by Sarah Arthur

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After strange things start happening in the gardens at night, Eva turns to the elderly housekeeper, gardener, and the gardener’s great-grandson, Frankie, for answers. Astonishingly, they all seem to believe the fairy tales are true–that portals to other worlds still exist, though hidden and steadily disappearing. They suspect that Eva’s grandmother was once a queen in one of those worlds.

But Eva’s grandmother denies it all. After a horrific family tragedy when she was young, her heart is closed to the beauty and pain of her past. It’s up to Eva, with Frankie’s help, to discover what really happened, whether family relationships can be restored, and if the portals are closed forever. As she unravels generational secrets, Eva wrestles with the grief of a vanishing childhood–and the fear that growing up means giving up fairy tales forever.

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Once a Queen is a story for those who grew up hoping to find Narnia. It explores what it would be like to continue on after visiting a magical world, and what it’s like to not get to visit the magical world.

WHAT I LIKED:

-I really appreciated how Arthur didn’t have Eva become disenchanted with Earth (SPOILER ahead) after her visit to Ternival. I was worried that that was going to happen after all of Eva’s dreaming of Ternival. I mean, we live in a pretty magical world when you think about it. =)

-(slight SPOILER ahead) While I’m pretty sure that some readers will wish for Eva to have had more page time in Ternival, I liked how Arthur explored the “after-the-magical-adventure”—most portal fantasies don’t do that, so it added a unique element. -The strong family connections were really refreshing for YA novel.

WHAT I STRUGGLED WITH:

-Personally, the Narnia vibes were a little too strong for my personal taste. I would have preferred it to feel a little more original.

-This is a little silly, but the old English speech of Ternival felt a little cliche. Why do fantasy worlds need to have old English?

-The majority of the book is in past tense, while the last few chapters are in present tense. The switch between tenses and time didn’t throw me off. But there are a couple of times during the past-tense part of the book where Eva makes a comment along the lines of “I didn’t know then…” that threw me off. It wasn’t a big thing, but it jolted me out of the narrative whenever it happened.

OTHER:

-(SPOILER ahead) So… the plot thread with Mindra felt off. Until I finished the eARC and there was a preview of book two, I thought that Once a Queen was a standalone. So I’d initially thought that the plot thread of Mindra getting one of the gems and regaining power had been introduced only to be dropped. However, I’m now assuming that it is going to be part of the overarching series plot. If so, I think that maybe could have been made a little clearer so that it doesn’t feel like a dropped plot thread.

OVERALL:

While I’m glad I read Once a Queen, I don’t see it being a book I reread. However, that’s mostly due to my own personal preferences and stylistic choices. But I can see fans of Narnia or more “classic” portal fantasy novels along the same style enjoying this one.

CAUTIONS: super mild romance

Once a Queen releases January 30, 2024 from WaterBrook. I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.