A review by arytaco
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

4.0

“The Miserable Mill” is one of the least-liked entries in “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” with readers appearing to tire out of Daniel Handler’s writing style and lacking realism. However, this book contains the excellent setting of Lucky Smells Lumbermill, an oppressive work environment that ties into the novel’s motif of optimism, or lack thereof. “Lucky” is in the name of the mill, it is the word that activates a hypnotized Klaus, Phil is an optimist (do not be confused with optometrist) and the Baudelaires find themselves as unlucky as ever. Handler also references George Orwell with his hypnotic optometrist, Georgina Orwell, who resides in an eye-shaped building. Shirley is not one of Count Olaf’s most memorable guises, but it hardly matters when the tension of his possible return is this palpable. The dread that the Baudelaires feel is as strong as ever, just as the events in this story will continually fuel this seemingly never-ending tale.