2023 PopSugar Challenge: a book published in the spring of 2023

Once There Was by Kiyash Monsef

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Marjan grew up with her Iranian father telling stories of magical creatures. All the stories started "Once there was, once there wasn't." She always thought that that is all they were - stories.

But then when she was 15, her father is murdered and she's left to fend for herself - going to school and trying to keep her father's veterinarian practice going. Then, out of the blue she gets a weird message from some anonymous person saying that she's needed to pick up where her father left off and go to take care of a sick animal.

Thus begins an adventure where she is somehow connected to the magical creatures of her father's stories - griffins, dragons, manticores, gnomes, and unicorns. All the while she gets closer and closer to finding out who - or what- killed her father.

+++++

This book popped up in a Facebook ad and the description had me intrigued. I used one of my Audible credits and found myself instantly immersed into a fantastical story dealing with Iranian mythology, magic and a good old fashioned mystery.

The publisher says it's for children in grades 5-6. Honestly I thought it was great and if you or your children like the Harry Potter genre - I would highly recommend this one for them.



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