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Are you a devoted Grimm viewer? Because you should be. The NBC show is a blend of fairy tales, horror and detective procedural; it’s like if Once Upon a Time and Supernatural had a baby who liked to solve crimes. And if that’s not a selling point, I’m not sure what is.

Grimm is about a detective named Nick who discovers that he’s actually a Grimm, or a guardian who’s destined to protect humans from the Wesen (the German word for creature or thing). He starts to navigate the world of the paranormal, battling villains from our childhood stories and befriending others. It’s dark, creepy, romantic and everything you could want in a show about the darker side of fairy tales. Just check out the season 1 trailer and try not to be intrigued:

The show has lasted five seasons, with the sixth (and seemingly final) slated to air in January. And I. Can’t. Wait. This past finale might be one of the most explosive episodes yet, leaving all of us on the edge of our seats. I don’t want to give too much away, but there were deaths, fight scenes and even some making out. If you love fairy tales, detective procedurals, and just enough gore for Primetime TV, then Grimm is definitely the show for you.

While we all wait for the dark drama to come back on the air, here are four books that any Grimm fan is bound to love:

51lWd-Ffq9L._SX314_BO1,204,203,200_The Shadow Queen, C.J. Redwine (Balzer + Bray, February 16, 2016)

There’s nothing better than a twisted fairy tale retelling, which is exactly why I’m so obsessed with Grimm. Redwine’s young adult fantasy novel is another great example of how fairy tales still make the best stories. Based on Snow White, The Shadow Queen is centered on Lorelai, a fugitive princess who vows to murder the evil queen who stole her throne and killed her father. She’s determined to use her magic to best the wicked sorceress, but hits a snag when the queen sends Prince Kol (her huntsman!) after the young princess. Of course, the two are way more into each other than enemies should be. But in order to win back her kingdom, Lorelai might have to risk everything, including her new love.

51yVCVDWr2L._SX360_BO1,204,203,200_The Original Folk and Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm (Princeton University Press, September 13, 2016)

You can’t watch Grimm without knowing your fairy tales. And I’m not talking about the sugarcoated Disney versions where every gets a happy ending and almost no blood is shed. No, I’m more interested in the original Grimm tales, where Cinderella’s sisters saw off their heels and toes trying to fit into the glass slipper, which is actually made of fur. There are tons of deliciously dark details like that in this first edition classic. This collection was published in 2014, but it’s still our favorite Grimm body of work, with gorgeous artwork and all 156 stories printed in English for the first time.

51epSrEQgfL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_Midnight Soul, Kristen Ashley (August 15, 2016)

Ashley is the queen of sexy alpha romances, but she’s also a fantasy writer, Midnight Soul is the fifth and final book in her Fantasyland series. Like Nick on Grimm, Ashley’s Noctorno Hawthorne is a detective who’s caught up in the supernatural. But when he meets Franka Drakkar everything changes. She’s destined to be with his twin brother in another universe, but as soon as Noc sees behind the mask she wears for the rest of the world, he’s determined to make her his.

51ya8bCo1cLFire Touched: A Mercy Thompson Novel, Patricia Briggs (Ace, March 8, 2016)

If anyone knows what it’s like to hunt down rouge creatures, it’s Mercy Thompson. This spring, Briggs was back with a ninth Thompson novel. This time our favorite badass shifter is caught up in the simmering tensions between the human and fae worlds. But when Mercy and her werewolf mate, Adam, discover a stolen human child living among the fae, they’ll do whatever it takes to protect the innocent. Fans of Grimm will love the paranormal parts of Briggs’ world, as well as Mercy’s take charge attitude.

 

 

 

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Genre: Fiction
Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter grew up surrounded by trees and snow and mountains. She graduated from the University of Vermont and Columbia University, where she received her MFA in nonfiction writing. She is the author of the So Close to You series with Harperteen. These days you can find her working on her next novel in the woods of Vermont.

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