Rating: 
Summary: 3 STARS AS A KIDS BOOK.... MORE STARS IF FOR ADULTS!
Review: This book is a trap for kids, for whom I do not recommend it... it is too dark, too Goth, and twisted.I do encourage parents to buy B0B-TALES, by Bob Morgan, a book of fifty children's bedtime stories... it is brand new, and terrific.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling, thought provoking and generally fab
Review: I felt compelled to write after seeing people miss the point. "oh, these stories are dark"..."oh, there doesn't seem to be a moral...". Get Over It. If there must be a moral, it is that bad things can happen to good people, that heroes are people who never give up, and villians can be flat out evil (Olaf) or simply lazy (Poe, or any of the other useless adults) - think Voldemort and Cornelius Fudge in HPV - a useful moral if EVER I saw one. A friend recommended these books to me and I'm halfway through the series. These books are a linguistic treat, a metaphor-rich collection of unfortunate events. If your kids are reading these, you should too, so that you can talk to them about what happens (good advice about any book, really). Keep up the good work, Mr Snicket - the children's story must be told!!!
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest
Review: i love this book and all the books in the series. these are truley fantasic books that are written in a kind of morbid,but very funny way.some find these books awful,depressing,and frightening,but i find them to be outstanding and just really funny.the way mr.snicket writes is over the top and refreshing in a world of boring,overly-descriptive young adult writers who write about repetitive topics. he truley immerses himself in the story to a point where you actually have to check the front of the book to make sure it's fiction.he puts things into great analogies (sp?) and always realates one thing to something else that you would never,ever think of.i would reccommend these books to anyone who can see the humor in an otherwise dark situation and wants a new perspective on things.
Rating: 
Summary: an adult reader sounds off...
Review: As an adult fan of youth literature I was intrigued by this book that claims if you are looking for a happy tale, don't read it. I thought the hook of the back cover description was brilliant and looked forward to reading the contents of the novel itself. I admit that I was expecting a dark and dreary novel. The author gives us no illusions that it will be a happy tale. However, the nature of the dreariness is shocking. I did not expect for orphaned children to be struck by an adult, tortured and led blindly from one horrible situation to another. I have no doubt these novels are popular with kids in the same sort of way that the "Garbage Pail Kids" appealed to an earlier generation. It's a fascination with the gross and beyond horrible that all kids share. In that way, the novel delivers very well, and I suspect the series will only grow in popularity amongst the "tween" set. However, I would caution parents of younger children to read the book together, and explain that what happens to the children in the novel should *never* happen to children. The author pays some service to the diabolical nature of events, calling the tormentors dispicable, but I don't think a 9 year old will be able to read this novel without some resultant fear. For other adults like myself who enjoy youth literature on occassion my advice is to skip this series. Not only was I cringeing at the actions in the plot, but the writing is distracting. The author is constantly giving definitions of words (in a clever way, I admit), but it makes the novel hard for an adult to read.
Rating:
Summary: O.K., but not the best.
Review: This book was pretty good. The only part I really liked was when Count Olaf tried to marry Violet,inherit the Baudilare fortune and kill the 3 kids. Like the book says, If you like books with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.
Rating:
Summary: Teacher Recommended
Review: I am a second grade teacher and I read the first three books aloud to my students. They enjoyed them so much that students would purchase the books on their own and read them along with me. A few students even purchased subsequent books to read on their own.
Like many reviewers, I loved that fact that the author included vocabulary instruction while I was reading the chapters aloud to my students. I also felt that the plot was exciting and captured the attention of my students.
Although the Baudelaire children live very tragic lives, the one theme that comes across in all the books is the importance of having each other to lean on in any situation. What I also like about these stories is all three children (along with the Quagmire triplets) have a unique talent and all of the children are integral to the plot of the stories. Unlike some reviewers, I believe that these books are great reading for children because they teach children to value the support from others. The books, while pessimistic, have an optimistic view because the orphans do not let anything get in their way of achieving true happiness!
Rating: 
Summary: The GREAT Beginning, in the Bad Beginning
Review: Do you like ending books by... "...and the Happy Unicorn flew over the Rainbow, to all her unicorn friends."? Well if so you may not want read this book. The Bad beginning is a great introduction to Violet, Claus, and Sunney's Bad luck streak in the Series of Unfortunate Events. Once you pick up this book you will have a classic case of 'eyes glued to book syndrom'. Symtoms include... staying up late at night under the covers with the book in your hand, refusing to go any place with out the book, and frequent questions running through your mind of "what's gonna happen next?" The Bad beginning is a great inro. to Violet, Claus, and Sunny's life, and to the rest of the series. This bok WILL make you want to read the rest of the series. DONT PASS IT UP!
Rating:
Summary: The Great Interduction
Review: The Bad Beginnning in the Series of Unfortunate Events series is a great book. This book is a great interduction to the Series of unfortunate events series. The Bad Beginning WILL make you want to read the rest of the series. DONT PASS THIS BOOK UP!
Rating:
Summary: good book
Review: this book i was recomended by my little cousin who is 9 years old. i started to read this book because i was bored and i thought it would be a childish book, but it is not although i would not recomend this book to anyone over the age of 13 i read all the books and absolutely loved them they are full of awesome adventures
Rating: 
Summary: Trash it.
Review: I just finished this book, which I read since someone recommended it to my son and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I am a fan of children's books and read them often... I do have an imagination, but I hated this book. I did like the writer's style and some of the characters, however cannot comprehend why people would find the abuse of children entertaining. If you want to read about clever children escaping danger and strange predicaments, I recommend the Spiderwick Chronicles. There is adventure, good characters, and no child abuse... I would not want to pass it along to anyone.
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