can read my full review on my blog, The Bookwyrm's Den, here.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Overall
I’ve previously read James Riley’s The Revenge of Magic series and really enjoyed that. Plus, I love twisted fairy tales and seeing what unique, different things authors can come up with for known tropes and characters. So of course I was always going to pick up this book! The fact that there’s a strong-looking female character on the cover doesn’t hurt, too, especially in middle grade books. Yes to strong female leads!
Once Upon Another Time is a twisted fairy tale featuring a giant and a genie, both who have lots of personal growth to do. This book is filled with adventure, humor, fun characters, and an incredibly unique twist to familiar tropes.
This book was so incredibly fun. As I said, I’m a fan of twisted fairy tales in general, but Riley does some fun, unexpected things with these beloved characters. I was constantly guessing who was going to appear next or in what context, and I was always pleasantly surprised! There were times when things were settled a little easily or a little too simple, but given the target audience (and the basis on fairy tales), this makes sense. I doubt middle grade readers will even notice after being swept into this adventure.
My Thoughts
- The lead character in Once Upon Another Time is a strong (literally!) female character named Lena, who is a tiny giant grappling with where she belongs and who she really is. If that’s not the most relatable sentence I could type, I don’t know what is. The reason I love Lena so much is really twofold.
First, she’s strong—more than just physically (but also that—remember, giant!). Lena doesn’t back down from the difficult things, and she’s always throwing herself in the fray to protect others. She’s got a very strong moral code about what’s right and what’s wrong, though over the course of this book, as the line between the two blurs, she starts to question some of what she thought she knew.
Second, Lena is absolutely out there trying to be her best self . . . she’s just not entirely sure what that means just yet. Lena is very tall . . . for a human 12-year-old. For a giant, though? She’s tiny. Worse, the bad blood between the humans and the giants means that she doesn’t really fit in either place. She’s too short to be considered a giant (even though she is), but if the humans found out she was a giant, they would be afraid of her (or so she’s been told, even if she doesn’t necessarily believe it). As someone who’s biracial, I really related to this struggle of finding a place to fit in! Part of Lena’s journey is really discovering who she is and who she wants to be.
- The secondary main character is a genie named Jin, and he’s a hot mess, but I absolutely love him anyway. As far as genies go, Jin’s really just a baby. His whole 12 years of existence doesn’t really stack up against the thousands that lay before him. Just like human children, though, genie children need to learn. Sometimes the hard way. In order to teach him humility, Jin has been bound to an item and forced to grant wishes for humans for 1,000 years or until he learns humility, whichever comes first. Most people seem to be betting on the millennia.
Jin is absolutely a hot mess, but that’s sort of the point. He’s extremely sarcastic (which, okay, I love and I’m not going to pretend otherwise) and entirely selfish. Not only does he not have humility, but he thinks he shouldn’t need to do anything for anyone else if it inconveniences him.
Jin also happens to be able to tap into the cosmic knowledge, which in this case is actually an entity that all genies have access to. Jin’s access is limited, because the whole point is for him to learn and not be handed all the knowledge of the universe. Which he does. Slowly and painfully. His arc is fun because he’s easy to dislike from the very beginning, so it’s easy to see where he can stand to grow. That makes it all the more satisfying when he finally does, even a little bit!
- Riley takes familiar stories and characters from fairy tales and twists them in the most delightful way, always with some fun surprises or in a way that subverts expectations. I don’t want to say too much about this, because that’s sort of the point of subverted expectations. Needless to say, this book is filled with characters that you will recognize but which aren’t quite the way you remember! Puss in Boots, for example, is actually Lena’s cat, who is large enough for her to ride on (which is awesome and I want one) and wears Seven-League Boots (which you may or may not recognize as well).
Part of the fun of this book (other than the sarcasm and adventure, of course) was seeing this reimagining of beloved characters in ways that felt surprising and new, yet still familiar. I can’t wait for the next book to see who else we might discover (especially since there have already been hints at a much larger force at work here!).
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Overall
I’ve previously read James Riley’s The Revenge of Magic series and really enjoyed that. Plus, I love twisted fairy tales and seeing what unique, different things authors can come up with for known tropes and characters. So of course I was always going to pick up this book! The fact that there’s a strong-looking female character on the cover doesn’t hurt, too, especially in middle grade books. Yes to strong female leads!
Once Upon Another Time is a twisted fairy tale featuring a giant and a genie, both who have lots of personal growth to do. This book is filled with adventure, humor, fun characters, and an incredibly unique twist to familiar tropes.
This book was so incredibly fun. As I said, I’m a fan of twisted fairy tales in general, but Riley does some fun, unexpected things with these beloved characters. I was constantly guessing who was going to appear next or in what context, and I was always pleasantly surprised! There were times when things were settled a little easily or a little too simple, but given the target audience (and the basis on fairy tales), this makes sense. I doubt middle grade readers will even notice after being swept into this adventure.
My Thoughts
- The lead character in Once Upon Another Time is a strong (literally!) female character named Lena, who is a tiny giant grappling with where she belongs and who she really is. If that’s not the most relatable sentence I could type, I don’t know what is. The reason I love Lena so much is really twofold.
First, she’s strong—more than just physically (but also that—remember, giant!). Lena doesn’t back down from the difficult things, and she’s always throwing herself in the fray to protect others. She’s got a very strong moral code about what’s right and what’s wrong, though over the course of this book, as the line between the two blurs, she starts to question some of what she thought she knew.
Second, Lena is absolutely out there trying to be her best self . . . she’s just not entirely sure what that means just yet. Lena is very tall . . . for a human 12-year-old. For a giant, though? She’s tiny. Worse, the bad blood between the humans and the giants means that she doesn’t really fit in either place. She’s too short to be considered a giant (even though she is), but if the humans found out she was a giant, they would be afraid of her (or so she’s been told, even if she doesn’t necessarily believe it). As someone who’s biracial, I really related to this struggle of finding a place to fit in! Part of Lena’s journey is really discovering who she is and who she wants to be.
- The secondary main character is a genie named Jin, and he’s a hot mess, but I absolutely love him anyway. As far as genies go, Jin’s really just a baby. His whole 12 years of existence doesn’t really stack up against the thousands that lay before him. Just like human children, though, genie children need to learn. Sometimes the hard way. In order to teach him humility, Jin has been bound to an item and forced to grant wishes for humans for 1,000 years or until he learns humility, whichever comes first. Most people seem to be betting on the millennia.
Jin is absolutely a hot mess, but that’s sort of the point. He’s extremely sarcastic (which, okay, I love and I’m not going to pretend otherwise) and entirely selfish. Not only does he not have humility, but he thinks he shouldn’t need to do anything for anyone else if it inconveniences him.
Jin also happens to be able to tap into the cosmic knowledge, which in this case is actually an entity that all genies have access to. Jin’s access is limited, because the whole point is for him to learn and not be handed all the knowledge of the universe. Which he does. Slowly and painfully. His arc is fun because he’s easy to dislike from the very beginning, so it’s easy to see where he can stand to grow. That makes it all the more satisfying when he finally does, even a little bit!
- Riley takes familiar stories and characters from fairy tales and twists them in the most delightful way, always with some fun surprises or in a way that subverts expectations. I don’t want to say too much about this, because that’s sort of the point of subverted expectations. Needless to say, this book is filled with characters that you will recognize but which aren’t quite the way you remember! Puss in Boots, for example, is actually Lena’s cat, who is large enough for her to ride on (which is awesome and I want one) and wears Seven-League Boots (which you may or may not recognize as well).
Part of the fun of this book (other than the sarcasm and adventure, of course) was seeing this reimagining of beloved characters in ways that felt surprising and new, yet still familiar. I can’t wait for the next book to see who else we might discover (especially since there have already been hints at a much larger force at work here!).
popthebutterfly's review
adventurous
medium-paced
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Once Upon Another Time
Author: James Riley
Book Series: Once Upon Another Time Book 1
Rating: 4/5
Recommended For...: children’s readers, fantasy, retellings, fairytales
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Age Relevance: 7+ (prejudice, scary moments)
Explanation of Above: There is some scary moments in the book and prejudice is discussed.
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 321
Synopsis: Five and a half feet might seem pretty tall for a twelve-year-old, but it’s not when your parents are giants. Lena has kept the fact that she’s a tiny giant secret, using magic to grow when out in the giant village. But hiding who she is has always felt wrong, even though she knows the other giants might not accept her. Fortunately, Lena has friends down in the Cursed City who understand that looking different doesn’t make her less of a giant.
Someone who knows not to judge by appearances is Jin, a young genie currently serving one thousand and thirty-eight years of genie training that requires him to fulfill the wish of whoever holds his magical ring. In Jin’s case, it’s the power-hungry Golden King. At least the king only has two wishes left, one of which is for Jin to go to the Cursed City and capture its protector, the Last Knight—one of Lena’s closest friends.
What Lena and Jin don’t know is how close the Golden King’s plans are to coming together, between his dark magic and his horrible Faceless knights. If Jin does find the Last Knight and bring him to the Golden King, why, that could doom the entire fairy-tale world.
…This sounds like it’ll end badly, doesn’t it?
Review: For the most part this was a good book. I loved the mashup and twist on fairy tale tropes and this would be a fun book for younger readers! The book had some fun themes and it was overall a very fun read. The book also leaves you with lots of questions for the next book. The character development is good and the world building was great!
The only issues I had with the book is that the pacing is a bit wonky in places and it goes from fast to slow in some spots. The book also took a bit for me to get into.
Verdict: It was great!
Book: Once Upon Another Time
Author: James Riley
Book Series: Once Upon Another Time Book 1
Rating: 4/5
Recommended For...: children’s readers, fantasy, retellings, fairytales
Publication Date: April 5, 2022
Genre: Children’s Fantasy
Age Relevance: 7+ (prejudice, scary moments)
Explanation of Above: There is some scary moments in the book and prejudice is discussed.
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages: 321
Synopsis: Five and a half feet might seem pretty tall for a twelve-year-old, but it’s not when your parents are giants. Lena has kept the fact that she’s a tiny giant secret, using magic to grow when out in the giant village. But hiding who she is has always felt wrong, even though she knows the other giants might not accept her. Fortunately, Lena has friends down in the Cursed City who understand that looking different doesn’t make her less of a giant.
Someone who knows not to judge by appearances is Jin, a young genie currently serving one thousand and thirty-eight years of genie training that requires him to fulfill the wish of whoever holds his magical ring. In Jin’s case, it’s the power-hungry Golden King. At least the king only has two wishes left, one of which is for Jin to go to the Cursed City and capture its protector, the Last Knight—one of Lena’s closest friends.
What Lena and Jin don’t know is how close the Golden King’s plans are to coming together, between his dark magic and his horrible Faceless knights. If Jin does find the Last Knight and bring him to the Golden King, why, that could doom the entire fairy-tale world.
…This sounds like it’ll end badly, doesn’t it?
Review: For the most part this was a good book. I loved the mashup and twist on fairy tale tropes and this would be a fun book for younger readers! The book had some fun themes and it was overall a very fun read. The book also leaves you with lots of questions for the next book. The character development is good and the world building was great!
The only issues I had with the book is that the pacing is a bit wonky in places and it goes from fast to slow in some spots. The book also took a bit for me to get into.
Verdict: It was great!
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