The Book Junkie

Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1)

Once Upon A [Stolen] Time (Stolen Series Book 1) - Samreen Ahsan Once Upon a (Stolen) Time was generously given to me in exchange for an honest review. While this story only has slight hints of an old familiar tale, I had a lot of fun looking for the modernized connections.

I connected with Myra right away because she reminded me of me. I have a huge imagination and, as an adult still love to read about castles and ancient civilizations and the stories behind them. She has this romantic (and a little naive) view of life and love that is very innocent and she has no plans to settle for less. Edward, who she sees when she looks in the castle mirror, is also a romantic who wants more out of his life than following in the footsteps of his royal but brutal father. It turns out that Myra can see back into time and has a special connection to the castle. When she realizes that Edward can see her too, from the year 1415, her life begins to change forever.

This book is easy to fall into and once Myra enters Hue Castle for the first time, gets very interesting. There are some definite modern undertones that could be compared to Beauty and the Beast but I wouldn't go as far as to call the book a retelling. I would say however, that this story has an intriguing mystery that even at the end has yet to be completely solved. I was engaged throughout the entire story and the only element I would change is how Myra and Steve were thrown together which just didn't really fit with the quality of the rest of the story. I was disappointed to be left with a huge cliffhanger at the end but I can certainly say that I will be desperately awaiting the next book to read about what happens next.

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