ONCE A QUEEN

ONCE A QUEEN by Sarah Arthur

It is always so fun to have a TOP PICK book to share with you! It is doubly fun when that book is a YA read! I'll just give you a hint of how much I enjoyed this book. I promptly closed the cover, picked up the phone, and ordered book 2 from my local bookstore. It's on its way!

Once a Queen is a book for those of us who love fairy tales and grew up on Narnia, LOTR, A Wrinkle in Time, and A Secret Garden. Extract elements from each of these classics, mix them up in a bowl, bake, and what you'll hold in your hands is Once a Queen.

Fourteen-year-old Eva has never met her grandmother. In fact, her mother and father married and moved to another continent to get away from her. When her mother announces that she and Eva will be going "home" to visit for a few weeks, Eva is intrigued by the mystery that drove them away. Arriving at the vast English estate and meeting her grandmother, Eva can't understand what would have caused her parents to leave. Her grandmother is everything she could ever hope for, but then Eva hears pieces of conversations hinting at secrets from long ago: tragedies that occurred, relationships broken, and at the heart of it all another world and a Queen who no longer reigns. This beautiful story, while a fairy tale, deals with brokenness, unforgiveness, and the toll that can take on people, but it's a story that offers up the hope that redemption is still available no matter how long it takes. It's a story that probably each of us can relate to in some form, and that's what makes it strike at the heart. Be sure and read Arthur's Author's Notes at the end of the book where she shares the heart and situations behind the writing of Once a Queen.

HEADS UP- This is a squeaky clean read! However, there are some elements of magic that would be on a similar level to Narnia.