Scan barcode
ssweeny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-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
4.5
The children are placed with their aunt Josephine who is defined by her fear of everything. It's a bit of a change of pace from the first two. Josephine's fear of everything comes off a bit one-note, even among the typically clueless adults in the series.
Olaf's plot is pretty obvious from the start too.
There is a scene that stands out with a bit of gratuitous transphobia and fatphobia as well.
Despite all that the relationships between the siblings and the fun of watching them work to free themselves from their situation make up for a lot and leave this a pretty enjoyable story.
Olaf's plot is pretty obvious from the start too.
There is a scene that stands out with a bit of gratuitous transphobia and fatphobia as well.
Despite all that the relationships between the siblings and the fun of watching them work to free themselves from their situation make up for a lot and leave this a pretty enjoyable story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Transphobia, and Murder
Minor: Suicide and Death of parent
ladypalutena's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
You thought Uncle Monty met his end quickly? Aunt Josephine "disappears" only 30% of the way into the book, more or less.
We're only three guardians in, and the way they're related to the Baudelaires is getting vaguer and vaguer with every passing one. Aunt Josephine may be the one I feel for the most, because she's got some pretty severe PTSD and is absolutely, certainly, not ready for being the guardian of three growing children. All the same, I still place the blame on Mr. Poe.
Want to guess how long the kids are with Aunt Josephine? By the way I'm counting, they're only in the house for about three days (maybe as short as two days) beforeAunt Josephine fakes her death and the Baudelaires go out on their rescue mission. They get there, the cab driver tells them a hurricane is coming, so either the same day or the next day they walk into town, and in town they meet Captain Sham. That night Captain Sham calls Aunt Josephine on the phone, gets to the house, and forces her to write her suicide note. By the end of that same day, Josephine is actually dead and the Baudelaires are pleading with Mr. Poe to recognize that it is Count Olaf that is pretending to be Captain Sham.
Again, the kids don't go to school, but at least Josephine has a library, right? For all the good that did her.
We're only three guardians in, and the way they're related to the Baudelaires is getting vaguer and vaguer with every passing one. Aunt Josephine may be the one I feel for the most, because she's got some pretty severe PTSD and is absolutely, certainly, not ready for being the guardian of three growing children. All the same, I still place the blame on Mr. Poe.
Want to guess how long the kids are with Aunt Josephine? By the way I'm counting, they're only in the house for about three days (maybe as short as two days) before
Again, the kids don't go to school, but at least Josephine has a library, right? For all the good that did her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Mental illness
kal_el_'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Not my favourite but still enjoyed it
Content Warnings
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Murder
kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder
dreamerfreak's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder
mckiheather's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Death, Suicide, Violence, Abandonment, Grief, and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
lilshelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
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? It's complicated
2.0
I didn't like this one as much. There are always weak stories in a series. What really upset me was the way they integrated a character that was briefly mentioned in the previous books - a character that looks neither like a man nor a woman. These passages did not age well at all, with the children flopping between addressing the person and even calling them "it." Yeah, definitely would benefit from revision at this point.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Transphobia
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Suicide
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
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
“There are few sights sadder than a ruined book.”
The Baudelaire orphans are back and more miserable than ever. Following the events of the Reptile Room, the three children find themselves relocated to a distant relative's home on a dark lake. But with Count Olaf hot on their heels, they must navigate more than murky waters and terrible guardians.
Unfortunately, the above quote from this book is right. A sadder sight is returning to an old favorite and realizing it aged really, really poorly. I remembered the Wide Window not being my favorite of the series as a kid - what I didn't realize was that it's because unlike the first two in the Series of Unfortunate Events, it has nearly no bearing on the rest of the story. Everything that happens to the orphans in this book has no plot relevance, and it's tied up in a nice little package with some transphobia and fatphobia just... for fun, I guess?
I'm not going to reiterate what many other reviewers have said about the transphobia and fatphobia in this book. It's bad. It made me nearly DNF and it's honestly kind of sad to return to these pages and realize how poorly it's handled. I will say the audiobook didn't even help ease the misery because Daniel Handler was the narrator. I set out for a good time with Tim Curry and instead got... this.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the Miserable Mill. But just know I'm listening to these 2x speed to get back to Curry's narration. (which starts back up for book six and carries through to The End)
Content warnings: Death, Transphobia (pretty rough, refers to a character as "it"), Murder, Grief, Death of parent (past), Suicide, Fatphobia
The Baudelaire orphans are back and more miserable than ever. Following the events of the Reptile Room, the three children find themselves relocated to a distant relative's home on a dark lake. But with Count Olaf hot on their heels, they must navigate more than murky waters and terrible guardians.
Unfortunately, the above quote from this book is right. A sadder sight is returning to an old favorite and realizing it aged really, really poorly. I remembered the Wide Window not being my favorite of the series as a kid - what I didn't realize was that it's because unlike the first two in the Series of Unfortunate Events, it has nearly no bearing on the rest of the story. Everything that happens to the orphans in this book has no plot relevance, and it's tied up in a nice little package with some transphobia and fatphobia just... for fun, I guess?
I'm not going to reiterate what many other reviewers have said about the transphobia and fatphobia in this book. It's bad. It made me nearly DNF and it's honestly kind of sad to return to these pages and realize how poorly it's handled. I will say the audiobook didn't even help ease the misery because Daniel Handler was the narrator. I set out for a good time with Tim Curry and instead got... this.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and move on to the Miserable Mill. But just know I'm listening to these 2x speed to get back to Curry's narration. (which starts back up for book six and carries through to The End)
Content warnings: Death, Transphobia (pretty rough, refers to a character as "it"), Murder, Grief, Death of parent (past), Suicide, Fatphobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Murder, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Suicide
prufrockpreptooth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
En pleine relecture de cette série que j'adore, je ne peux que la recommander ! Beaucoup de différences avec la série Netflix pour ce tome, j'avais oublié 😱
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Mental illness, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death
julybunny's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Murder