Once Was Willem is a marvelous dark medieval fantasy novel, written by M.R. Carey, and published by Orbit Books. A bizarrely unique story with a cast of supernatural beings which teachs about tolerance and understanding, reinforcing the ideas that there's more behind the appearance, twisting the folklore while delivering a prose that mimics the medieval style of writing.

Willem Turling died when he was 12 years old; moved by grief, his parents made a bargain with Cain Caradoc, a powerful and ambitious sorcerer, to resurrect him. However, when they see Willem coming back as a misshapen monster, he's shunned and banished from the village of Cosham, taking refuge in the Pennick woods, where more monsters reside; in parallel, we see how the ascend of Cain Caradoc to power and his crave for accessing to power will put in danger the village of Cosham, demanding their children. As destiny has a twisted way to act, they will be forced to ask Willem for help, as they don't have other ways to defend themselves; and Willem will gather and convince his friends, monsters that were rejected by the villagers, to fight for the people of Cosham.

Carey decides to weave in parallel three stories (Willem, Cain Caradoc and Cosham) which eventually bring us to a common point, as they are intertwined. Willem himself is an excellent example of a deep and complete characterization; rejected because of his appearance, through his voice we can guess a complex character, a monster who still has the memories of his past life as Willem, but understands that he will never be Willem again. As reader, it is impossible to not develop sympathy for it, especially as he's self-conscious of his appearance and doesn't put his grievances on the people; lonely, but thankfully, that doesn't happen for much time as he finds more like him in the Pennick woods.
With the rest of the outcasts that live in the Pennick forest, Carey touches a bit of various folklores, but always giving its own twist to each one, giving them of a personality and exploring their own grievances; and the style of writing makes the perfect vehicle to deliver it, making of each chapter a sort of short story that adds to the bigger tale.

In a particularly immersive style, the writing tries to mimic medieval storytelling structures, including things such as the title of the chapters and the construction of many sentences; I was quite intrigued by the small part of the world where Once Was Willem is set (even if at some point, the creation myths are touched), almost making you live the story. Despite being a dark fantasy story, Carey makes an excellent case for hope and found family in this story, about how appearances are deceiving and the real monsters sometimes wear human skins.

Once Was Willem is an excellent dark medieval fantasy novel, a standalone story perfect if you are looking for something that feels classic but fresh at the same time; M.R. Carey has managed to write something special with this book. A candidate to be one of my fav reads of 2025!