The Unusual Suspects

This series continues to delight. Picking up immediately from Book 1, the Sisters Grimm are sent to school in Fairyport Landing and it soon becomes obvious that something is amiss when Sabrina finds her teacher dead in a web. Sabrina is a giant brat in this book, and it took a lot for me to not roll my eyes at her and give up on the book. But, I didn't, and it turned out that her anger was very plot-relevant!

And, it ended on a cliffhanger so of course I had to start book three right away...

After weeks of excuses, Sabrina and Daphne Grimm finally have to go to school. But something is definitely wrong in Sabrina's class - the kids are obnoxious, uncontrollable...and much too sleepy. When her teacher, Mr. Grumpner is found dead in a giant spider web, Puck joins the girls as a bodyguard against the school's monster problem.

But Sabrina doesn't want to play detective, and she resents the Everafters who keep her from devoting all her energy to finding her parents. Soon puberty, anger and prejudice boil over isolating Sabrina from her family - and potentially exacerbating the dastardly scheme afoot.

Again I found it very difficult to sympathize with Sabrina because she is so unwilling to accept the fairy tale world around her. show more Although it may be a natural reaction, after one book of complete incredulity, the reader has long accepted the premise. The main character needs to get with the program.

The take on several fairy tales is original and interesting; the vocabulary lessons have mercifully been toned down a bit, and the book ended in a cliffhanger that simply cannot be left without reading the next book. A little scary and the death may be a bit much for the younger set, the lessons about acceptance and prejudice are certainly too heavy-handed for the older, but nonetheless an entertaining fast read. show less

Sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been living with their grandmother for three weeks. In that time, they fought off a giant, learned the secret of Ferryport Landing, and have been researching how to free their parents by consulting the vast number of fairy tales collected by their families. Yes, they are descendants of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and now they have to begin the most annoying mission of all: going to school.

As in the first book, the prologue takes an exciting moment of the climax, suddenly stopping to start the story from the beginning until that portion of the story makes sense and it is repeated nearly word for word - only now we understand its significance. The series is a fun blend of fantasy and mystery, with some show more odd characters thrown in for good measure. The girls' social worker really gets me, though, she's downright abusive at times and her entire discussion with the grandmother about school seemed forced and not actually legal, I think. A bit extreme. But once the story got going, and I started meeting some of the new fantasy characters - it's always fun trying to recognize old characters with a new spin on them - I really enjoyed the story and the humor. In the end, I liked it even better than the first book, and I'm looking forward to starting The Problem Child soon. show less

Для Сабріни Ґрімм жити поміж казковими персонажами — означає завжди бути готовою до неприємностей. Крім того, щось не так в її новій школі. Дорослі видаються занадто злими, діти — надто сонними, а вчитель фізкультури постійно змушує гратися у викидайла. Ну й, звісно, молодша сестра, Дафна, займає весь її час. (Хоча Білосніжка, яка викладає у молодших класах, дуже добра вчителька!) Але коли вчителя Сабріни, show more містера Грюмнера, знайшли завинутого в гігантську павутину, навіть безтурботна Дафна переконалася, що у школі Феріпорт-Лендінга не бракує проблем із монстрами. Чи зможуть сестри Ґрімм розкрити злочин? show less

Very few books have managed to make me laugh. And I mean burst out laughing until your cry or until your guts hurt laugh. sure, I get a chuckle here and there from some books I’ve read in the past, but this one really got to me. I couldn’t stop laughing at some parts (the dodgeball part really did it in for me) and tears started coming down and my stomach hurt. It came to the point where I was told to keep quiet because I couldn’t stop laughing so much. I can’t remember a time where I enjoyed a book so much like this one.

The plot of this book was much better than the first one. There’s more mystery involved and with Puck, the humor is increased ten fold. Sabrina is still having a hard time adjusting and her rude behavior is show more still there, but whatever Puck does to her to upset her is justified in my opinion. I still find her disagreeable but I don’t dislike her as much as I did in the first book. Grandma and Daphne are still loveable as ever. The plot is certainly darker than the first one, and I like it. Although the culprit may have already been guessed, the plot still continues to be attention grabbing with some action, comedy, and magic scenes which is sure to keep the reader going.

The illustrations also add a nice visual stimuli for the reader, and I thought they were well done. The last drawing was a little creepy and gave me a bit of a chill but the way the ending was written, it certainly got me curious and I’m definitely going to continue reading this series. There is still the unanswered question regarding Daphne and Sabrina’s parents which I think is the main problem they’re trying to solve while other mysteries pop up in their way.

An extremely fun read, with lots of laughs, a lot of fun magic and mystery. This book is definitely recommended for all ages who love fairy tales and don’t mind a little twist to them. (Think Shrek). I wonder if others have laughed as much as I did while reading the dodgeball game scene. show less

Sabrina and Daphne Grimm have been living with their grandmother for over a month and they are just now starting to go to school. Seven-year-old Daphne adjusts to school immediately, who wouldn't with Snow White as your teacher? Twelve-year-old Sabrina has a harder time adjusting; her teacher, Mr. Grumpner, lives up to his name, and the kids in her class aren't exactly friendly. Plus, she'd rather spend the time looking for her missing parents instead of being in school. But Sabrina's attention is soon caught after a series of attacks at the school. Before long, Sabrina, Daphne, their grandmother, and the faithful Mr. Canis are wrapped up in a series of events that threaten the entire town and beyond.

"The Unusual Suspects" is a great show more entry in what is proving to be a delightful series. Michael Buckley deftly weaves several fairy tales into the book, and to his credit, he uses elements from the book versions rather than the sometimes more popular movie version, as when Sabrina uses the golden cap from the Wizard of Oz books. Children will enjoy the fairy tale aspects of the book, while adults will appreciate the subtle humor in the scenes mimicking westerns and detective movies. Sabrina and Daphne are both very believable characters, especially Sabrina and her anger over her parent's disappearance. The fairy tale characters are also well done, presented as real people with real problems and readers will notice the irony at the despair of the Pied Piper of Hamelin when his own child disappears. And readers may be surprised at which fairy tale characters turn out to be heroes and which turn out to be villains. Finally, Buckley ends the book with quite a cliffhanger, which will make readers want to immediately read the next book in the series.

Well done! show less

This is the second book in the Grimm Sisters series by Buckley. I thought the first book was okay, but a bit weak in characterization and plot. This book was much better than the first book and I enjoyed it a lot more. I listened to this book on audiobook and the audiobook was well done. This narrator isn't my favorite but he does a good job of giving the characters distinct voices.

Daphne and Sabrina finally have to start school; they've been putting it off for as long as they can but if they don't start school soon their granny with get in trouble with Child Services. So off they go to school. Their first day of school is off to a bad start when Sabrina finds her homeroom teacher dead in the classroom wrapped in a giant web. Something show more is killing off members of the faculty and the kids at school are eternally sleepy. Sabrina suspects foul play from the Ever Afters; Sabrina, Daphne, and Granny Grimm have to wrap up this case before anyone else gets hurt.

The characters were better developed in this book than in the first. I felt like we got to see more depth to even the side characters like Prince Charming and Snow White. I still am not a big Sabrina fan; she is an angry and, at times, mean girl that I just don't like. It looks like Sabrina's bad attitude will be address in future books though. I enjoyed learning more about the characters, I really like Puck and Daphne and have high hopes for Sabrina in future books.

The plot was excellent, it was very much a fairy tale mystery. It is a twisty turny plot that is fun and keeps the reader engaged. I enjoyed the various fairy tale characters that popped up throughout the book and also enjoyed watching Sabrina and Daphne unravel the mystery.

One thing I really did not like was the absolutely obnoxious cliffhanger ending. The story in this book is very nicely wrapped up, but then another story is started and left in an absolutely horrible place with a "to be continued" added on. People who read my reviews know I hate this. I don't understand why an author can't draw readers just by writing a well-written book. Doing silly cliffhangers with obnoxious 'to be continued' statements is gimmicky and tacky and just plain annoying.

Overall I enjoyed this story more than the first book. I thought the character development was much better and loved all the fun fairy tale characters (Ever Afters) we bumped into throughout the story. The plot was twisty turny, fun to read and really kept me engaged. The fact that this book ends on an absolute cliffhanger annoyed me a lot. I don't understand why writers have to do that. I'll read the third book, The Problem Child, because I already have it on audiobook...if that one ends on another really obnoxious cliffhanger than I probably won't keep reading this series. show less