[Review] A Series of Unfortunate Events; Lemony Snicket

 

Release Date: Book 1: September 30, 1999;  Book 13: October 13, 2006
Publisher: Scholastic
Format: Hardcover

Summary from Goodreads:
(Book 1)
Dear Reader,

I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

What I thought: I first read these books as they were coming out, when I was in middle school/early high school, and overall I remember that I really liked them. I must have liked them enough to own the entire series in hardback, and have it survive three moves across three states! I realized though, that I hadn’t read them since then and I was curious if they were actually as good as I remembered.

They were. I absolutely loved this series. As the series go on, the books just get better and better. Daniel Handler, the author, is so brilliant and so clever- the way that he weaves stories together, and the way the back story comes together, basically it’s just such a well told story.

Sunny Baudelaire is my absolute favorite. The way she speaks is hilarious and again, is another way that the author is a freaking genius. Some examples: “cigam,” meaning magic, “matahari,” meaning “If I stay, I can spy on them and find out,” and “kikbucet?” to ask if someone has died. She also often just straight up uses other languages, such as saying shalom, sayonara and de nada. She’s my favorite.

Read this if: you like stories about unfortunate, but extremely intelligent children, or if you appreciate very clever novels.

Out of 5: overall, 4/5. Of the 13 books, I rated them all between 3/5 and 5/5, with The Wide Window (#3) being my least favorite and The End (#13) being my most.
This series brought me to 70/120 for 2013.