In the village of Enchantsia, Gilly is often on the run from the Dwarf Police Squad for petty theft but what else can she do? Since the Fairy Godmother (yes, that one of Cinderella fame) stole her father’s patent for glass slippers, their family has a shoestring budget. She only steals from the rich but the Dwarf Police Squad don’t see it that way.

Any kid who has three warnings is sent to Fairytale Reform School to curb them of their potential criminally villainous path. Only in a school founded by the formerly Wicked Stepmother, Flora, the Evil Queen, the Big Bad Wolf and others, Gilly suspects that there is less focus on redemption than secretly building an evil army.

With her ragtag group of misfits, Gilly Cobbler finds out she can be so much more than a thief, but she might actually be the unnlikely hero the kingdom needs. Sometimes you need a villain to fight a fight.

1. Charmed: The second book in the series really messes up Gilly’s view on life but that’s fitting. While she is okay with Prince Jaxon, she still thinks royals as a whole group are selfish, oblivious, shallow group that do nothing to help the poor. But there’s a mole who is threatening to turn the kingdom over to Alva and Gilly is forced to join the Royal Ladies in Waiting club to suss out the suspect. Here, we get to see Gilly face the rewards and the unfortunate consequences when her popularity as a hero goes to her head, turning her friends against her as she reaps her solo hero status (a byproduct of her previous lone wolf nature). It nicely segues into the concurrent messages about power and how willing people (princesses and villains) are willing to do anything to get that control. It felt surprisingly applicable to life and so gets top spot.
2. Tricked: A reoccuring plot thread is Gilly’s younger sister, Anna who goes from boy crazy little girl to someone disillusioned and disatisfied with her sister. With Gilly’s return home, she also feels disatisfied with the humdrum life of a cobbler’s apprenticenship. Meanwhile, her sister is getting into more mischief and ends up in Reform School. Mainly to save Anna (and herself from boredom), Gilly and Jax get thrown back into the clink too with Maxine. But the school has totally changed thanks to the new Headmaster Rumplestilskin. Something stinks, and it’s not the candy that Rumplestilskin is throwing so his followers will love him. I enjoyed the return to the school and seeing the consequences that followed Flora’s desperate deal with Rumplestilskin backfire, leading to a bigger danger on the horizon for the heroes. So exciting! Plus they go on a dangerous quest to the Hollow Woods that not only show a badass big sister-type Red Riding Hood but show how far Gilly and her friends have come to form a solid team.
3. Cursed: The epic finale manages to resolve everyone’s personal arcs (in the form of mandatory class essays-clever), and reveal Gilly’s surprising origins in a way that feels organic and not pulled out of thin air as Calonita had spread clues throughout that Gilly is no ordinary shoemaker’s daughter. Even Anna gets her own chance at redemption and the adults prove themselves more useful than adults usually get to be in these type of middle grade final battles. I appreciate that. The only reason it gets third place is because with so much going on, it can feel crowded and rushed to match Gilly’s fastpaced journey. I also wished there had been more of a conclusion for Ollie too.
4. Flunked: The introductory book is very fun in fracturing the fairytale characters we all know and love like the Evil Queen, the Big Bad Wolf (he’s my favorite) and Headmistress Floras as someone who genuinely believes in second chances and redemption. Plus Calonita brings her Hollywood roots to the book with her Happily Ever Scroll updates designed in tabloid style interviews and articles that give it a dash of modern fun. Gilly is also a great protagonist, spunky, relatable and with a spark of attitude that keeps her entertaining without being sappy. But the book just scratches the surface of what’s to come and so it’s fourth.
5. Switched: I loved the debuts of Beauty and the Beast (in this case, Prince Sebastian) and their scenes were the highlight as they provided advice and challenging new perspective, respectively to Gilly. But the majority of the plot was taken over by a trite potential love triangle with Jaxon and Jack (of the Beanstalk) and general giant shenanigans I wasn’t interested in. But seeing Gilly really faced that her sister is a evil and willing accomplice to Rumplestilskin was heartbreaking.
6. Wished: Upset with all the focus on defeating Rumplestilskin, and Alva, and the upcoming battle, Maxine makes a wish for everyone to be happy all the time. Thus turning the school into a loopy musical run by an overenthusiastic genie. It’s a fun plot and very entertaining to see Gilly try to get everyone to snap out of it, and the message of learning to balance danger with fun since they are all just kids is a good one. It just gets last because it is a breather book compared to the more plot heavy ones.