Half Upon a Time (1)

"Life's no fairy tale for Jack. After all, his father's been missing ever since that incident with the beanstalk and the giant, and his grandfather keeps pushing him to get out and find a princess to rescue. Who'd want to rescue a snobby, entitled princess anyway? Especially one who falls out of the sky wearing a shirt that says PUNK PRINCESS and still denies she's royalty. In fact, May doesn't even believe in magic. Yeah, what's that about?" (from the book jacket)In the beginning of this story, we find Jack playing the hero in a training exercise. He is supposed to rescue the princess, but Jack does things his own way and it doesn't go so well. Luckily it was only training. On the way home, Jack's grandfather is explaining to him how important it is for him to learn to be a hero and rescue & marry a princess. Jack says something like there aren't any unmarried princesses around here and it's not like one is going to fall out of the sky... When that's exactly what happens. A girl (May), who appears to be a princess (according to her shirt anyway), falls out of the sky right in their path. She seems to be from our "normal" world and she has somehow fallen through a portal of sorts to Jack's world of magic, giants, fairies, etc. In other words, the world of Fairy Tales. A Huntsman is chasing May and her grandmother is missing. And it seems as if, somehow, May is related to Snow White (who has been missing for some time). Jack ends up on an adventure after all, trying to help May and rescue her grandmother.My Opinion:Okay, first I must admit that I have a thing for these kinds of stories. I've seen quite a few written for younger readers in our school library. For instance, Goldie Socks & the Three Libearians, The Three Little Pigs & the Somewhat Bad Wolf and Three Silly Billies. Not to mention some of my recent favorites for young adults such as the Cinder series and Rump. I love the new twist put on an old story.The story of Jack, May and Prince Phillip pulled me in right away. The characters are flawed and likable. And the situations range from funny to edge of the seat adventurous. This story brings in characters from many different stories, including Little Red Riding Hood, the Wolf, Snow White, the Evil Queen, the Huntsman and many more.The book is cleverly written and fast paced. I am quite excited to read the next two, Twice Upon a Time and Once Upon the End. The end of this book left many questions that must be answered...Recommended to: This would be a great book for kids in grades 4-8 (depending on reading level). I also think it's a great book to read aloud and share with your kids. Any kids who enjoy adventure stories or princess or hero stories should enjoy this book. Quite a few of the 4th & 5th graders at our school are reading this. Similar Books:Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff

A great blend of fairytales and blunders in a magical realm close to this one. I love the random magic tools from the standard (bag bigger inside, fast boots, magic book, magic mirror, flying broom) to the non-standard (fire-shooting ring, invisibility hood, knife can't cut you) to the really non-standard (flower bridle).What I really liked was that the story didn't come to a close. Some trilogies feel like the author said all she/he wanted in the first book and just tacked on extra bad guys for the sequels. Not here. We have a definite overarching plot.Jack was great. He made mistakes but not so many you think him incompetent. He's a bit sarcastic, but not overly so (not like May, who was annoying until she met the imp).A couple times the narration zoomed out to omniscient pov, which was disconcerting but short enough to not detract too badly.I did have a couple questions that went unanswered. They were moments of, "Why don't they try this?" Still, the characters cleverly surprised me (flower bridle, should've seen that coming).Ahem. If Jack is knocked unconscious for hours, he won't run up dozens of flights of stairs and tackle dragons right afterward. He especially won't ignore it when May whacks him on the head for saying something stupid.

I picked this book because I was intrigued by the catchy title and the author's ability to summarize what the story is about. The cheeky retorts of the main character were what fully sold me on it when I read the first chapter, so on a whim, I purchased it.The main character, Jack, is very cute and loveable. Poor guy can't catch a break through the whole book. The ending of the book is where it really shines. Of all of the characters, I think actually my favorite was the little fairy. Her emotions really added to the situations.The characters were well crafted and interesting, though, and the villains were not cardboard cutouts. Her Malevolence was especially interesting. I'll be curious to see what the author does with this character later down the road.It was a little jumpy in some places, Jack does seem to get knocked unconscious quite a lot and I'm surprised he never ended up with a full grade concussion, but those were forgivable problems. The author normally puts him in a worse position when he wakes up than when he was knocked out, rather than cheating and using it as a lazy way out. Overall I really enjoyed the story. I read it all in a single day.Well done!

I have read the story thief’s by this author,and trust me this book is by the same author and If you have not yet read story thrives you are in for a big surprise,James Riley turns out to have multi styles,these to series prove so because the way he wrote this book is completely different from the other series he made.But anyway whatever he creates is thhheeee absolute best...don’t hesitate to read this book,It’s waiting for you...

My six year old loved this and couldn't wait to read the next in the series!

HELLO if you want a book you can just sit back and enjoy, and that's going to cheer you up in an instant, Half Upon a Time is one you should definitely consider. It's got a sarcastic heroine, a witty hero, and a bunch of fairy tale shenanigans. The best part? It can be enjoyed by children and adults alike!

Fun retelling of the fairy 'tails' ☺️The twist was nice but you can guess it even as you are leading up to it. I did get caught up with story pace that I did not guess the twist until it smacked me in the face

This book was the best and the twist was shoking . keep doing the wonderful work you are doing. everything was perfect when i ordered the book.

Paper quality is poor