Once Upon a Crime

After Puck’s serious injury at the end of the last book, Sabrina and the rest of the Grimms must take him to Faerie to heal. Thus Sabrina and Daphne find themselves returning home to New York City, but home isn’t nearly as idyllic as Sabrina remembered. There they encounter the obnoxious Faerie King Oberon, who turns out to be Puck’s father who banished him from Faerie, dwarves in the subway, pirates on the Staten Island Ferry, and mobster fairy godfathers, not to mention the Great and Powerful Oz working the shop windows at Macy’s. And somehow the girls’ mother seems to have had her hand in all kinds of aspects of Everafter society.

Even more bewildered, Sabrina attempts to retire from the fairy tale detective business, but show more when an important Everafter turns up dead with a Scarlet Hand print on his body, she gets drawn into the mystery again.

Most of this book is still Sabrina rejecting any aspect of Everafter society, and her being completely unable to let go of a strange “ideal” version of her parents she has kept in her head. Again this is very natural and realistic – and irritating as all get-out.

What made the book completely unbearable to me, though, was the mess Buckley made of Shakespeare. After he had already turned Puck into Peter Pan and fairies in general into Tinkerbell-like pixies, now the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream are all inter-related, can breathe fire, and are generally sleazy and all too human. I was peeved. Then when it turns out that Puck ends up being a Momma’s boy (after the entire play showed him taking Oberon’s side) with even more gross 11-year-old nastiness… well, I just can’t deal with it. Any minor chance that I might have bought these has completely vanished.

And after four books of Daphne’s incredibly annoying “palm-biting” when she gets excited, and refusing to speak to her sister when she acts like a “jerkazoid”, I need a change. The relationships between the characters (Granny and Sabrina, Sabrina and Daphne, Sabrina and her parents) are completely stagnant, and what’s worse, they’re annoying. Sabrina finally showed signs of becoming less annoying in the future, but I’ve pretty well lost patience with her. I continue to read for the amusing spin on fractured fairy tales (in this one, I particularly liked the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon and Mother Goose), but I cannot see myself purchasing any of them. show less

"What are you looking at?" the gingerbread man said to her. "Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to stare?"

For once, Sabrina fumbled for words.

"She's sorry," Daphne offered. "It's not every day you get to talk to a cookie, you know."

The gingerbread man's brown body suddenly turned red and his icing face crinkled in anger. "Hey! Cookies are round, buster. Do I look like I'm round?"

"Sorry," Daphne said, "I didn't mean---"

"That kind of ignorance is why gingerbread people are treated so badly all over the world," he said bitterly. "Just 'cause we came out of the same oven, doesn't mean we're made from the same dough!"

Daphne ducked behind Sabrina.

"Relax! She didn't mean to offend you," Sabrina said, finally pulling herself together. As she show more turned to calm her sister, she felt something hard bounce off her head. She whipped around and found the gingerbread man pulling a gumdrop off his chest. There was one already missing--one she was sure was now lodged in her hair.

"Take that, you bakist!" the little man said.

"Did you just throw something at me?" Sabrina cried, quickly regaining her wits.

"Yeah! What are you going to do about it, meat person?" the little baked man taunted.

"Throw another gumdrop at me and you'll see what I'll do, dough boy," Sabrina hissed.

Granny was trying to pull her away when the second gumdrop bounced off of Sabrina's nose
.
"That's it!" she cried as she turned to the bartender. "Give me the biggest glass of milk you've got!"

The gingerbread man kicked Sabrina in the ankle. Despite his size, it hurt, and Sabrina reached down to grab him. The little man darted away and ran through the bar.

"Catch me if you can, stupid meat person!" he cried.

Everafters are immigrants, Fairies are gangsters, and Wall Street is run by Pirates. It's another hilarious, insightful installation of the Sisters Grimm series, this time set in the Big Apple, with a whole new cast of characters. Sabrina learns about her mother's secret life and what it really means to be a Grimm. show less

The beautiful esthetic of this series caught my eye ..... very quaint and charming books, in rich beautiful colors, with textured cloth covers and a dark whimsical art style... gorgeous! These books would fit right in on the bookshelves of any of fairytale cottage....any of those found among the pages inside. In fact, according to the stories themselves, they can be found in Relda Grimm's extensive collection!!

This series is amazing....imagine A Series Of Unfortunate Events meets every fairytale you've ever read.

The Grimm sisters, along with a cast of delightful central characters... Granny Relda Grimm, Canis (the big bad wolf), Puck (a delightful Shakespeare character, and Peter pan inspirer), Elvis ( a smart and charming Great show more Dane, and Grimm sisters loyal protector) to name a few.... solve crimes and investigate mysterious happenings around Ferryport Landing, the town where Everafters are bound by a curse and are forced to live among humans. An ever growing cast of fairytale characters are added in each book.... and each book is better than the last.

A truly delightful and entertaining series for anyone show less

Due to Puck's injuries from the Jabberwocky, the family decides he needs to go to Faerie. Imaging their surprise when they discover the "city"/haven is in New York City. Sabrina is shocked at this, realizing that Everafters are everywhere. They make their way into the Faerie "kingdom" and meet Puck's family, finding out that Puck is the heir to the throne. The sisters also learn that their mild, mannered mom is nothing of what she seemed to them. She has been entwined in the affairs of the Everafters and was regarded in high esteem. But then Puck's father is murdered and the family is on the case. Sabrina makes her plans known that she is going to retire after this case and have nothing more to do with the Grimm family's legacy. She show more wants Daphne to join her, but Daphne tells her that she doesn't want any part of Sabrina's plans. So now Sabrina must figure a way to get Daphne to join her in quitting the Grimm family while helping find a murderer.

So by now most readers may want to hit Sabrina over the head. She hates the Everafters just like they hate her and shows a sort of racism against them; though this is mostly due to her not trusting anyone, especially since one of them could work for the Scarlet Hand. She hates the whole fairy-tale detective aspect of the Grimm family and wants out, but is seen almost forcing her sister to quit as well. Personally I think it all stems from feeling like she is not in control of things. But finally Daphne is able to speak out for herself. This is a story where Sabrina realizes that being a Grimm is not all about being a fairy-detective, but about helping people. She also learns more about her mother and realizes how much of a person her mother is. She also has to deal with her feelings about Puck. Especially when she learns that he might not come back after all. show less

Sabrina finally comes to terms with her Grimm heritage. Sabrina and Daphne's mother, Veronica, was secretly being helpful even while her Henry was trying to avoid that same heritage.

Fairy godmothers and godfathers are low on the totem pole as far as regular fairies are concerned. Moth from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a haughty shrew who is the reason Puck left home.

My friend Jenne once said that all books are better with a giant robot. This book has a giant Wicked Witch robot that climbs the Empire State Building, a la King Kong. Four stars right there.

Oh, and the rest of the book is good too.

Sabrina and Daphne are heading back to New York City. Their friend Puck was injured in the last book and his only hope is to find the Faerie community hiding in the city. But it turns out that Sabrina is about to discover a whole new side to the city she loves. And that's not the only surprise - she's about to discover that most of what she knew about her mother was wrong. Sabrina isn't sure what to think now, but she's had about enough of Fairy Tale. But before her life can get back to normal and she can save her parents, she has to find out who killed Oberon.