Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - The Ersatz Elevator

3.5

I liked this one more for the fact that it breaks the existing formula a bit and introduces some variety. Yes, the adults are still complete idiots who disregard the children. But this time, the Baudelaire siblings take an offensive approach to uncovering Olaf's scheme.

The viability of Violet's invention and Sunny's....teeth climbing moment leave much to be desired, but at this point, I've accepted it.

Also, I just want to say that Jerome was an okay character for most of the book, with an extreme pacifist issue. I hate him forever now because of how he just left the Baudelaire's alone since he "wasn't brave enough" to be their guardian. Like, really, dude? Your wife just rode off into the sunset with a criminal and exposed a devious plot and you're all nonchalant about it and leave them alone.

Happy we got to see the Quagmire's again for a bit, but why couldn't the Baudelaire's take a minute to listen to Duncan explain VFD and everything else? That irritated me a lot. If it took 3 hours to climb down, do you really think climbing back up, inventing, and climbing back down (minimum 6.5 hours) is the best option here? Someone get Violet a lockpick kit.

Halfway through now and cannot believe there are still 7 more books to go.

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parasolcrafter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

these books really will have such strange things happening in them. like im sorry but sunny climbing up the elevator shaft by using her teeth to stick into the wall to lift herself is SO wild 😭 shes a BABY...these books are wild

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joisaddler's review

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mysterious sad 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

4.0

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bookchatwithbeth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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strawberrytheauthor's review

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adventurous dark funny tense 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

5.0

A great continuation into the dreadful lives of the Baudelaires. I’m really glad I took a break from the stories because it allowed me to reset and therefore enjoy it more.

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nick13's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This one had the same great characters with even a few new ones that were just about as good as the originals and the setting itself was really cool, that being said, what they did with the setting wasn't nearly so.
I also have to say that Count Olaf's disguise in this one wasn't very creative and even the mystery seemed a little loose in this one such as the plot twist which I figured out most of way too early, making the siblings seen not as a smart as they are in the others.

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