Once More Upon a Time

This was a refreshing fairy tale both familiar and new. The writer perfectly captured the flavor of traditional fairy tales, both the Disney ones, with witches, dragons, and curses, and the Grimm ones, with a touch of darkness and “be careful what you wish for” morals/twists to the story. You’ll recognize several traditional fairy tales, but with added depth and some adjustments. Best of all, however, Imelda isn’t simply some fragile flower who just stands about waiting for rescue. With both Imelda and Ambrose capable of smart, strong actions, it made for a much more dynamic listen. The tale of rediscovering love during a quest for a magic potion was well written and zipped along. I loved the quirky touches, like the Flamingo purse or the armoire that magically provides new gowns/shoes every morning. Fuggedaboutit Honey Badger was fun and the cloak who thinks he’s a horse was as charming a sidekick as you could hope for. While the narrators both sounded a bit too much like teenagers, there was nonetheless good inflection and differentiation between the various characters. I speed read and speed listen- and found 1.3x to work well. From the fairy tale genre, the cartoon cover, and the kitschy summary, this seemed like a children’s book. And certainly the narration, harp introductions to each chapter, comic sound effects, and Disney-esque adventures will appeal to kids. But, think YA more than children’s, or at least Shrek over Sleeping Beauty. Instead of fluttering eyelashes and a chaste kiss, this story contains some sexual innuendo, like folks joking about Ambrose “finishing off” and Imelda needing some “tendering” before bed (at ch 7 if you want to preview it before your kids). There’s some talk of how Ambrose fills out a shirt and a rather leering, stolen kiss by a minor villain. Most of this will probably fly over kids’ heads, and it’s still on the whole way more sweet than Twilight style YA. I had no problem letting my 11 & 13 year olds listen to this. Free of politics, religion and profanity (except one exclamation of “Hell”). Minor violence and references to past death, but no killing in this book. A few kisses, some sexual innuendo, and references to the couple spending the night together. On the whole, quite happy with this free Audible listen.

The story was cute and funny, but the harp sound every few minutes becomes so irritating.

the story was pretty good, I didn\’t find it a struggle to keep up, nor did I want to shut it off after 30 seconds. definitely will listen again

The reading talent was great and very animated! I\’m just not into \”Harlequin Romance\” type books. ?‍♀️

The narrators are good with the book but some of the story was annoying. Listen to this book if you are a fan of Once Upon a Time.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member