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soraydiant'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent and Child abuse
chavagrenville's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Pedophilia
lexilovesreadingandlaufey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Murder and Death of parent
owly2014's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcoholism, and Fire/Fire injury
hannahlsmith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Pedophilia
tiamap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Death of parent
kate22492's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Death and Child abuse
skylarkblue1's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
I was so incredibly lucky to get the first 6 books of this series in the delightful 25th anniversary editions on an author's evening with Lemony Snicket himself :3 I cannot state just how lovely he was, so many fantastic stories! And these editions, just absolutely breathtaking! Emily Gravett did an excellent job with them.
I think we all know these books, even if you haven't read them (yet!). I read these as a kid back in the early 2000s, lost my old copies though so I grew up re-watching the film to give me my fix (Yes, I know it's really bad... I can't help but love it still though in it's own, quirky book chopping ways :3). It's been so long I've practically forgotten all of the stuff from the books so getting the opportunity to re-read them is such a delight!
I was pretty surprised by how short and light on character development this was though. I guess iirc it was originally made to be 13 books so I guess I should look at it like that, but if I went into this with no additional context, no history, etc I don't think I'd get as hooked into it from this starter alone. But I think nowadays it's pretty hard to separate it's fame from what it is, and we have all 13 books out to binge read at once so I don't think that's much of an issue at all to be honest.
Characters are just as loveable and creative as always, the writing is very creative and while it might repeat a bit too many things (like for example, if one of the kids does something while another of the kids isn't there, what they did will get repeated back even though it only happened a page or so ago). The humour was dry, but in a very good way - the classic Snicket way.
One thing I've never really realised before though about these is somehow despite being so incredibly dark and heavy with it's topics while being also humorous, it does actually handle the topics pretty well. The abuse itself isn't a joke, nor are the after-effects, and it doesn't feel like tonal whiplash either. I also get it's the whole "the kids have severely bad luck" but children being ignored and "parents know best" in this is sadly pretty realistic. It's not until the abuser slips up and shows themselves in-front of others that people actually take note finally.
I do really recommend this though, and if you're looking for some beautiful covers look no further than these 25th anniversary ones, my favourite so far has to be the second book with the snake wrapping around both sides though, it's so cool!
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Grief
alligatortoast's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
Also as others have said, the constant explaining of words is a bit annoying after a while. I understand this is meant for a younger audience but some of the words explained are words I knew at that age. And the author constantly uses more complicated words that aren't overly explained, so it makes the explanations seem redundant and cumbersome.
Overall this is a solid debut for an excellent series. The later books delve deeper into the story and subplots, but this one is more about introducing the concept and style of the series.
Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Blood
_booksandbells's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Death of parent and Child abuse