Scan barcode
goss's review
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
eesh25's review against another edition
4.0
A Series of Unfortunate Events, as you know, follows three orphans, and an evil man, Count Olaf, who wants to get his hands on their inheritance. In every book, Count Olaf comes up with a plan, bad things happen to the kids, but they manage to stop him. Temporarily.
The newest guardian for the Baudelaires is Aunt Josephine, who's a sucky guardian because she's afraid of everything. But the children are still trying to make do and, what do you know, Count Olaf shows up again. Obviously, none of the adults are any help because they refuse to listen to kids so they're on their own, trying to escape Count Olaf's clutches once again.
It's the same formula with every book, but not in a bad way. It's like Phineas and Ferb. They make something awesome (and usually impossible), Candace tries to bust them, Perry goes off to fight Doof. Perry succeeds, Candace fails, onto the next episode. It works.
The thing that, for me, improved in this particular was that it was more clever. The solution to the problems wasn't obvious. You could see that the Baudelaire orphans are genuinely clever kids and it was really fun to see them trying to outsmart Olaf and save themselves. What wasn't fun was the baby, Sunny, saying a one or two-syllable non-words a few times every chapter and the author telling us what she meant by them. For example:
I didn't mind it at first, but it's gotten more frequent and also, annoying. And I still think the tone of the novel is a little patronizing, which is not helped by the frequent explain-the-meaning segments. I like this series and I'm eager to find out what will become of the kids, I just think there are some things we could do without. But those things do not include the alliterative names. I love those.
The newest guardian for the Baudelaires is Aunt Josephine, who's a sucky guardian because she's afraid of everything. But the children are still trying to make do and, what do you know, Count Olaf shows up again. Obviously, none of the adults are any help because they refuse to listen to kids so they're on their own, trying to escape Count Olaf's clutches once again.
It's the same formula with every book, but not in a bad way. It's like Phineas and Ferb. They make something awesome (and usually impossible), Candace tries to bust them, Perry goes off to fight Doof. Perry succeeds, Candace fails, onto the next episode. It works.
The thing that, for me, improved in this particular was that it was more clever. The solution to the problems wasn't obvious. You could see that the Baudelaire orphans are genuinely clever kids and it was really fun to see them trying to outsmart Olaf and save themselves. What wasn't fun was the baby, Sunny, saying a one or two-syllable non-words a few times every chapter and the author telling us what she meant by them. For example:
“Delmo!” Sunny offered, which probably meant something along the lines of “If you wish, I will bite the telephone to show you that it’s harmless.”
I didn't mind it at first, but it's gotten more frequent and also, annoying. And I still think the tone of the novel is a little patronizing, which is not helped by the frequent explain-the-meaning segments. I like this series and I'm eager to find out what will become of the kids, I just think there are some things we could do without. But those things do not include the alliterative names. I love those.
paigespages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
4.5
nadineeeeeee's review against another edition
4.0
the narration >>>>>>> i love lemony snicket (20.5.24)
bittersweet_symphony's review against another edition
3.0
This will be the last book I will read of the series.
Its templative episodes of bumbling adults is not enough to keep me. Snicket has a fun and clever prose that keeps you reading, but the books are not very satisfying. It is like a sitcom in that the main characters do not change from book the book. They go through the same story of being placed with a naive new caretaker, who is killed by Count Olaf. Then Olaf escapes only to plot another way to kill their next caretaker in hopes of getting the children's fortune. Seen Scooby Doo much?
All my complaints aside. I think these are great books for children. They provide a fun way to learn new vocabulary, and to laugh about the many unfortunate things we experience in life.
It is nice to see someone follow in a tradition similar to the children's books of Roald Dahl.
Its templative episodes of bumbling adults is not enough to keep me. Snicket has a fun and clever prose that keeps you reading, but the books are not very satisfying. It is like a sitcom in that the main characters do not change from book the book. They go through the same story of being placed with a naive new caretaker, who is killed by Count Olaf. Then Olaf escapes only to plot another way to kill their next caretaker in hopes of getting the children's fortune. Seen Scooby Doo much?
All my complaints aside. I think these are great books for children. They provide a fun way to learn new vocabulary, and to laugh about the many unfortunate things we experience in life.
It is nice to see someone follow in a tradition similar to the children's books of Roald Dahl.
bjlongchamps's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
noorisreading's review against another edition
it was really good and interesting.
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
Love these books. Not only is there vocabulary humor, there's also a grammar fan!
idahobekah's review against another edition
3.0
Aunt Josephine is so… silly, eccentric, emotional, and fun to read about of course! I loved Meryl Streep’s portrayal of this character more than this one, in fact I’m amazed at how much of her fears they fit in the movie, but she’s still such a good character to read about. She’s frustrating near the end of the book but this is a series of unfortunate events… all of the adults get frustratingly dense and annoying.
I hate Captain Sham. Definitely the most weak iteration of Count Olaf’s performances thus far. Jim Carrey’s performance was very well done and likable (never got that far in the Netflix series), and this original version of him is just annoying. The best part of Captain Sham is his name, which in this case means “fake” or putting on a performance.
I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I can’t tell you how much I MISSED Tim Curry’s narration. I still liked Lemony Snicket’s narration, but it just doesn’t have the same magic of Tim Curry’s.
The pacing was so quick and satisfying! Because the movie adaptation looped most of this book together with the first book, it really made me wonder what direction this story was headed. Everything that was in this book needed to be here. No useless information in sight.
Overall Rating: 3.75 ⭐️
I hate Captain Sham. Definitely the most weak iteration of Count Olaf’s performances thus far. Jim Carrey’s performance was very well done and likable (never got that far in the Netflix series), and this original version of him is just annoying. The best part of Captain Sham is his name, which in this case means “fake” or putting on a performance.
I listened to the audiobook version of this, and I can’t tell you how much I MISSED Tim Curry’s narration. I still liked Lemony Snicket’s narration, but it just doesn’t have the same magic of Tim Curry’s.
The pacing was so quick and satisfying! Because the movie adaptation looped most of this book together with the first book, it really made me wonder what direction this story was headed. Everything that was in this book needed to be here. No useless information in sight.
Overall Rating: 3.75 ⭐️