Twice Upon a Time (Half Upon a Time, book 2)

What I Loved: From the title to the last page, I was impressed at the clever play on words and the mixing of fairytales. I adore Jack’s character. In the last book, it was established that May needed to know about her past and this book was to pursue that quest. I did not expect that so much would be revealed about Jack’s character. They were given a prophecy that between Jack and Philip one boy would end up betraying May and one would end up dead. However, that seems to be what happens in the end.
The mysterious Lian is a new character that arrives to complicate Jack’s life throughout the story. She is an extremely gifted Eye for the Evil Queen who keeps appearing out of nowhere to further entangle their pursuits for the truth. However, she doesn’t seem quite evil even if she seems to revel in not being good. Jack tries to refute her assertation that he will be the one to betray May. I was extremely surprised when the Fairy Queen says that he was never a hero and not meant to be one.
May is understandably upset over the reveal that her grandmother is not whom she thought. Her sarcasm has grown back and she is downright surly to the point I struggle a bit to like her character. It is a shock to find out the fairytale character she is supposed to be. Her story did not unfold the way it was meant to thanks to the Evil Queen and she is nothing like the character she was meant to be.
Final Verdict: With a mix of Peter Pan, the Pied Piper, Pan the Satyr, Jack and Jill, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty it is an enjoyable new tale of action and adventure with fairytale magic. The humor and crazy situations and resolutions make this a must-read for Middle-Grade readers all the way to adults.