I think most people know this series as it’s one of the more popular fractured fairytale series, and deservedly so, with Buckley’s sincere pathos, humor and adventurous escapades.

But for those not in the know. Sabrina, and Daphne’s lives have turned for the worst in the past year, bouncing from awful foster situation to Dickinsinian orphanage after the mysterious disappearence of their parents. Finally, they are claimed by a grandmother that they thought to be dead. Clearly, she’s a psycho as she not only says she’s their grandmother but that almost everyone in the small town of Ferryport Landing is a fairytale character. Oh, and the girls are descendants of Jacob Grimm, and will join the family’s long history of fairytale detective work.

She’s nuts but Sabrina is forced to admit that Grandma Relda may have a point when she gets snatched by a giant. From there, it’s all fairies, jabberwockies, big bad wolves, and followers of the Red Hand as the family works on their cases and find out about the conspiracy that shakes Ferryport to its foundations.

1. Tales from the Hood: The sixth tale in the Grimm case-load deals with the sudden loss of Mr. Canis aka the Big Bad Wolf. No, he’s not dead but he has been losing his battle with the Big Bad Wolf inside him and now Mayor Heart and Sherriff Nottingham have him jailed for bogus charges. After 2000 years, he’s going to stand for his crimes against Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Pigs and everyone else. Even though they have the Merry Men as their lawyers, the kangaroo court has the Mad Hatter presiding as judge. I love court dramas and it doesn’t get more dramatic and disconbobulated as this. Even though it doesn’t fully progress the camotosed parents arc, it does have Sabrina confront her negative feelings about the Big Bad Wolf and Ever Afters in general as backstabbing, murderous beings. It also has her realize that Daphne is really growing up, and Puck is not so bad after all. Plus I just love the underdog story that despite all the obstacles placed in front of them, the Grimms manage to get at the truth of the story. It’s one you’d never guess, really.
2. The Problem Child: First, a long lost Grandmother, now an uncle they never heard of?!? Their father left out a lot about his life, but that’s not all. The whole town has forgotten Uncle Jacob after the catastrophic event that led him to skip town in grief. But his mistakes are coming back to haunt them as the Grimms find their parents in the hands of the insane Little Red Riding Hood. Apparently, she’s claimed them as her parents, and with her “kitty” (Actually, a Jabberwocky), she wants to add a grandmother and a doggie to her family. I really enjoyed the addition of Uncle Jacob to the cast, he’s like Indiana Jones with more humor, with stories of his adventures around the world and magical items for every scenario. But magic always has a price as Sabrina gets in deep with magic addiction, fueled by the power it gives her to feel safe in this town of literal nutcases and characters who’d despise them. Plus it has such fun cameos from a heartbroken Little Mermaid, the Blue Fairy and the continuing romantic saga of Prince Charming and Snow White.
3. The Ever After War: This kinda bookends with Council of Mirrors as each deal with the civil war within Ferryport between those in the Red Hand and those with the Grimms. But in the midst of war, there is happiness that Sabrina and Daphne’s parents are awake again. Unfortunately, they’re fighting all the time over whether or not to leave and their parents can’t seem to realize that Sabrina and Daphne aren’t innocent, little kids anymore. I love the choice to have the Grimms deal with the realistic aftereffects of missing two years of life, the sudden annoyance of having parents butt in after years of independence, and the mundane annoyances of making war camp in the mountains. Plus, this is as grimm as it gets with the deaths of good characters as well as bad and an awesome betrayal as we finally learn who’s been pulling the strings of the Red Hand this whole time.
4. The Council of Mirrors: Like I said this bookends the other book (even though The Inside Story is in between the two) as it deals with the second half of the Civil War (including some of the most unexpected and heartbreaking deaths yet) with major revelations concerning Charming, Snow and the Mirror’s pasts (with Charming getting a well-deserved man up speech over his self pity act), Uncle Jacob’s murderous desires for revenge (which ends ambiguously which is so unique and satisfying for a kids series), Daphne gets a coven and Sabrina finds her power, and a happily ever after for all. Yes, the ending was a bit cliche but fairytales do have their light moments alongside the grimm and Buckley takes great care to highlight that and how much everyone has grown as he resolves everyone’s arcs.
5. Once Upon a Crime: After the destruction the Jabberwocky wrought on the town, the Grimms are most concerned about Puck whose wings were ripped out. With Uncle Jacob staying at Ferryport, the rest of the family head to Sabrina and Daphne’s old home in NY. Apparently, it has a thriving fairytale community in Central Park led by Puck’s parents, King Oberon and Queen Titania. Sabrina is reeling by the revelation that the fairytale characters are everywhere (and thus her life will never be normal again!) and by the fact that apparently her mother worked closely with the New York community. She can’t believe her normal mom hid such a huge secret, and that maybe she doesn’t know her parents at all. It’s a nice character conflict that segueways into fairy court politics, and community organizing that sets the foundation for how the characters will solve the problems in the future. As is, it is a hilarious romp with Scrooge the psychic and finance advisor, Oz, the Great and Terrible toy inventor, and Sinbad with his dock sailors fighting off corporate pirates.
6. Fairytale Detectives: As usual, the introduction has its special spot in setting the tongue in cheek tone of the series, and its distinct cast of characters with a strong voice in Sabrina. It’s amazing to see how much she’s grown from the distrusting 12 year old whose been forced to grow up too fast and scared to rely on anyway. But it gets a lower spot simply because of how wild everything else in comparison.
7. The Inside Story: With the Mirror’s betrayal and master plan revealed, the girls and Puck dive into the Book of Ever After to stop the Mirror from taking over their baby brother’s body and rewriting his story. On the way, they have to avoid the editor’s hungry army of revisers and cause chaos along several classic tales. It’s a fun story but feels like a breath of filler for readers to rest after the events of The Ever After War and preparer for The Council of Mirrors.
8. The Usual Suspects: Know what’s worse than being a new kid in school. Being a new kid at school where the teachers are sadists who want to chop off your head, zombie classmates and one prank-pulling Puck (who Sabrina can’t get away from as he’s moved in with them). Then there’s the murder and unlike other kids, Grandma Relda is not pulling the girls out of class but pulling them to the crime scene to solve the case. This book begins to introduce the overarching machinations of the Red Hand controlling the town and the paranoia that anyone can be the enemy that will color the series. It also has fun bits as it combines the stories of Hamlin, and Rumplestilskin to create a chilling criminal partnership. There’s not a really big flaw that places it near the bottom, I just prefer others.
9. Magic and Other Misdemenours: While this is another rollicking tale, it has time travel shenanigans that I’m generally not a fan of compared to court dramas, robot witches, and civil wars. Even as I write this, I’ve forgotten how it progressed the Red Hand plot beyond forshadowing and catalyst for Charming’s jerk era. It had more to it, but like I said, so much else has happened, this comes last.

Since the series already had its 10 year anniversary updates, any chance for the 20th we can get a tale from the magical object explorers, the Anderson triplets!?! It would be fun to return to this world.