Review: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

Title: The Bad Beginning
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Event, Book 1
Author: Lemony Snicket
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Length: 176 Pages
Publication Date: September 30, 1999
Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle Edition, eBook, Audiobook.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Get it @: Amazon | Book Depository

Book Description:

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

This story takes place in an extremely FILTHY house owned by the strange, scary and mysterious Count Olaf. This house is set in the other side of the town in which the children live. Once the children start to live and try to adjust to their new lifestyle they are quick to realize that it will be impossible for things to get better for them. Most of the feeling of the story is one of darkness, sadness and misery with very few moments of happiness or joy.

The main characters of the story are the Baudelaire children (Violet, Klaus and Sunny), Count Olaf, Mr. Poe and Justice Strauss. Violet Baudelaire is fourteen years old and the eldest of the Baudelaire children; she loves to invent things, is very smart, pretty and respectful. From the beginning of the book we can see her thinking up a machine that would bring back rocks after you skipped them into the ocean. Klaus Baudelaire is the middle child and only boy, he wears glasses, is really smart and loves to read. Also, he is little older than twelve, very respectful and full of ideas. He is my favorite character as he and I share a love for books. Sunny Baudelaire is the youngest of the children and still an infant; she has four very sharp teeth with which she bites everything that she can, as biting is her favorite pastime; she is described as being scarcely larger than a boot. Count Olaf 'works' as a performer in various plays along with his crew. He is a very horrible and evil man who adopts the children. He is, in my opinion, the most repulsive character in the whole book. Mr. Poe works at a bank and is the one who makes sure that the Baudelaire's Will for their money and children is followed, he was also a very close friend of the Children's Parents. He always seems to have a cold. Justice Strauss, a judge, is a very nice and kind woman who lives next door to Count Olaf and helps the children every now and then in whatever way she can.

The children are very well presented with a seemingly never ending supply of both small and big challenges that they must overcome in order to rid themselves of the terrible Count Olaf.

I truly loved this story, its fast paced and read very quickly –it took me a couple of hours to read it (interruptions and all). It captured me from the very beginning and it was really hard for me to put it down even for just a second. I will definitely be re-reading these books.

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