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A review by hafsa
The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
4.0
I've read all the books by Lemony Snicket, but this is the first time I read a book published under Daniel Handler's real name - his debut back in 1998. I really enjoyed this book, and finished the entire thing in two days - it's been a while since I've lost sleep to reading. I loved the likeably unlikable unreliable narrator; my head spun trying to keep track of what was real and what wasn't, the narrator changing things as she saw fit almost as if she was laughing at the reader. The plot kept me so intrigued I snuck some reading into the work day, unable to wait more than I had to.
It was really interesting to see the early stage of what would become Snicketisms (referring to characters by only their initial, dictionary definitions etc). It was less fun to see the odd descriptions of Black characters, visit Handler's Wikipedia page, and come to the uncomfortable conclusion these descriptions were likely coloured by Handler's own views rather than that of the narrator's.
Other than that, though, I really did enjoy this book! I guessed the plot twist about halfway through but it only added to the suspense and horror. I was a bit disappointed to get to the end and still have questions I needed answering, though that's definitely not a new experience for me after reading a Snicket/Handler book.
It was really interesting to see the early stage of what would become Snicketisms (referring to characters by only their initial, dictionary definitions etc). It was less fun to see the odd descriptions of Black characters, visit Handler's Wikipedia page, and come to the uncomfortable conclusion these descriptions were likely coloured by Handler's own views rather than that of the narrator's.
Other than that, though, I really did enjoy this book! I guessed the plot twist about halfway through but it only added to the suspense and horror. I was a bit disappointed to get to the end and still have questions I needed answering, though that's definitely not a new experience for me after reading a Snicket/Handler book.