Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef

3 reviews

mnstucki's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Upon finishing this, I'm surprised that I hadn't heard anything about it until it was named an Odyssey Honor and Morris finalist at the 2024 Youth Media Awards. The awards are well-deserved! The audiobook is really well done and the story is compelling, with a teen doing the best she can to navigate difficult (and ultimately fantastical) circumstances. 
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solaris's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There's a lot of focus placed early on on the veterinary work. That fades a bit as the plot takes over around the second act. The veterinary work is described in detail, so keep that in mind if you're squeamish. 

The book says very interesting things about grief. After the death of her mother when she was seven, Marjan's father wished for a djinn to take her grief away. Later, when Marjan's father is killed before the start of the book, she still can't grieve. Instead of leaving her happy, or even normal, Marjan ends up very angry. She can't process the feelings of loss, so they come out as anger towards everyone - especially her deceased father and people connected to him. Only when she can start grieving again properly can she move on from that anger. It was wonderfully done and very poignant.
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meganpbell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

When Marjan’s father is mysteriously murdered, she discovers he was a veterinarian to the kinds of mythic creatures in the stories he once told her…and she inherited his power to care for beasts like griffons and gnomes herself. 

Once There Was is an emotionally rich, beautifully told story, full of adventure, mystery, and magical realism, with great Iranian-American representation, about the paradox of living—wonder and responsibility, grief and connection—that I’d love for readers of all ages to enjoy and engage with, however I do think younger readers (this is rated ages 10+) will struggle to maintain interest over the 400 medium-paced pages and more mature plot lines, and I worry that, despite how utterly realistically and compassionately she’s written, more privileged readers will find Marjan “unlikeable” because of her grief and anger. 

I found the villain’s motivations both a bit murky and kind of pat and the murderer reveal may also be a bit confusing for younger readers—and it felt a little uncomfortable to me concerning the human-creature binary in the world of the book…and possibly problematic from the perspective of mental illness representation.

This book is special, ambitious, and one-of-a-kind and I’m hopeful it will enchant and challenge readers in a major way. 
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