In my personal ranking of ‘fantasy series you really should read’, The Sisters Grimm is right up there with The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. I adore these books, and Once Upon a Crime is one of the best of them all.
Here’s the setup: After their parents mysteriously disappear, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are forced to move to Ferryport Landing, a podunk town in upstate New York overrun by fairy tale characters. In Once Upon a Crime, they, their grandmother, the ex-Sheriff, and Mr. Canis, and old man acting as a human vessel of the Big Bad Wolf, travel to New York City. They’re searching for the kingdom of Faerie, in order to help Sabrina's sometimes friend/mostly enemy, Puck. He was injured protecting Sabrina, and only his family can heal him.
Unfortunately, Puck’s family is even more dysfunctional than the Grimms. Before long they’re roped into solving a murder. Sabrina struggles to protect Daphne while consulting psychics and chasing suspects in a stolen subway car, but her sister is more independent than she’d like to believe. They share an extremely sarcastic, slightly mean-spirited sense of humor, which is--let’s be honest--my favorite type of humor.
“Daphne was still sound asleep, so Sabrina shook her until the little girl opened her eyes.
‘Whazzabigidea?’ Daphne grumbled.
‘Get up, we’re going to jail,’ Sabrina said, helping her out of the car.”
These books have a bit of a Roald-Dahl-type vibe to them--halfway through their murder case Sabrina and Daphne are kidnapped by pirates, then picked up by Social Services, then fostered by a just-paroled serial killer. It’d be awfully grim if it weren’t so funny, and by the end Sabrina’s more than earned her happy ending. Still, I can’t wait to read her next adventure.
What are some of your favorite middle grade books?
I definitely enjoyed these when I was younger. I might have read them all at some point? Maybe? Towards the end it was getting weird and I didn't like it so I might have stopped. Or I might have finished and been massively disappointed. Either way. I definitely remember it being fun, so those who haven't read it should still totally try it out. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for me... I don't know if I have a favorite, but I reread Tesla's Attic by Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman and that was super fun!
The last two books in the series were a little disappointing for me, but on the whole I really do love this series. I've heard of Tesla's Attic, and it looks really good--I'll need to add it on Goodreads.
DeleteI remember enjoying these books when I read them a couple years ago, love this post!
ReplyDeleteAren't they great? I could read the Sisters Grimm all day. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI loved this series when I was younger, but honestly Sabrina started to wear on me after a while. Each book brought a new issue for her - and she never seemed to learn from her mistakes! She was always grumbling and complaining and refusing to listen to Daphne.
ReplyDeleteI did love all the fairy tale characters, though, and Puck makes me laugh every time. :D
I totally get what you mean about Sabrina--she's a piece of work, but I think that always made her seem more real to me. My absolute favorite Ever Afters might be Morgan le Fay and Mordred. They first show up in book 5, I think, and they're hilarious. And Puck is obviously in a class of his own.
DeleteThanks so much for commenting!
I forgot about Morgan le Fay and Mordred! Oh man, they were epic! Also, I've only met a few people who have read this series, so I was so excited to see your post!
DeleteDon't forget Sir Kay, Sheriff Hamstead, and Mr. Canis! Gosh, this series has some fabulous characters.
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