Once Upon Another Time, escapist mglit that’s a fun, summer, anytime read

I have a thing against film biographies because I already know how they end. Once Upon Another Time feels like a biography because readers will feel like they know the characters, and certainly will recognize the setting where it all happens. There are giants. There’s a magic beanstalk that the giants have used to go down to where the humans live. However, there is also magic, invisible beings, faceless knights, and kings, both good and bad. The result is an mglit book that lives in the world of James Riley’s, The Half Upon a Time series, but is an entirely new, three-book offering that’ll please those readers aged nine and up.

Once Upon Another Time starts out with Lena, a 12-year-old giant who is unlike her mom and dad. Her parents are true giants and while she is a giant, she’s not as big as she should be and is living kind of a lie. She uses magic to make herself bigger when she has to go out to the village when amongst the other giants. Lena is about to turn 13 and would love to tell the world who she really is, but things are about to get complicated.

Running parallel, but in different chapters to this story is Jin’s. He’s a genie who is currently serving the Golden King. The Golden King is intent on finding the Last Knight because that would allow him to use his dark magic to control the world that they live in, and possibly more. At times it seems like Jin and Lena don’t want the same things, but those astute readers will realize that the two are destined to confront the Golden King.

Once Upon Another Time is the first in a new series and it’s not mandatory to have read Riley’s Half Upon a Time books. It will certainly help if you’ve done so because it’s possible that your knowledge of all things fairy-tale. At times I was reminded of how fresh and fun Once Upon a Time on ABC was, except for a more Disney-oriented version, and only for the first season and a half. After that it just got predictable, didn’t it? However, back to the book, as a novice to the world that Riley has created it did take me a little time to warm up to the characters. Once I remembered how things work in the fairy realm it really heated up. And by the time the book reached its climax I was hooked. Then, the book ends, and does so without it being a cliffhanger, in a way that leaves readers wanting more.

Our son had read every James Riley book before this and he really liked it. He devoured Once Upon Another Time in four nights, tossed it in to our office, and said “I liked it” and for a 12-year-old who sometimes only provides us with a “meh” or “ugh”, that’s high praise.

Once Upon Another Time is by New York bestselling author James Riley and available on Aladdin, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

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