A review by morningtide
The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

 “But why didn’t anyone tell us what was going on?” Klaus asked. “Why did we have to figure things out all by ourselves?”

“I’m afraid that’s the wicked way of the world,” Dewey said, with a shake of his head. “Everything’s covered in smoke and mirrors, Baudelaires."

I think this was probably my favorite book in the series, with The Slippery Slope coming in right behind it. Things continue to get more and more unfortunate, and the Baudelaires persist through the events of their lives with discernment but have not become completely jaded.

I adored the themes in this book. I keep mentioning the gray morality of the world in all my reviews of these books, but the topic really continues to be pushed, and I appreciate there being a book for this target audience that emphasizes the world can be too complicated for everything to be black or white. The Baudelaires are shown making the choices they think are either right or what will protect them or their siblings - highlighting how complicated doing the good or bad thing is. Some of the errands they ran were bad, some were good, some completely nullified each other. Were they the right or wrong choices? (It's difficult to say.)

There is also a big discussion about forgiveness - and that forgiveness isn't an obligation but a choice, and the children choose to forgive the adults that failed them, and hope for better (even when they don't expect it to work out.)

When the Baudelaires thought about the harm that each J. S. had done to them, it was as if they had gotten a bruise quite some time ago, one that had mostly faded but that still hurt when they touched it, and when they touched this bruise it made them want to stomp off in a huff. But on that evening—or, more properly, very early Wednesday morning—the siblings did not want to stomp off into the hotel, where so many wicked people were gathered, or into the pond, which was likely to be very cold and clammy at this time of night. They wanted to forgive these two adults, and to embrace them, despite their disappointment.

Miscellaneous favorites:

• Kit's main condition being "distraught" with the pregnancy as an afterthought.
• I can't believe Charles hasn't broken up with Sir, like, get it together man!!
• "[The Baudelaires were] not born yesterday. Neither were you, unless of course I am wrong, in which case welcome to the world, little baby, and congratulations on learning to read so early in life."