★★★★★ Brilliant, dark and dangerous and angry

Once There Was

Kiyash Monsef

Marjan Dastani is an orphan. Her mother died of cancer when she was eight years old. Her mother's death broke Marjan and it broke her father Jamsheed. Eight years passed, then her father was murdered. That was three months ago. Marjan is still grieving, and hers is not a gentle grief. Marjan does not grieve gentle -- she grieves hard and she grieves angry.

Marjan's father was a veterinarian. He had a small, struggling practice in Berkeley. Marjan, being still in High School, has no formal training in veterinary practice. Her father, however, let her watch while he treated animals, and even asked her assistance. Even without formal training, Marjan is a practically trained vet.

Marjan's father frequently left Marjan to herself for days or a week while he left town on unexplained trips. Now, months after her father's death, she receives a phone call, and a request to travel to England (along with a first-class air ticket). At the airport a dignified English gentleman meets her. He takes her to his country estate, where she meets what the publisher's blurb describes as "a charming British boy who grew up with a griffon". This is her first intimation that the magical creatures of the Iranian folktales her father used to tell her are real, and that she has a gift that allows her to understand them.

The story proceeds apace. Marjan meets and helps more magic creatures. She learns more about the shadowy organizations that watch over the creatures and call on her to help them. The publishers open their description of Once There Was with the words

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Neil Gaiman in this thrilling novel about an Iranian American girl who discovers that her father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures—and that she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers.

This is not inaccurate, but pay attention to the words "thrilling" and "dangers". Once There Was is not a warm, cuddly children's book full of cute magical animals with big anime eyes. It is a thriller, and it feels dangerous. The creatures are not warm and cuddly. One of them, indeed, is the stuff nightmares are made of. There are people who want to burn everything down and start the world all over again.

To me, far more than Fantastic Beasts or anything by Neil Gaiman, Once There Was resembles A Wrinkle in Time. Marjan, like Meg, is a brilliant, broken, angry girl, on whom the burden of saving "humans and beasts in the gravest of danger" falls hard.

I give this book a five star rating not because it is perfect, but because it is brilliant. It is not perfect. It is Kiyash Monsef's debut novel. He is not new to creative writing, "Kiyash Monsef is an Emmy Award nominated producer and director; a writer of short stories, videos, comic books, and games; and a designer of innovative conversational and voice interface experiences." But there is no denying some rough edges. Like A Wrinkle in Time, Once There Was is not a feel-good book until the very end . It is dark and dangerous and, at times, scary.

Once There Was is not for everyone. But it is brilliant, and I certainly want to read more from Monsef.

I thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advanced reader copy of Once There Was. This review expresses my honest opinion.

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