Rating: 4 stars
“Dear Reader, If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all. If you haven’t got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair. I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket.”
Dear Reader,
We’re now on the third installment of these unfortunate events, and I can safely say that things are still not looking up for the Baudelaire orphans.
This time, we see the children on their way to live with their Aunt Josephine, who is afraid of literally every thing under the sun. You wouldn’t think it though, as she lives on a crumbling cliff that looks like it could go at any given point.
Something that consistently annoys me with these books, as I’m sure it does pretty much everyone else, is how dense the adults are, Mr. Poe particularly. Who wouldn’t believe a child when they tell you that this evil man is out to get them, it just doesn’t make sense. Honestly, these kids have been through hell on numerous ocassions, and it seems it isn’t coming to an end any time soon, we have another 10 books to go.
Even though the plot seems like it’s going to be recycled throughout the other books, I’m not mad at that. It lets us see who the children’s other relatives are, and I hope, just once, that the place they are put is a happy one that will last. But this is a series named Unfortunate Events, so that seems extremely unlikely.
With all due respect,
Jade Evans
Tea Stains and Book Spines 