Rating: 
Summary: Bad News
Review: When Mr. Poe comes to the three Buadelaire youngsters, they have no idea that their whole life was going to change right then and there. Mr. Poe Explained to the children that their parents died in a horrible fire at their mansion. The children end up living with their mean cousin, Count Olaf. He treats them horrible and is after their fortune. He comes up with a plan to ruin the children's lives and get all their money.
This book was great and I read it all in one day. I just couldn't put the book down. While I was reading it, I discovered that the reason I could not put it down was because I just had to find out what horrible thing would happen next. The book is filled with unfortunate situations, but it still made me feel good to be reading it. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes a good read.
This book has taught me to listen to what everyone has to say, even if they are not my most important priority. Even though I can't really relate to this story myself, I know that a lot of children are going through a similar situation. That is why we should always make sure everything is o.k. with where they are living, instead of just leaving them there and never check on them like Mr. Poe did to the Buadelaire children.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events - Book 1)
Review: I bought this book for my daughter who is 8. I decided to read it first though and am so glad I did! Now, there is no way known I will give it to her. This is an INCREDIBLY sinister and disturbing book. It may be very well-written but it is about child abuse and the threat [harm]. The supposedly "good" grown-ups are stupid and/or powerless, and the bad grown-ups are truly nasty without being even the slightest bit amusing. The children survive the horrible events by using their wits. While this sounds like it might be a good thing, the situations are entirely possible and real children would have wound up [harmed], dead or both. As is, even the fictitious children only just manage to escape. If your child is the least bit sensitive, don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Appropriate for young readers? Not so much.
Review: As a bookseller, I've noticed kids are devouring the books of this series. Itching to see what the all the fuss is about, I picked up the first two. I'd heard the books were dark, but funny, and good for developing children's vocabulary, and, seeing the positive critical reviews, I'd recommend them to my customers. After having read the first two, I no longer recommend them. The three Baudelaire children are orphaned after their parents perish in a fire. They are sent to live with a distant relative, Count Olaf, a diabolical miser who does little more than abuse the children and come up with ways to get his greedy hands on their inheritance. Olaf constantly threatens the children. He locks the infant girl in a birdcage and hangs it from his home's tower, hits the middle child, grazes a knife on the eldest girl's knee under the table during dinner, actually murders someone in the second book, and it goes on and on. Yes, the books help develop vocabulary by using "big words" and phrases and explaining them. Yes, the Baudelaire children are sweet, resilient, and courageous. But I do not think that is enough to redeem these dark stories. All the adults are either wicked and cruel or completely obvlivious. What exactly is the moral of "The Bad Beginning"? That life [stinks] and there's nothing you can do about it and this theme continues in the second book, "The Reptile Room." I've noticed that a lot of adults enjoy the series and give it positive reviews, and that's why I gave the book three stars - because, on some level, I did enjoy the books somewhat for its subtleties, irony, and dark humor. However, the series is not intended for adults. It's written for and marketed towards children between 9 and 12 years of age. I'm not saying that kids' books should have a happy ending. There are hundreds of wonderful children's books out there that are dark and/or sad (i.e. Old Yeller, Charlotte's Web, Number the Stars), but there's usually a lesson, a moral, something redeeming in there. I failed to find any of these things in either of the first two books of this series. What's most unfortunate about this "Series of Unfortunate Events" is how many kids are reading it and how many parents are mistaking it for good childrens literature.
Rating:
Summary: A Horrible Book for Today's Children
Review: My ... son received this book as a gift for Christmas. We read the book together in about a week. We both were very dissappointed in the whole story and the gruesome characters. This is not a book for children. The book states it is for children 10 and up and even that is not appropriate. The book is downright strange. I agree with the Children's Librarian review .... She has nailed this book right on the head. This book is a complete downer. It's amazing to me how it ever made it to the New York Times Bestseller List. ...
Rating:
Summary: Not appropriate fair for its intended audience
Review: I read this book thinking it would be like the wonderful Joan Aiken novels I read as an 11 year old (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, etc.). It wasn't. As a children's librarian, I had seen the growing interest in the series and wanted to be able to endorse it, but I certainly cannot do so. This series is being pitched to Harry Potter readers, but it lacks the adventure and the aesthetic and moral appeal of J.K. Rowling's books. The creepy freak-show characters and situations were nauseating. The scene where a baby girl tied in ropes is imprisoned in a cage with her mouth taped shut while the cages dangles high above the ground is not the sort of thing I would promote for 10 year olds to read. While the children do manage to overcome their situation, it seems almost by accident. In the Harry Potter books (and Aiken's fine books), the characters have some character. They reach heroic stature because they possess compassion, intelligence, bravery, loyalty, moral principles, etc. Snicket's Baudelaire children are decent kids, but are pathetically powerless and lack the personal qualities that might make them heroic. The overarching mood is ghoulish and disturbing. All the adults are presented in a negative way. The parents "abandoned" the children via their bizarre death and inadequate plans for their future care. The executor is a fool who cannot see the writing on the wall. His wife is pre-occupied and uninterested. All the adults are either ineffectual or downright sinister. I feel that the books are frightening to all but very jaded kids because the Baudelaires are such victims and there are no decent adults to aid them. What a sad commentary. Harry Potter and gang are nobody's fools. The adults in the Potter books are a believable and even-handed mix of good and not-so-good. Rowling, and other great children's authors present children with role models who are winners, not by accident, but because of their integrity. They present (at least a few!) adults who guide, help and love children. Snicket's adults ignore or attempt to exploit the children. The Snicket books are awful.
Rating: 
Summary: the review of the BAD BEGINNING
Review: Imagine yourself on a beach with no one there and you are rich and life is good. Then out of the fog a familiar friend comes and tells you that your parents have died in a fire at your mansion. Then he tells you that you and your brothers and sisters that you need to live with a person in your family you do not know. Then your life is just like the Baudelaire children, in the book the Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. In this story the baudaliare children they lose their parents to a fire. Encounter an extremely greedy man. Itchy clothing and cold porridge for breakfast. Their life is never any luck. One of the best parts is when Violet is trying to save Sunny. She makes a grappling hook out of limited supplies. The first try failed. The second time the grappling hook came down and hit her in the shoulder. The third time she hooked something, but that just lead to more trouble. This book is very creative, since the author makes the story have many twisting parts here is a good example: When their parents die then Mr. Poe comes and lets them stay with him for one night. Then they go to there new home with a relative. When they reached the neighborhood they see this wonderful home, but they find out that is not their home it was the next one, which was a hideous home with old tower on the side, but the man inside the house was even worse. In conclusion I love this book and if you like books that have people who suffer read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Bad Beginning
Review: Heading: The Bad Beginning
By: Lemony Snicket
Review by: D. Ji
Period: 1
Their misfortune began one day at Briny Beach. The three Baudelaire lived with their parents in an enormous mansion at the heart of a dirty and busy city. The three were usually given permission to go to the beach. Violet, the eldest, liked to skip rocks. Like most 14 year olds, she was right-handed so the rocks skipped farther. She had a knack for inventing things, Klaus, the middle child, and the only boy, liked to read books and examine creatures in tide pools. His parents have a large library and Klaus would usually stay there and read. Sunny was the youngest and she like to bite things. She was an infant, and very small for her age. She had four very sharp teeth. So Mr. Poe, the Baudelaire's broker, came over to them, told them that there was a terrible, and there were no survivors. He took them to his house until he could find a guardian to take care of them. Mrs. Poe bought clothes to let them wear during their stay. Mr. Poe found a relative to take care of him. His name was Count Olaf. He was an actor. They arrived at Olaf's house in no time. The Baudelaires were disgusted with Olaf's appearance. Nevertheless, they were forced to stay with him. His house was dull looking. However, they started to like the neighbor. She was very friendly and also a judge. Olaf gave them one bed to sleep in.
The next day, Olaf woke them up very early and told them to make dinner for his troupe for they are going to be there at his house. Violet desperately tried to tell Olaf that they couldn't cook, but he ignored her and left. They decided to ask the judge for help. She had a library, which she was willingly to let the Baudelaires use. They decided to make pasta called puttanesca. She then agreed to take them to the market to buy the food. Thirty minutes later, the Baudelaire was finished with their shopping. After that, it was cooking and cooking. At around 8:00pm, Olaf arrived. He was displeased for he wanted roast beef. He sent them to bed. Olaf decided to plot a scheme to steal the Baudelaire fortune. He was going to have a play about two people getting married. He was trying to marry Violet. The Baudelaire knew something was wrong so they decided to find out what Olaf up to. They found out that he was going to marry Violet. They started to read the books about marriage and found out it was perfectly legal for Olaf to marry Violet. One of Olaf's henchmen took Sunny because Klaus and Violet found out the plan. This forced them to do the act. However, after the scene was over, Olaf was tricked. Violet has to sign the docs with her right arm but she didn't so it isn't legal. Olaf was exposed and he ran over when there was a blackout. Now The Baudelaires have to stay with another relative.
I like this book because it was very exciting and funny. Olaf is funny in a way, but evil at the same time. He must be one desperate man to marry Violet to get the fortune, and when Violet, Klaus, and Sunny beat Olaf at his own game, that just made me laugh. Olaf can never succeed in his plan, because his plans aren't foolproof. A 14, 12, and 3 year old, can crack and find out the meaning of the plan. I feel sad for him. If his mother saw him, she would probably be so humiliated. It is exciting because Violet invented a ghetto grappling hook and braved almost 40 feet of climbing to try to get her sister out.
My favorite part of the story was when Violet made a grappling hook and used it to rescue her sister. It was so brave of her to do so. I wish I had the courage to do that so encase of an emergency during a mountain climb. Although she never made it to the top, it was still a great and heroic adventure that Violet will probably remember forever. I feel like the book a just read was a movie because it had so much action. I cant wait to read to second book.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad stuff happens...
Review: I tried to get into the spirit of this book--yes, bad stuff happens, that's the deal, but it may be fun to read. Well, for me, it wasn't much fun. The kids' parents are killed off, they're then put in the guardianship of some beaureaucrat who doesn't care about their welfare, they get placed with a horrible distant relative who is mistreating them and plotting against them--in no very interesting way. I guess I just don't get it. It was just a series of ugly events about characters that are only marginally interesting in a setting even less marginally interesting. I'm giving the two stars because I like the book cover image and the title and author's name (all those made the books seem very promising), and the kids tried to be somewhat resourceful, but that was it.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Beginning to an Unfortunate Series
Review: The author of this sure to be Children's Classic is the mysterious Lemony Snicket. The author warns that if the reader is looking for a happy tale that this is not the book for them. A Bad Beginning is the first in a series of tales involving the Baudelaire children who experience mishap after mishap in their lives. As the book opens, the children are orphaned as their parents are killed in a fire. From that point onward, only bad things happen to the children. They must meet each situation and deal with the misfortunes that are befalling them at every step. The book is a definite page turner and is very easy reading. You will not be able to resist finding out what happens to the children next. As an adult and aspiring writer of children's fiction, I found the book to be a pleasant read that is very age appropriate middle school children. Additionally, the author makes use of certain words that are then defined which will help to build a child's vocabulary. In all, this book is a very satisfying read and will have you eagerly awaiting the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: Review for The Bad Beginning review by Lee
Review: Imagine yourself on a empty beach. It is fall but you are still on the beach to play. You are rich, and your life is perfect. You can see out of the fog comes a shadowy figure. You focus on him, and see a familiar face. He tells you your house burned down, and your parents died in a fire. Your life isn't so perfect anymore is it?
In this exciting and horrible events book entitled The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket it tells the story of the Baudelaire children. Ever since their parents died they have had horrible luck. They were sent to live with an evil uncle named Count Olaf. They eat cold porridge, sleep in one bed, and use a refrigerator box for a closet. But most of all there is an evil plot to steal the Baudelaire fortune. Violet 14, Klaus 12, and Sunny 2, must prevent their evil uncle from stealing their enormus fortune.
The Bad Beginning is suitable for ages 8, and over. The good thing is that when the author uses big words he gives you the definition.
If you love suspense and horrible events, then you will love The Bad Beginning. The first book in A series of Unfortunate Events.
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