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A review by inkdrinkers
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
mysterious
sad
tense
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
5.0
“Sometimes, even in the most unfortunate of lives, there will occur a moment or two of good fortune.”
After the events of The Bad Beginning the Baudelaire orphans find themselves traveling to another distant relative's home, in hope for a better future. They arrive at Dr. Montgomery Montgomery's house, an awarded herpetologist, and immediately feel more at home than they have since their parents died. Unfortunately, as the events in their lives tend to go, the orphan's luck sours.
I enjoyed listening to the second book! I feel like there were a ton of details I didn't remember at all from this one, though I remembered a lot about the first in the series. Instead of a full cast, this was entirely narrated and voice-acted by Tim Curry, who did some fantastically fun accents for the cast of characters. I do feel like this is significantly darker than I remember, especially in regards to the death and dastardly deeds of Count Olaf, but it's still a fun listen.
My only issue with this book was that it's a lot slower than the first. I remember racing through these as a kid because I wanted to know what happened, but as an adult there's a layer of sadness that I didn't really understand. It's hard to listen and know that nothing will go right (at least for a long, long) time for the kids, but I do genuinely enjoy the way Snicket (Daniel Handler) chooses to write the small details and keep the mystery going.
Onto The Wide Window! I remember the later books being my favorite (Ersatz Elevator and Grim Grotto especially) so I'm just excited to keep using these audios as my chore background noise.
Content warnings: death (on page), child abuse (present throughout, no one treats these kids well except Uncle Monty), death of a parent (mentioned), grief, emotional abuse (Olaf gaslights them, the other adults are stupid)
After the events of The Bad Beginning the Baudelaire orphans find themselves traveling to another distant relative's home, in hope for a better future. They arrive at Dr. Montgomery Montgomery's house, an awarded herpetologist, and immediately feel more at home than they have since their parents died. Unfortunately, as the events in their lives tend to go, the orphan's luck sours.
I enjoyed listening to the second book! I feel like there were a ton of details I didn't remember at all from this one, though I remembered a lot about the first in the series. Instead of a full cast, this was entirely narrated and voice-acted by Tim Curry, who did some fantastically fun accents for the cast of characters. I do feel like this is significantly darker than I remember, especially in regards to the death and dastardly deeds of Count Olaf, but it's still a fun listen.
My only issue with this book was that it's a lot slower than the first. I remember racing through these as a kid because I wanted to know what happened, but as an adult there's a layer of sadness that I didn't really understand. It's hard to listen and know that nothing will go right (at least for a long, long) time for the kids, but I do genuinely enjoy the way Snicket (Daniel Handler) chooses to write the small details and keep the mystery going.
Onto The Wide Window! I remember the later books being my favorite (Ersatz Elevator and Grim Grotto especially) so I'm just excited to keep using these audios as my chore background noise.
Content warnings: death (on page), child abuse (present throughout, no one treats these kids well except Uncle Monty), death of a parent (mentioned), grief, emotional abuse (Olaf gaslights them, the other adults are stupid)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Gaslighting and Death of parent