Once a Castle by Sarah Arthur is the second book in the Carrick Hall series of novels. Once a Castle picks up the story multiple years after Eva and Frankie’s adventures in Once a Queen. Centering around the adventures of Frankie’s younger siblings and their comrades, Once a Castle is a rollercoaster ride of a book. With multiple storylines weaving their way throughout the novel, Once a Castle is a much faster paced read than its forerunner, Once a Queen.
When I first read Once a Castle, I didn’t like it very much. There was a sharp contrast in writing style between it and Once a Queen, and I very much preferred the slower paced story of Once a Queen which was written from Eva’s perspective. However, as I’ve had more time to think about it and reread it, I have begun to enjoy it more. I still hold that Once a Queen is my favorite of the two books, but my appreciation for Once a Castle has grown with time. I’m very interested to see what the third book in the series, Once a Crown, will read like. As of the writing of this review, (December 2025) it has not yet been released. Stylistically, Sarah Arthur had a large shift between the first two books, and I’m looking forward to seeing if the third book finds a middle ground between the two styles. Personally, I believe that Sarah Arthur’s writing is stronger when she writes in first person as she did in Once a Queen. In Once a Castle, there were scenes that came off rather weakly because of her writing.
One thing that disappointed me in Once a Castle is that neither Eva or Frankie figured largely into the plot like they did in Once a Queen. I loved both of their characters and it disappointed me to find that they weren’t main players in Once a Castle.
Something I did appreciate in Once a Castle, was that after one of the characters had made a royal mess of himself, things didn’t just go back to how they were. Relationships take time to heal, and Arthur’s writing reflected this reality. Many times books and movies tend to skim over the hard stuff, the healing after the breaking. Sarah Arthur didn’t shy away from this but dove right into the messiness with grace.
Moral Value: 4.5
Artistic Value: 4.5
Overall Value: 4.5
Tell me your thoughts in the comments! Have you read Once a Castle, what are your thoughts about it?
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