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ann_s's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
mckiheather's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, and Blood
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexism
lilshelly's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Hanging on because I want to see the series through and they're at least comical and easy to read.
Also, all the adults in this world are always so infuriatingly naive and stupid. Please just believe the kids for once.
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Gore and Death
prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Death of parent and Gore
agatha_hopkins's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Moderate: Stalking, Child abuse, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Death
Minor: Drug use
mikaelaandherbooks's review
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Death of parent
alexinitalics's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Grief
Minor: Ableism and Death of parent
ashleycmms's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
eureadthis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
In addition to briefly continuing the transphobic and fatphobic descriptions of one of Count Olaf’s henchpeople, it uses a transphobic fearmongering trope of a man dressing as a woman in order to get illicit access to children (the man, of course, is Count Olaf in yet another disguise). It also adds derogatory language for little people as a bad joke about the three children not being as tall as adults, then it doubles down by continuing to use this term throughout the book for no reason other than cruelty.
This doesn’t specifically wrap up anything left hanging from the previous book, but it does reference prior events and the ongoing threat of Count Olaf’s schemes. The storyline is new, in a new setting with new cruelties. It doesn’t specifically leave anything for later, other then that Olaf gets away again and the Baudelaires are still orphans in need of a guardian. The narrator is consistent, slowly dropping hints about his own tortured past. This would mostly make sense if someone picked this up and didn’t know about the other books, or even if they only read the first book and skipped to this one.
The characterization of the kids is slowly developing, with them having to do things that one of the others is normally the one to handle. It's nice to see them growing as characters, even if just a little in the short time the book covers. The plot is fine, it incorporates a workers’ rights narrative into the ongoing child abuse saga. Unfortunately it also features malicious crossdressing, as I mentioned earlier. I liked some bits of the sawmill storyline, but am sour on the book overall.
Moderate: Blood, Gore, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Ableism, Child abuse, Transphobia, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Drug use