Review by Evelyn Hussey
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, April 4th, 2023
416 pages, hardcover, $25.99 CAD, 9781665928502
Middle Grade, ages 10-14, grades 5-9
Fiction
For a second my brain shut down completely. I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t in awe. I wasn’t anything at all. I had exactly one thought, and it was all my head could hold.
Griffons exist.
Slowly I rebuilt the world in my head. I was still Marjan Dastani. I was still in high school. My friends were still Carrie Finch and Grace Yee. My dad was still dead and I was still in England. Everything else was the same, only now there were griffons. And apparently I was supposed to examine this one.
Every adult knows the awe and wonder make-believe stories instilled in us as young children. We all imagined ourselves riding a unicorn or fighting a dragon or dancing with fairies. But what if these magical beings turned out to be real? And you were the only one who could help save them? This is exactly what happens to Marjan Dastani in Kiyash Monsef’s book, Once There Was. In this epic debut, readers follow Marjan as she begins to discover a secret world of mythical creatures– and all the dangers that come with it.
When Marjan’s father is murdered under mysterious circumstances, she is left to pick up the pieces of his life and veterinary practice. Soon, however, she learns that her dad didn’t just treat the standard cats and dogs. Her father cared for mythical animals– animals he spent Marjan’s childhood telling her pretend stories about. Marjan is expected to take his place and must travel the world continuing his work. She gets caught between two lives– one where she is a normal high school student, and one where she cares for griffins and manticores. As she begins to make new friends –and enemies– she comes closer to discovering the dangerous truth about these creatures and who killed her father.
The premise of this book was absolutely astounding. Between chapters of Marjan’s story, legends of mythical beasts her father told her are interwoven throughout the book. I felt my inner child delighted by the descriptions and legends of mythical beasts and often found myself googling them to try and learn more. Author Kiyash Monsef has created a world with a perfect balance of realism and fantasy – a world that I wanted to stay in long after the book ended. I found myself hoping these animals were actually real and experienced Marjan’s wonder and disbelief along with her.
As the protagonist, Marjan’s first-person voice was incredibly believable and realistic. She is in no way a perfect character and often acts as a teenager should – rashly and sometimes without thinking. Yet throughout the novel, she begins to grow, becoming a powerful young person led by a strong moral compass. Something I think Monsef has done really well is exploring Marjan’s grief over the loss of her father. Their relationship was a complex one, and Marjan must try to untangle how she feels about him after his death. Her emotions are palpable, and the reader can really identify with how she feels. The story is about mythical creatures but underlying it all is a young girl grappling with a terrible loss, trying to find her way in the world after tragedy. As the story progresses readers watch Marjan travel through the stages of grief and emerge a changed person.
Once There Was is a wonderful novel that will delight readers who enjoy both fantasy and realistic fiction. Marjan is an incredibly compelling character, and her voice realistically explores grief alongside a wide range of emotions. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about all these fantastical creatures and recommend this book to any reader with a sense of adventure and a love for imagination.
Evelyn Hussey is a BA Psychology student minoring in Creative Writing at UBC. She loves reading memoirs/creative nonfiction as well as realistic fiction. When she is not reading or writing she spends her time rock climbing, binging true crime content, or with her beloved dog, Dipsea.
YOUNG ADULTING 