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Once Upon Now
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An exclusive collection of new modern tales with a fantastical twist, from some of the most beloved writers on Wattpad.
Discover this anthology of everyday stories influenced by fairytales and mythology—from ten Wattpad authors, all voted by the site’s users, featuring your favorite celebrities, all with a touch of fantasy and whimsy. If you enjoyed the collection Imagines, ...more
Discover this anthology of everyday stories influenced by fairytales and mythology—from ten Wattpad authors, all voted by the site’s users, featuring your favorite celebrities, all with a touch of fantasy and whimsy. If you enjoyed the collection Imagines, ...more
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Paperback, 320 pages
Published
October 11th 2016
by Gallery Books
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Start your review of Once Upon Now

I read all of these stories in their unedited versions during the initial Wattpad/Target contest. The authors skillfully reimagined some quite famous and other lesser-known myths and fairytales into a modern setting, giving unexpected twists and surprises along the way. You'll find humor and romance in most, but - faithful to many of the original tales - there's also a bit of darkness, too.
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I've had the privilege to read through all of these wonderful stories and I was floored by each and every one. The best thing about anthologies, for me, is getting to see how different writers will go in such vastly different directions with the same subject matter. And this collection impressed me both by having stories that were different in style but by covering a range of the fairytales I grew up loving!
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What a dazzling collection of updated fairy tales! The Seven Swans told as a Native American coming of age tale, the Ugly Duckling as a sweet and wonderful promposal, flesh eating sirens vs football players, a Hawaiian twist on Princess and the Pea, oh and did I mention the papayas? Everything from Blue Beard to Sleeping Beauty is covered in this collection of modern fairy tales, which was a thoroughly entertaining read!

This is a fantastic, exciting collection featuring re-imagined fairy tales by a talented group of authors. There's a little bit of something for everyone in Once Upon Now: humor, adventure, magic, and of course... romance! I'm impressed by the overall quality and cohesiveness of the anthology. A treat for all fairy tale lovers and anyone else who enjoys a tale well told.
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If you enjoy a good fairy tale retelling, this is the book for you! Every story in this collection is uniquely its own, written by a diverse group of impressive and talented authors. It's an easy, fun read and an excellent way to discover new writers!
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There is something for everyone in this delightfully varied and imaginative anthology of fairy-tale retellings. 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. The result is a fresh and often funny set of stories that riff on tales from Pinocchio to The Princess and
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This is a truly brilliant collection of fairy tale stories. They are so well written and original. I loved every single one from Bluebeard to Cupid, they were fantastic.
I'm excited to be seeing more books come out by Wattpad authors. ...more
I'm excited to be seeing more books come out by Wattpad authors. ...more

ONCE UPON NOW is an outstanding collection of classic fairytales retold using contemporary settings and a marvelous cast of characters. 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. Assorted fables are included in the dissimilar stories, while several are only linked to a timeless tale from our childhood. There is also a romantic aspect to many of the stories, sometimes understate
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I first found out about this stories through Wattpad, and I loved them all! It's amazing to see how fairy tales can be as contemporary as in a promposal or a couple of spies eager to see their son take over their empire!
I'm looking forward to hold the paperback in my hands and enjoy it with a warm cup of coffee! ...more
I'm looking forward to hold the paperback in my hands and enjoy it with a warm cup of coffee! ...more

I read these tales on wattpad and am so excited for this book. They are not just a case of Cinderella with a cell phone but so much more imaginative than that. 'My Love God went to Hawaii and all I got was this Lousy papaya' is amongst my faves. Highly recommend for all ages...
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What does a modern day fairytale look like? Here's the answer in this fun, unique, and thoroughly enjoyable collection of short stories you're never going to be able to put down.
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These stories are beautiful and enchanting. I've always been a lover of fairy tale retellings, and this anthology is the icing on the cake. If you want to quickly fall in love with characters and rediscover your favorite fairy tales, this is the book for you.
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A fantastic collection of 'modernized' fairy tales by a group of talented writers. The beta version of these books are already on Wattpad, and are already amazing. Can't wait for the officially published version.
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Once Upon Now is exactly what I want in a book. It is packed with well written re-imaginings of stories we all know and love. Find it on shelves as a romance but don't back away from it because of that. It has science fiction, Native American, romance, young adult and much more. When you open this anthology and start reading, be prepared for tears, laughter and thought provoking moments.
Every story in this book is a good read, but two of them stood out. 'Awake' by Jesse Sprague is a hauntingly l ...more
Every story in this book is a good read, but two of them stood out. 'Awake' by Jesse Sprague is a hauntingly l ...more

Okay, I have only read a few of the stories featured in this anthology on Wattpad, but I really enjoyed the ones I read. And I really wanted some of them (like Ali Novak's) to keep going or at least to give me a bit more meat so I knew how things wrapped up.
Well worth a read though.
And it seems I'm getting my wish as Novak is putting her efforts into a novel of her story. Yay! ...more
Well worth a read though.
And it seems I'm getting my wish as Novak is putting her efforts into a novel of her story. Yay! ...more

Oct 01, 2016
Jonetta
marked it as to-read
The Friend Zone Promposal by Tammy Oja
Really cute story, friends-to-something more and Cinderella like. 10/1
Really cute story, friends-to-something more and Cinderella like. 10/1

OK, first off---what is the deal with the title of this book? Once Upon Now? Why not Once Upon a Now? Both titles make equal amounts of sense (none), so I feel like you might as well strive for parallelism.
Anyway.
This is a collection of short stories. Fairy tales retold. Reimagined. Fractured. Hashed and rehashed. Ordinarily, with a short story collection, I would do individual mini-reviews of each story. I've decided not to do that, because to be frank, I don't have a ton of nice things to ...more
Anyway.
This is a collection of short stories. Fairy tales retold. Reimagined. Fractured. Hashed and rehashed. Ordinarily, with a short story collection, I would do individual mini-reviews of each story. I've decided not to do that, because to be frank, I don't have a ton of nice things to ...more

A fun read. Some stories were better than others of course. I wish a few of them were longer, like Truth Be Told by Danielle Banas.
On our way to our sister's wedding, my sister and I stopped at a mall and had to spend forever in Barnes and Noble. Just as we were about to leave I spotted the lone shoe and curly script title on the cover of this book and knew I had to buy it. Once Upon Now, modern tales with a fantastical twist? Yup, fairy tales and romance, sign me up. ...more
On our way to our sister's wedding, my sister and I stopped at a mall and had to spend forever in Barnes and Noble. Just as we were about to leave I spotted the lone shoe and curly script title on the cover of this book and knew I had to buy it. Once Upon Now, modern tales with a fantastical twist? Yup, fairy tales and romance, sign me up. ...more

Not gonna lie: This was a pretty terrible collection of short stories. I’m actually astounded that it was published. A few of these stories were at least a bit engaging, but the vast majority were poorly written, boring and nonsensical. Most read like high school creative writing projects. The fairy tale theme isn’t even noticeable in most of them. My favorite was the end story, Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. It was well written with an interesting dual storyline that actually had me rooting for the
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These original and creative versions of beloved stories were clever and fun. I found myself flying through the book and was sorry to see it end. The stories incorporate adventure, humor, fantasy and horror, so there’s a little something for a variety of reader tastes.
One of the things I appreciated most about this collection is how eclectic and unique each story is. If you enjoy these stories, you can check out other stories written by them on Wattpad. Some of these authors I had read on Wattpa ...more
One of the things I appreciated most about this collection is how eclectic and unique each story is. If you enjoy these stories, you can check out other stories written by them on Wattpad. Some of these authors I had read on Wattpa ...more

I really wanted to like this book of short stories but it was just awful. "Home School Hair", "My Love God...", and "Awake" were the only stories I enjoyed. The rest seemed to drag on or simply be terrible. Many of the stories were a lot darker than anticipated too - I was expecting light-hearted romance. Being a person who can't leave a book unfinished, I picked up and put down this book all summer. I finally gave up after skimming the last story or two. Really disappointing.
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I got sick of this book after a little while. In fact, I almost DNF'd it. The first story was very interesting, and I loved it the most out of all the stories in the book. But after that, the book seemed very dry in my opinion. I was confused often while reading, which is something that I don't usually find myself feeling. However, the few stories that I did like was written very nice, and didn't play off of the usual plots that fairy tale retellings go off of.
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There were so many great ideas in this book, but there was one big flaw in all of them: they weren’t long enough. They all felt very stunted; if each author had more time and page space, I feel like these stories would have been a lot better. There was so much potential that felt wasted, it almost makes me want to write my own extended universe for each one.

I stumbled onto this at Dollar Tree, and picked it up thinking my 13YO would probably enjoy it, but I wanted to skim it first...
I did indeed skim it. Found a few enjoyable, a few MEH but no stand-outs. Quite clean (I probably wouldn't hand this to a 10YO, though, as there are a few statements along the lines of "Wouldn't it be awful to die a virgin?" and some pretty creepy imagery) ...more
I did indeed skim it. Found a few enjoyable, a few MEH but no stand-outs. Quite clean (I probably wouldn't hand this to a 10YO, though, as there are a few statements along the lines of "Wouldn't it be awful to die a virgin?" and some pretty creepy imagery) ...more

I picked this up during a random Target run. I'm usually a sucker for fairy tale adaptations, but for most of these, the fairy tale thing was a squint and it's barely there theme. The stories had no depth and except for one or two no actual entertainment value. It was a chore to finish all of them.
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I love twisted fairytales, and this collection from wattapad was really good!
The modern setting was pretty cool, and it was interesting to see each author's twists and spins on the fairytale of their choice.
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The modern setting was pretty cool, and it was interesting to see each author's twists and spins on the fairytale of their choice.
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Danielle Banas is the author of THE SUPERVILLAIN AND ME and THE GOOD FOR NOTHINGS. She earned a degree in communication from Robert Morris University, where she spent slightly too much time daydreaming about new characters instead of paying attention in class. When she isn't writing, Danielle can be found loudly singing show tunes, spouting off Disney World trivia, and snuggling with her puppy. Sh
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