Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

26 reviews

chavagrenville's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

A good opening to the series though it is clear not everything within the Snicketverse has been fully developed yet

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Pedophilia

hannahlsmith's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

considering this is a book for children, this was DARKER than i remember

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia

ann_s's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Child abuse

wuthrinheights's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was obsessed with this series as a kid. I've lost count of how many times I've watched the movie, and for many years, I've been collecting the books. I just realised my collection is complete by now so I started reading it from the first book. 

It has been too long since I read this, so I forgot a lot of details, but the one thing I remember (and loved) about Lemony Snicket is how great his voice is. His writing is incredibly unique and unforgettable. It's eloquent, whimsical, humorous, and informative. I love how he would teach idioms or phrases, or explain what certain words would mean in between telling this tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans.

The Bad Beginning was an incredible start to this fantastic series. It is (as per his warnings in every chance he could sneak in) terribly miserable and frustrating. From losing their parents at a young age to getting adopted by this unknown relative who abused them, to having adult friends who were of no help at all, it makes me want to weep for these three beautiful, smart, kind children. I know it's a series of unfortunate events, but my God. It truly is unfortunate. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Addiction, Death of parent, Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Torture, Sexual harassment, Violence, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Slavery

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Death of parent

Minor: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, and Child abuse

caitlin_123a's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious relaxing 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Physical abuse

alyvia_jeane's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Grief, and Bullying

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Pedophilia

erebus53's review

adventurous dark informative lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

This series had been on my radar for well over a decade, but I didn't have the motivation to start until I was in a book club that has it on the reading list. The vibe of the whole thing is a bit Dickens meets Roald Dahl with less of the child slavery and fart jokes. I can't stand Roald Dahl, so it you're a fan at least you are aware of my bias.

The tone of the story is charming and peppered with conversational notes for children on vocabulary and grammar ("vocabulary and grammar", in this sense means, the words that are used, and in which order, so that they make good sense.) I laughed at parts of the story such as when a child is reading late at night and is so tired that he repeats the same part over and repeats the same part over and repeats the same part over.

I find it a little irksome that to have scary adult characters they lean into the body horror, caricaturing an amputee with two hooks for hands and a fat, gender indeterminate person with white eyes. It's a bit circus freakshow, and challenges my desire for positive representation of Disability. Call me a snowflake, I dare you.

For a book that ostensibly has nothing but unfortunate happenings, sad beginnings, and sad endings, I was still not surprised that the children use their extensive resourcefulness to solve problems. It would be utterly unengaging if there was no hope, but the whole point is that these children are relatively irrepressible (which means that compared to most people, they don't let unfortunate or difficult things stop them). Yes the ending faces them with a new valamity, but such is the way with serial stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Xenophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Grief, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Bullying

ophycore's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Fatphobia, Violence, Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Transphobia and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

Neglect, Abduction

annoyedhumanoid's review

adventurous dark 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

i feel weird critiquing when i know i'm no longer the target audience (🥲) but there are literally five plot points it’s so short. i don't think i fully realized, as a fourth grader, the gravity and emotional trauma of the Baudelaire's situation… like

the slap to the face and all the other adults laugh

?!? pit in my stomach. also, this is not an attempt to "cancel" the book, but what must it be like to read this as a child going through abuse only to have Mr. Snicket tell you twenty times "it doesn't get better for these kids". i guess that’s its form of a trigger warning?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Grief, and Death

Minor: Incest, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia