The three Baudelaire orphans are separated but must find a way to work together to save one of them from the clutches of Count Olaf and his troop. As they close in on some answers, other questions only grow more mysterious.

I don’t want to repeat myself in regards to what I don’t care for about this series, so if you’re interested, feel free to check out my reviews of the previous books. I’ll instead mention a few things that led me to give this book a higher rating than the previous one. I appreciate that the repetitiveness of the formula in the earlier books in the series is a thing of the past. No more new guardian every book, though that does lead me to wonder if Mr. Poe is doing anything to try to find these lost orphans at this point. Yes, he’s gullible enough that he probably believes the newspaper reports that they killed someone, but they were still his responsibility. I hope to see something more from him before the end of the series.

There was a twist in this book that I didn’t expect and something else unexpected happened too. Both bright spots in an otherwise un-surprising plot. I like that Sunny is growing (probably not physically, though), yet the other two siblings don’t change much. “VFD” is becoming my least-favorite acronym, considering how much Snicket forces it into the story. Three books ’til the end, and I’ll probably never re-visit this series. ( )

Brilliant perfect amazing I want to reread this book 10 times in a row ( )

Book 10 of 13 of the phenomenal series: Series of Unfortunate Events!

Fun fact: If you read my review, you'll see a mention of how I got into these books. This was the book that started it all for me- although I didn't start with this book.

Please Read my review of the series here, as my review applies to every book in the series. https://www.librarything.com/work/1748/reviews/227861550 ( )

how are there three more books?

i know 13 is a spooky number and all, but this is getting ridiculous. they are also the fattest books of the lot. still, the story is progressing nicely, i just wish that every single book wasn't "two steps forward, one step back." i know that the conceit is misery and despair, but ... eh. i kinda just want them over with. ( )

I've been reading this series as bedtime stories with Milly, although I did have to go back and read a few myself that she had raced through, unable to wait for me to read them to her at the pace of one chapter a night. They are genuinely brilliant books, funny and dark, mysterious and absurd.

We are approaching the end of the series now, and it really is getting quite inexplicable what is going on, there's a whole enormous mystery around VFD, and I'm starting to worry it might not work out in the end. ( )