Audiobook Review – Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi, Narrated by Rebecca Gibel, Shiromi Arserio, Vikas Adam (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 3 hours and 26 minutes
Publisher: Audible Original
Release Date: 04 June 2020
ASIN: B088FXS9HP
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Free Audiobook through Audible Originals
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Once upon a time, there was a king and queen in a land called Love’s Keep who once loved one another, but alas, no more. Without love, they were doomed to be ousted from their kingdom at the end of a year and a day.
A year and a day passed.

This is where their story starts.

Imelda and Ambrose can’t remember why they got married. A year and a day ago, Ambrose consulted a witch, trading their love to save Imelda’s life – and they’ve been stuck with one another ever since. When that same witch pays them a visit on the day they lose their kingdom, she promises to make their deepest wishes come true in exchange for a simple favor and a short journey. With nothing left to lose, Imelda and Ambrose agree. But, over the course of their enchanted road trip peppered with a delirious cloak, cannibals, and at least one honey badger, something magical happens…little by little, step by step, they regain what they had forgotten.

They remember why they fell in love.

When the end of their journey nears and they confront parting ways forever, a new decision faces them. Will Imelda and Ambrose choose their deepest wishes, or will they choose each other – again? ”

Series Info/Source: I got this Audible Original for free through my Audible membership. This is a stand alone novella.

Audiobook Quality (2/5): The audiobook is okay but features multiple narrators and the occasional sound effect, which I didn’t really enjoy. The sound effects are infrequent and jarring when they happen, really pushing you out of the story. They also play a harp strum between breaks in the story (and there are a lot of breaks), the harp strum was too long and too loud and got really irritating. So, although that story is kind of cute, I didn’t enjoy the audiobook presentation of it all that much.

Story (3/5): This is basically a fairy tale extension to the twelve dancing princesses that brought in other fairy tales as well. It’s about one of the princesses, Imelda, who marries her true love (Ambrose) and moves to the kingdom of Love’s Keep with her husband to rule. Unfortunately, shortly after they are married Imelda is poisoned and cursed to an enchanted sleep. Ambrose finds a witch to break the curse, but must sacrifice their love for the cure. However, Love’s Keep can only flourish if its two rulers are in love, so at the end of the year both Ambrose and Imelda must go their own ways. That is until a witch offers them a choice, if they get her a potion she will grant their deepest wish.

It’s a cute, but predictable, story. I originally liked some of the quirky elements (like the talking horse-cloak) but they ended up being a bit overly silly and started to grate on me as the story continued.

Characters (3/5): Ambrose and Imelda are the main characters in the story, along with a talking horse cloak. They are pretty cookie cutter fairy tale types and don’t have a lot of depth to them. A lot of the banter between the two is kind of fun, but I didn’t engage with them all that well.

Setting (4/5): I enjoyed the enchanted woodland setting that dominated most of the story and all the creepy crazy stuff Imelda and Ambrose ran into in the woods. It was well done and had a very adventure fantasy vibe to it.

Writing Style (3/5): This book jumped around way too much for my taste. We hear from Ambrose and Imelda, which was okay, but then we also hear from a random witch. It was too much for such a small story. The story itself was okay but nothing all that creative or engaging.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was an okay novella. It’s a quick read and a cute little story. I did not enjoy the audiobook style and some of the things done there, I also thought there were too many POV changes for such a short story. For a free read this was okay but I would have been upset if I had spent a credit on it or bought it.