I liked it; it was good
Third book in A Series of Unfortunate Events! Instead of reading a different book in between, I jumped right from The Reptile Room to this one!
Read: Oct 4 – Oct 5, 2024
Genre: Absurdist Fiction, Dark Comedy
Audience: Children
Book contains: flesh-eating leeches, murder, mentioned suicide, evil schemes
Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca
The Baudelaires have been dropped off with their latest new relative, Aunt Josephine, who is scared of pretty much everything. How will they deal with Count Olaf this time if he dares to show his ugly face?
This is another book I brought with me to Mexico, and since I’m on vacation, my reading schedule is all out of wack—I read this directly after the previous book in the series instead of switching to a different book for the week. I would say it’s because I wanted to know what happens next, but I already know this story, so I guess it was just me wanting to know how it goes specifically in the book.
Lemony Snicket is one of my favourite narrators of all the books I’ve read. He is quite casual about it, speaking directly to the reader and even referencing what he’s doing as he writes the book (where he is and such). He tells the story in chronological order as the events unfold, but also gives hints and somewhat spoils where things are going (in a dramatic irony kind of way)..
This is another book that I read while reclining on a lounge chair on the beech (though this one was at a different resort. The beach was a lot longer and the ocean farther away, but the waves were still loud enough to provide a wonderful soundtrack to my reading.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are surviving their trials and tribulations together as siblings; their individual strengths doing well to cover each others’ weaknesses. Mr. Poe is as incompetent as ever, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that he was actively sabotaging the children (but he’s not, he’s just stupid). Count Olaf’s disguises aren’t any better in this book, yet they continue to fool everyone except the children, and his schemes are as evil as ever.
The relationship between the children and their new guardian Aunt Josephine is not as bad as with Count Olaf, but not as good as with Uncle Monty. She tries her best to provide for them, but as a guardian, they’re taking care of her a lot more than she is of them. This only strengthens their bonds with each other, especially after the hardships cause them to fight and need to make up and apologize to one another.
The writing is fun and engaging—the perfect tone for children and readers who are young at heart. It’s also great for teaching children new words—and I love that even though my copies are all first editions, I have found absolutely zero typos (which can even happen in traditionally published books).
Again, things kick off quickly and the snowball only moves faster as it rolls down the hill. The Baudelaire orphans only have about three days of peace before the bad things begin happening again, and circumstances shift things into high gear.
This wasn’t my favourite book of the series, but it was definitely a fun adventure, and I loved the quirky aspects of the characters as well as the cool codebreaking “game” that eagle-eyed readers could figure out before the characters if they want.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 2: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 3: The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 4: The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 5: The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 6: The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 7: The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 8: The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 9: The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 10: The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 11: The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 12: The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events Book 13: The End by Lemony Snicket
The Chronicles of Narnia Book 1: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Alice in Wonderland Book 1: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
*The Wicket by Carlee Coton*
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Tigerpetal Press is a small book press dedicated to publishing local authors and poets.