I liked it; it was good
Book 9 of the series, and we’re now getting into the meat of the VFD mystery! The source of the whole conflict!
Read: Nov 2, 2024
Genre: Absurdist Fiction, Dark Comedy
Audience: Children
Book contains: discrimination, ableism, animal cruelty, plotted murder, attempted murder, character death, arson
Purchase a copy from Amazon.ca
Having escaped the hospital fire by sneaking into the trunk of Count Olaf’s getaway car, the Baudelaires take an active role in figuring out the mystery of VFD and clearing their names. The only problem is, they find themselves slipping more and more into villainous behaviours. To defeat Count Olaf, will they have to become him?
A carnival? What’s next? I’m excited to read about the new characters we get to meet at the carnival—whom I remember from the show and wish would’ve been better despite their hilarity. How gruesome did the original books go?
Like all the other books, Lemony Snicket is the narrator, continuing his investigation into the whereabouts of the Baudelaire siblings. The details do not falter even as they’re on the run from the law, and Snicket continues to tell the tale with engaging dialogue, new words, and clever writing.
Listened to book 9 of the playlist by Tori (or V) on YouTube. It’s a fun, previously livestreamed audiobook. Each book has three parts (four or five chapters per video) which I have playing in the background while I’m bookbinding.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny start using Count Olaf’s tricks against him, the disguises of which work a lot better on him than his disguises work on them. They’ve grown a lot since The Bad Beginning, for better or worse, it’s still unclear. It’s like they’re on a precipice at the moment, and while they want to choose the good options, they’ve had to do some bad things in order to survive. In this book, Olaf and his troupe return, but there are also four new characters: Madame Lulu the Fortune Teller, and the three “freaks”: Hugo, Colette, and Kevin.
The sibling bond remains strong, so there’s not much to say about it. Within Olaf’s troupe, there is loyalty by his subordinates to him, but Olaf doesn’t really care whether they live or die, just that they follow his orders (as shown by the death of the henchman at the end of the last book). His relationship with his girlfriend Esmé is a toxic one; she left her husband for him, but she’s also insanely jealous of any woman he’s with and doesn’t like him getting gifts for the fortune teller even if it’s only to help them in the long run.
I love how engaging and humorous these stories are. It’s a perfect balance of action, incredulity, lucky breaks, and terror to keep the audience on the edges of their seats.
The books are getting longer, but that’s because the overarching plot is getting heavier as well. No longer is the story just about three orphans going from family to family; they’re now unravelling the big mystery that started the whole thing.
Highly recommended series. Keep them coming!
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.