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“Depressing, miserable, and unfortunate.”
Reading age
8-12
Genre
Fantasy
Publisher
HarperCollins
Publication date
August 25, 1999
Paige & Laly’s summary of the book
It was a foggy day at Briny Beach. The Baudelaire children Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were having a great time until a banker named Mr. Poe came to tell them the bad news. Their parents perished in a terrible fire.
Soon, the sad orphans had to live with an unsanitary and terrifying man named count Olaf. The unfortunate orphans had an enormous fortune left behind by their parents, and count Olaf wants to loot it all very, very, very, badly. The hideous man has a plot that can make one’s flesh creep.
Will the Baudelaire orphans figure out his revolting plot and put a heroic end to count Olaf?
Paige’s thoughts
I watched the show and movie before reading the books. The show was funny, mysterious, and emotional. The film, however, was crappy and not good. The book taught me many more phrases and words, some of which I already knew. Count Olaf is so mean, and I wouldn’t want to live with him. Violet, the eldest, is my favorite because she is crafty and brilliant.
Laly’s thoughts
This book isn’t depressing; it’s just the narrator, Lemony Snicket, makes it sound depressing by telling you to look away and by giving you horrifying details. In the show, Lemony Snicket talks in the same voice when he narrates and rarely changes his tone. The story is slightly different than the show, and I love TV and graphic novels better than books. But this book is one of my favorite books. My favorite of this series is book five, Austere Academy, which I’m currently reading.
My rating
About the author
“Lemony Snicket claims he was nowhere near the scene of the crime. He is the author of several other unpleasant stories, including those in the bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events and The Lump of Coal.” – Amazon.
