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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I thought this book was great! I read it in one sitting. At the end, I was very satisfied, and I ordered the rest of the seies, also. Lemony Snicket is a very talented writer. A the very beginning he caught my attention with his use of definitions after unfamiliar vocabulary. As many reviewers said, "an enjoyable read"!
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Summary: A wonderful tale of woe and wimsy
Review: I really loved this book. Similar to Kenneth Graham and Lewis Carroll, but with a delightful twist of woe, Lemony Snicket combines humor with an exciting and most unclicheic plot. Although you have your typical villain, and your charming, intelligent, and lovely little children, the woeful twists add a lot of humor to a tired-out storyline, and freshing it up far more than most recent authors. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Lemony Snicket Tops Most Books With The 'Bad Beginning'!
Review: Lemony Snicket is just plain impressive in this creative and original story of three miserable lives. Well developed characters, advanced vocabulary, and humour will, and already has, attracted many readers--including me! So, read this book! I gaurantee a laugh and a pleasant experience while reading. Other recommended books are:A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle), The Giver (Lois Lowry)
Rating: 
Summary: Yuck!
Review: The only reasons I can think of to read this book are that it might introduce some new vocabulary, it promotes mechanical engineering, and the curious author bio on the jacket. Dull characters, dull story.
Rating: 
Summary: A bad book
Review: My first impression of Mr. "Snicket's" book was pretentious-the word "pretentious" here means very, very proud. His gimmacks and tricks quickly became tiresome as I found myself bothered by his silly interuptions with definitions and all the insights he imparts. It's obvious his gimmacks were a smoke-screen to cover up the fact that he had little story.I did find the orphans sympathetic, but the other characters were one-dimensional at best. I suppose that the children collectively were the protagonist, but I never really felt connected to any of them. What disturbed me the most were some of the implications of a child bride and an infant being in danger. I understand Nickelodeon picked up the movie rights. I hope they are careful.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book, disappointing person
Review: I purchased 2 Lemony Snicket books for my son and we went to an author appearance at a local bookstore. My son and the other kids fully expected to have an intelligent dialog with the author and come away with a signed book or two. I can forgive the author's eccentric style, even though I suspect he is trying to achieve a place in show business, not children's literature. Not one serious word was exchanged with the kids who were anxious to learn about writing. It was all ego and performance. I cannot, however, forgive him for not signing the books our kids presented. He stamped them like a common notary public and didn't actually sign them. Forgive me if I am naive, but I am used to authors signing the books we purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good Tale of An Unfortunate Family...
Review: I read this book in about a day and enjoyed it thourghly. Lemony Snicket, an unknown author to me before now, captures the reader's mind with a great plot and good story. If you like happy endings, you'd be better off not reading this book, for it has no happy ending, no happy beginning, and few happy things in the middle. Although it was an unhappy ending, it came me wondering, and the same day I ordered The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, and preordered The Austere Acadamy.
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Summary: As good as Harry Potter!
Review: I love these books and I think they are almost as good as Harry Potter books! They are very hilarious and I think EVERYONE should read them! Even my grandma reads them! =) They're great! I wish I could give it 10 stars instead of just 5! Those books are amazing!
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Summary: Not darkly comic, just dark
Review: I began this book with lots of excitement because I'd heard some great things about it. "Darkly comic," "Dry wit," "Sarcastic humor," -- all of these descriptions made it sound right up my alley. The cover and the author's note at the beginning were delightful and I anticipated being greatly entertained. Unfortunately, my high hopes were disappointed. Though I noticed the dry, deadpan style of the author and anticipated some wickedly funny parts, what I expected to be dry wit turned out to be merely dry. I kept waiting for something funny to happen, or a smart remark from the author, or something, and got none. As I struggled through the book, I held out for something interesting to happen -- it didn't. The suspense built, and the denouement, which should have been enlightening or held some explanation or satisfaction, instead had none. I expected some twist in the character of the villain, some mysterious motivation, some hidden secret about his past to explain his bizarre behavior -- and got nothing. What ought to have been a satisfying conclusion, after the climax, instead just seemed contrived. The character of Mr. Poe seems to exist solely as a plot device, to place as many difficult obstacles in the children's path as possible. Who ever heard of a will specifying care of the children by the "closest relative geographically"? Anyway, to make a long review less long, I expected lots of wit and dark humor from this, and I was just bored. I'm sure more interesting things will happen in the later books, but frankly, I can't bring myself to read them.
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Summary: Who doesn't love wretched orphan stories?
Review: It was with great and heavy sadness that I read the chronicles of the Baudelaire orphans. After learning of the various hardships they have had to endure, I slipped into a dank sea of ennui from which I am only now starting to resurface. I was warned about the tumultuous nature of their stories by the narrator, I know, yet like gawkers at a traffic accident, I felt that I could not look away from the horrid events. What unfortunate children, and by unfortunate I mean,"Gee, those kids lives really stink!" Indeed a fun read and Snicket's approach to the "gentle reader" fits the Victorian approach he seems to be striving for - and who doesn't love wretched orphan stories?
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