Once There Was

By: Kiyash Monsef

Narrated by: Nikki Massoud

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times bestseller!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Neil Gaiman in this “striking and heartfelt” (Kirkus Reviews) novel about an Iranian American girl who discovers that her father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures—and that she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers.

Once was, once wasn’t.

So began the stories Marjan’s father told her as a little girl—fables like the story of the girl who sprung a unicorn from a hunter’s snare, or the nomad boy who rescued a baby shirdal. Tales of mythical beasts that filled her with curiosity and wonder.

But Marjan’s not a little girl anymore. In the wake of her father’s sudden death, she is trying to hold it all together: her schoolwork, friendships, and keeping her dad’s shoestring veterinary practice from going under. Then, one day, she receives a visitor who reveals something stunning: Marjan’s father was no ordinary veterinarian. The creatures out of the stories he told her were real—and he traveled the world to care for them. And now that he’s gone, she must take his place.

Marjan steps into a secret world hidden in plain sight, where magical creatures are bought and sold, treasured and trapped. She finds friends she never knew she needed—a charming British boy who grew up with a griffon, a runaway witch seeking magic and home—while trying to hide her double life from her old friends and classmates.

The deeper Marjan gets into treating these animals, the closer she comes to finding who killed her father—and to a shocking truth that will reawaken her sense of wonder and put humans and beasts in the gravest of danger.

©2023 Kiyash Monsef. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Definitely for a younger audience

The accents given to the characters weren't always consistent, and there were times where a character would have an accent and then instead of going back to the narrator voice it would continue on in that character's voice for a while. The story was interesting, but it could have been a lot more involved and had more details. Large chunks of the story comes across as disjointed. It's definitely written for a much younger audience than myself, even though I enjoy stories for all ages.

Fabulous Fantasy Story

Overall I loved this fresh fantasy story with modern elements. The main character was a bit young for her roll, but this is fantasy. I highly recommend checking out this story with fantastic creatures and a heroine with her head on her shoulders. I’m looking for more by this author.

Wonderful

A wonderful tale. Filled with mythical beasts, intrigue, action and friendship. Well worth a listen.

Great story

I liked this book and loved the story. The narrator was kind of monotonous- in my opinion. I also feel like the story could have been developed more and maybe turned into a series but overall it was good. The twist was interesting.

Once and Again

Excellent story. The writing is strong, narrator well developed, supporting characters charming, some little plot twists that are well done, and the world building is appropriate for secret magic within the mundane world. The stories within the story are gems as well, lending an additional facet of enjoyment. The narrator for this audiobook is wonderful, I was easily drawn in and became absorbed with the tale because of her performance. Such a good pairing of story and voice. I could see middle - high school students who enjoy fantasy diving into this as an independent read, and older elementary students engaging with this book as a family read. I would recommend this book to anyone though. Listen to it.

Really good

I really liked this book I found myself not wanting to stop listening. Glad I came across it

Stories within

I found the stories within the main story to be the most compelling part of this book. The unicorn story of the opening is a jolt that lets you know things are not going to go according to standard expectations.

Very engaging!

This was a well planned novel about friendship, feeling the feelings. It’s well-balanced between action/adventure and reflection. I loved it.

Wasn’t for me

So I love stories like this one . Stories about mythical creatures etc This one however wasn’t great . It started good but I found myself getting bored, waiting for something to happen . I found the main character annoying and even mean for some reason, I don’t know….just not for me . I ended up returning it .