I was prodded into buying this book by my sister, who is very definitely an adult. The book is marketed for children and my first read (I have a feeling there are going to be re reads) confirms this.
Did I enjoy it? I can’t say a definite yes and I cannot give it a thumbs down either.
If you haven’t watched the series, A Series of Unfortunate Events or read this book or the others, then read on. If you have, I am sure you have your own strong opinions and let me know those in comments.
For starters, the book and series name is abominable and I believe that’s part of the attraction. Ditto for the book cover. The guy looks really evil.
The blurb has this warning that there’s nothing but unpleasantness in the book and that’s quite right when you look at the storyline.
However, and here’s the part that’s got you curious, the book has a Roald Dahl feel (a bit, not imitation though). The author name, Lemony Snicket looks like it’s made up and yes, Daniel Handler has done that. It also hints at fun things and an intelligent way of making up the story.
The book and the series is about three children who discover their parents are dead with their mansion burnt down. Thus begins their saga, of misadventures, nay, misfortune mostly and their attempts at influencing the outcome of these events. They are shuttled off to the home of the executor of the parents’ will (more like an executioner, as the eldest child Violet thinks) and later to a very very distant relative, the evil Count Olaf, an actor by trade and greedy at heart. He wants the Baudelaire fortune at any cost (here it refers to the surname of the surviving children) and the story turns sinister (it seemed it was only for the adult in me; my children were unfazed and loved all the twists and turns).
I quite liked the way Lemony Snicket kept telling the meanings and context of words. Also interesting were the periodic warnings of more bad things coming up.
I might not have found the book magical but I cannot say with certainity that I would not read the next one. Sometimes, you just need time to let something grow on you.
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