Audiobook Review – The Problem Child (The Sisters Grimm, Book 3) by Michael Buckley (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 320 pages
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Release Date: September 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0810993594
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in The Sisters Grimm series
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the third book in the Sisters Grimm series by Buckley. It was a decent book in this series. If you liked the first two books you should enjoy this one as well. I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decently done; the narrator isn’t my favorite but he distinguishes between characters voices well.

Sabrina and Daphne are on the hunt for Little Red Riding Hood, who they believe is heading the Scarlet Hand, which is the group who stole their parents. Little Red Riding Hood has a kitty (the evil and dangerous Jabberwocky) that is causing trouble though. Sabrina and Daphne also discover they have an uncle who is full of magical surprises; their uncle is more than willing to help but will he cause more trouble than he’s worth?

You learn more about the Grimm’s past in this book than in any other book in this series so far. There was also more interesting magic in this book than in any of the previous books.

Sabrina’s uncle is an interesting, but mostly obnoxious, addition to the characters. Her uncle acts like a child throughout the whole book, sulking, not listening, and throwing fits. I didn’t enjoy him all that much as a character. In fact a lot of the adults in this book act like children; making for unbelievable characters that were hard for me to engage with. I hate it when kids book have adults who act like children; kids can understand more complexity than we give them credit for and adults should act like the role models they are in these books…or at least act in a more complex way that assume kids can understand some complexity.

Sabrina continues to be headstrong and bitter; I keep hoping she will grow as a character but she makes the same mistakes in every book and shows no sign of ever changing. To be honest I am quite sick of her and don’t really enjoy reading about her. Daphne was busy giving Sabrina the silent treatment for large portions of the book. Little Red Riding Hood was as obnoxious as Sabrina and made for a luke-warm bad guy.

I did enjoy the mystery and finding out some background on the Grimms. I also enjoyed the nifty magical devices used throughout and I enjoyed the way the story is broadening and not just focused on one little mystery.

This story wraps up much nicer than the second book; no horrible cliffhangers../although things are definitely set up to start a new storyline for the next book.

Overall this was an okay addition to the Sisters Grimm series. I enjoyed the mystery and the magical devices; I also enjoyed learning more about the Grimm’s past. I do not enjoy the characters in this book; I find the majority of them to be obnoxious. Many of the adults also act like children; which is annoying to read and also doesn’t give kids or adults enough credit. All in all if you have been enjoying the series you will enjoy this book. If you have been finding some of the characters annoying (mainly Sabrina) then you will continue to be annoyed. I personally am not going to read more of this series; I guess it is just not my thing.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 100+ Reading Challenge
– Audio Book Challenge List