Great dark fantasy. Our patrons will love it. Will be ordering for our library. Thanks for the opportunity to review.

I was fortunate to receive an advanced reader's copy of this book and truly enjoyed it! I can be quite picky about what I read, so I feel very lucky and surprised by how much I loved this book. This was such a surprising and unique story and I loved every moment. The writing style is not one that I come by often and that, along with a very unique set of characters, kept me fully engaged. The protagonist is unlike any character I've come across. This book was a wonderful medieval fantasy mixed with horror elements - which are my two very favorite genres!

What a wonderfully odd book that I had the pleasure of reading. I will say that this book is not for everyone as the pacing is a consistent gradual climb that *almost* made me DNF it. However, I persisted and I am very glad that I did because the book wrapped up beautifully. Every character no matter how small of a role they play were memorable and I enjoyed their interactions.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the advanced review copy.

ONCE WAS WILLEM is a fantastic dive into the darkness offered by early English life, death, and what lies between. Written in a poetic, era-appropriate voice that drew me into the daily life of the small, but by no means inconsequential, folk of the village of Cosham, this was a read that will stick with me for years to come. It was nice to forget about kings and queens in London town and focus on rural communities.

Once-Was-Willem, our protagonist and narrator, guides us through the disparate people and events that lead to the great undertaking at the center of the plot. He continually assures the reader of the necessity of each chapter, each character. He also provides a serious sense of foreboding, assuring us that the worst has yet to come. This is not a story for the faint hearted, definitely not YA. Halfway through I described this book as a “medieval mindfuck” and this became all the more true upon the story’s conclusion. In the best of ways, of course.

The book loses one star for the hurdle presented by antiquated vocabulary and terminology (perhaps a glossary would have helped?) but more than makes up for this by the strength of its characters. I loved the family that Once-Was-Willem found for himself and the misfits that refused to be victims of their terrible fates.

This is a great read for fans (like me) of T. Kingfisher’s fairy tale remixes. I hadn’t previously read anything by M.R. Carey, but ONCE WAS WILLEM has convinced me that he is a strong writer with a twisted imagination. Again, in the best of ways.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.


I have read M.R. Carey a few times before and have very much enjoyed his novels. My favorites of his are “The Girl with all the Gifts” and “Someone Like Me”. This novel now rounds out my top three.

This was a different type of novel than the others I have read from him, so I wasn’t certain what to expect.

Many of the characters were developed well, however I had a difficult time connecting with quite a few and feeling anything for them. The ones I did connect with were done very well. By the end of the story, many characters were fully developed and became favorites.

I very much enjoyed the story at many points, but also felt like the story was off track at times. I am curious if there are plans to expand this universe with sequels. If that is the case, maybe some of the times I felt like it was off will be evolved in future work.

For the most part it was medieval fantasy, however some very interesting other elements come into play and take over much of the story and feeling. I loved this part of the novel and the ideas and lore behind it were awesome. I enjoyed the second half of the novel significantly more than the first. There was a decent amount of backstory to set up, so the first half was slower paced.

I would rate this at 3.5 stars, a very good, very interesting book that has some potential for the future, I hope.

DNF at 27%. Have enjoyed M.R. Carey’s other series, but this one was not for me. I find it dawdling a bit aimlessly, and it’s not really held my interest. Don’t really care a whit about any of the characters, and I’ve found the atmosphere is rather sparsely set.

A dependable author delivers again. If you have read previous works from M R Carey, you know what to expect - interesting plotlines, developed characters, some horror/fantasy.... this one works on the same lines and is interesting enough

the biggest strength of this was its unique, voicey narrator— but the rest of the components of this really work, too! i’ve found i have a soft spot for medieval fantasy/horror type stories, and this is no exception. they’re always so easy to fall into step with, despite taking place so long ago. anyway, carey masterfully weaves this tale, keeping the reader enraptured with every turn of the page. extremely delightful even when it’s dark. this was so My Shit, it was excellent. 4.5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

ONCE WAS WILLEM is a darkly intoxicating tale about the goings-on of Cosham, a small, 11th century village in rural England rife with untapped potential. When a power source near Cosham catches the eye of Cain Caradoc, a wizard with ill-intent, a series of events unfold that bring together an unlikely band of allies ranging from a resurrected village boy to, well -- you'll just have to read it to find out.

Perfect in every way. 5/5 stars. Pre-order it now; you do not want to miss this one.

Carey, you genius bastard, you managed to take the severely overdone trope of a Seven Samurai type setup (group of misfits protecting a small town) and draw me back in by having our main POV character be the reanimated corpse of a small local village boy (but not fully him), the stakes be the village's children, our big bad is the necromancer who attempted to bring him back, and the crew is all local 11th century folk weirdos (affectionate). This comes out this spring - preorder it now and enjoy the ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

I enjoyed this unique and creepy at times tale. The setting drew me in and the cast of characters we meet kept me intrigued.

4 stars. Solid and enjoyable medieval horror/fantasy story. I don't always vibe with first person narration, i guess because so much relies on if you like their voice, but i found Willem's (Once-Was) character voice level-head but distinct and believably 'medieval', (which admittedly took me a chapter or two to settle into, but I became endeared to him quickly after.) while maybe not so subtle at times (especially towards the end), i found the themes of forgiveness, mercy, and acceptance thoughtful... dare i say hopeful, even.

The characters were unique and memorable, despite the brief appearance of some of them. (i'll be thinking about the drede ich nawit body-horror-transformation for a while ....) i especially was intrigued by caradoc (my favorite type..! everything he got up to was slimy and dark!)

I could see how this would lend itself to a sequel, but I don't really want that (lol) and found the ending perfectly fine and satisfying as-is. I enjoy fantasy stand-alones when they come along. I'd love to read more of Carey's work, especially if he decides to tackle stories in this time period again.

It was a fun read, i'm not particularly good at reviewing but i really enjoyed this one. thanks NetGalley for the digital ARC, I'm excited to buy a physical copy when it comes out in March to add to my collection. I have a couple friends in mind who i'd easily recommend this to... always on the hunt for books that satisfy our dark medieval novel needs :)

I’ve been a huge fan of Carey’s for some time now and he definitely does not disappoint here.

Once-was-Willem is a medieval fantasy set in 12th century England featuring a cast of supernatural beings who come together to defeat an evil sorcerer. Carey draws from English folklore, Christian myth, and Norse mythology to produce a wild cast of memorable heroes and his main villain, the fiendish wizard Cain Caradoc is memorably twisted.

The action is painted nicely and the writing is enchanting.

A recurring theme I find heartening and timely in Carey’s writing is his focus on empathy and tolerance. His stories often feature groups of very different people/beings coming to understand and respect one another despite considerable differences. It sounds cheesy but Carey manages to deftly weave these themes into his stories without ever feeling heavy handed or cliched. His novels in this way offer a quiet but very welcome rebuke to our current era of division and intolerance.

This fantasy novel has a very unique main character: a boy who is sort of dead, but also not. It sounds confusing, but M.R. Carey explains it in a way that makes sense. Joining the boy (called Once-Was-Willem) is a ragtag assortment of other interesting characters who may or may not be fully human.

I thought this book was very well written. I really enjoyed the time period it was set in (medieval). The plot moves along very nicely, and the characters are fascinating! I would be interested in reading a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for a medieval fantasy book. I loved the setting and overall vibes of the book. Was not a huge fan of how it was written more like a memoir. But overall was an exciting plot with a good mix of magical aspects and more historical

I expected more from this book but I thought that I am not the right audience for it. The writing is good and the characters as well. Just felt too "fact dumping" rather than exquisitely written. 3 stars.

M.R. Carey, creates amazing stories in the fiction realm, that are beautifully written and accurately capture the feel of the time period or environments in which they take place.

Once was Willem, is no exception. The book seizes the old school feeling of ancient fables. Adding to that credibility, it unfolds in the early days of England, where many of our present day mythos are grounded.

From birth time death, this story had me captivated. The evolution of the story, told by Once Was Willem, or more accurately a re-animated Willem. The story is magic, myth, sword & sorcery, and historical fiction.

As the story develops, so do the characters, as they transform they create a wonderfully dark, realistic alternative reality where the stories of boogie man, and wizards such as merlin are real.

An incredible, interesting, entertaining, twisty turny, novel. It's not to be missed

This was such a strong medieval fantasy element that I wanted from this type of book. The overall feel worked with the story being told and worked with what I was looking for. The characters were everything that I wanted and worked well with the story being told. M. R. Carey has a strong writing style and hope to read more from them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the arc! This will be a quick review, because I put this book down at 11% and I can’t be bothered to pick it up again. Simply, I don’t think I’m a fan of the memoir-style narrative. This is purely a personal problem and does not imply anything about the quality of the book.