Filled with emotional thoughts, “Home-School Hair” by Christine Owen is frequently touching. Then one impetuous decision could change her whole life. Several fairytales are incorporated into the story, causing me to grin at the author’s cleverness.Īfter having little contact with anyone while growing up, Zoe meets a boy at her new job who inspires numerous fantasizes. Butler is darkly horrific yet has surprising humor. But sometimes consenting to everything that crops up can have unforeseen costs. The writing of these ten Wattpad authors constantly captures the imagination with their notable contributions to ONCE UPON NOW.Ī wager with a good friend has Emeline saying she will agree to anything asked of her during a 24 hour period, because she seems too predictable. There is also a romantic aspect to many of the stories, sometimes understated but the focus of others.

Assorted fables are included in the dissimilar stories, while several are only linked to a timeless tale from our childhood. Whether the plot is mostly fantasy, contains some horror or is filled with much humor, the story is guaranteed to entertain until the often surprising conclusion. ONCE UPON NOW is an outstanding collection of classic fairytales retold using contemporary settings and a marvelous cast of characters. Whether you prefer your fairy tales sweet, sassy, or tinged with sadness, ONCE UPON NOW will have a story to suit. Then there are the darker tales: the boys of a high-school football team get more than they bargained for in Mikaela Bender's siren story, and in Ali Novak's haunting story, Rory Briar is a 'sleeping beauty' in an Upper West Side tower, 'cursed' by her rare neurological condition. Other tales include RS Kovach's First Nations spin on The Six Swans and a sweet promposal-gone-wrong (then right) tale from Tammy Oja. Opening the anthology is JM Butler's spirited tale in which Bluebeard discovers he's no match for a feisty modern girl. The latter, 'My Love God Went to Hawaii and All I Got Was This Lousy Papaya', is by Debra Goelz, whose also published in the IMAGINES anthology, and it has her distinctive Rick-Riordan-for-Grownups wit and screwball inventiveness. The result is a fresh and often funny set of stories that riff on tales from Pinocchio to The Princess and the Pea. The genre is hot right now, thanks to everything from Marissa Meyer's LUNAR CHRONICLES to Lexa Hillyer's forthcoming SPINDLE FIRE, and for this anthology Simon&Schuster has turned to some of the most popular writers of Wattpad, the superpowered social reading and writing website.

There is something for everyone in this delightfully varied and imaginative anthology of fairy-tale retellings.

Once Upon Now by Danielle Banas