Rating: Summary: Miserably Unique, Captivating Read, but slightly insulting. Review: We read the book together Mom (age 30), son (age 14), and two daughters (ages 10 and 12). It took us about 7 hours to complete the book, reading a couple of hours per night. Each day the children and myself anxiously waited for reading time due to our curiosity of 'what would happen next!' We are now anxiously awaiting Amazon to deliver the rest of the books in the series!The book was dreadfully morbid yet intriguingly unique and fun to read as a group. The author is an absolute nutcase who is bound to make you laugh in some twisted sort of way. He is quite upfront about the book being a horrible book and that makes it all the better. Outside of [feeling the author insults the reader's intelligence by some insuations] the book is still definitely worth the read and it captivated the children and myself enough for us to order the rest of the series. We all applaud the author's unique style and hilarious presentation of these unfortunate events. He himself is just morbid enough to be responsible for telling this dreadful tale.
Rating: Summary: Great book Review: The book, The Bad Beginning, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket was a great book. I rated it five stars. It's about three miserable orphans whose parents perish in a fire. All of their belongings burn to ashes. The orphans have to go live with their evil Uncle Olaf who has a plan to steel their fortune. He makes them do hard chores. I recommend this book to anyone who likes when sad things happen to other people.
Rating: Summary: Enjoyable dark humor Review: ...READ THE BACK OF THE BOOK JACKET! Does it sound funny and amusing? Then you will probably like it. If you think "ewww" then you will probably dislike it. It's as simple as that. The book is dark humor and dark humor only appeals to certain tastes. I would have loved this book as a child since I was raised on such movies as Arsenic and Old Lace. Other children may be frightened, use you own judgement. However, it is my belief that these books are more fun for adults than children. I fail to see why these novels are compared to the Harry Potter series (of which I am not a fan) since they are not really the same genre. I think this book will be more enjoyable readers who have had wide experience in the field of "orphan" stories (read the Boxcar Children back to back with this book and note some amusing comparisons) This irreverent tale turns many of the cliches of the genre on their heads. Now, adult content. Forced marriage to a 14 year old. I honestly do not believe that most children will think of the risque aspect of the plot device. After all, it is not really dwelled on and besides it has been used in Disney films, fairy tales and such for years. And the plot is all centered around getting the fortune from the children not Count Orloff finding a bride. Again, parents should use their own disgression. (The same argument goes for the child in danger plot device) This book has marvelous dry humor and it is a kick to read but it simply is not for all tastes.
Rating: Summary: worth it Review: origoinally i scorned this book- what was this new shiny addition to my neighborhood bookstore and why does the back suggest i dont read it? either way i wasnt going to i was going to ignore it and read my other books that didnt need to rely on flashy illustrations and fancy hardcovers. needless to say i read it. my mom once made a deal with me that she would buy any book i wanted as long as i would finish it- that was her first mistake her second was actually living up to her promise but this a bad begining was pushing my familys tight budget with its heafty price tag- so i was going to follow the authors advice and not read this tale of woe. then one day i had made an extra ten dollars so i bought it and from the second i opened it to the moment i finished it- this was one of the best books i have ever read. it was new- refreshing- it was amazing so i read the entire series in almost a week, the writing is fantastic and the illustrations are perfectly melded with the story line not to mention utterly amazing themseves so was this book worth my hard earned money and did i change my view of mister lemony snickett- the answer would have to be yes. anyways read the book its great for anyone (im 15) and it is worth it. maybe i should quit judging books by the cover.
Rating: Summary: A Great Read! Review: This book is so good! I bought it last summer and at first the back sort of turned me off. I bought it anyway and then I took it to my summer camp. I was so into the book I read it in 1 day and then I wrote to my mom to ask her to send me more! The whole series if great! I can't wait until the ninth book comes out. I just love how this book makes you want to find out what happens!
Rating: Summary: Disturbing Review: Well, here's another installment from the "doesn't matter what's in it, as long as it gets kids to read!" club. The abuse in the book and suggestive nature of Count Olaf's plan for Violet are very disturbing. And it's another "adults are either nasty or bumbling and confused, while kids are sharp as tacks" theme, which is getting so common in kids' books and television (especially Disney). Sigh.
Rating: Summary: Series of Unfourtunate Events-WONDERFUL Review: These books are so magical and really are grabbers, I am a [age] but i know [age] year-olds that LOVE these books, they really make sense and are really enjoyable to read. Lemony Snicket does a great job. I have read all 8 books and can't wait for the 9th to come out in June. Read these books! You won't regret it!
Rating: Summary: Wonderful, Excting, Miserable (Not Really) Book. Review: Violet, Sunny and Klaus Baudelaire are three very unlucky children. When their parents perished in a fire, they thought life couldn't get any worse. They were wrong. When the three children are sent to live with a distant relative, they had hoped their luck was about to change for the better. Unfortunately, they had reckoned without Count Olaf and his diabolically fiendish scheme to steal the children's inheritance. The Series of Unfortunate Events are books that are very different to the typical image of children's literature. As the narrator says, "There is no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and there are very few happy things in the middle." The author uses a dark, dry sense of humor and depending on how you focus upon the book, it can either be depressing or very funny. I personally found it very good, but from reading it I can understand why some parents say it gives their kids nightmares. Some of the things that happen to the three orphans are just plain awful. The characters are both entertaining and interesting, it keeped my intrest and enthusiasm throughout the whole book. Count Olaf is repulsively evil - and the Baudelaires are intelligent, resourceful children who enjoying inventing and reading. No matter what happens, they will always find some solution to their problems, even though more bad things are just around the corner. I recommend this to all kids over the age of 9. Some people call it a JK Rowling wannabe but I disagree. This series is nothing like Harry Potter, nor it as good, but then what children's book could be? I'll definitely be buying more in this wonderfully miserable series.
Rating: Summary: The Review of Book the First Review: This is the beginning of the "Unfortunate Events" series. It all starts out as a day at the beach with each other for siblings Violet, the 14 year old who likes to invent things, Klaus, a very intelligent pre-teen, and Sunny, a baby who likes to bite things. They soon find out that their parents have died in a tragic fire, burning down their whole house. Violet will get the fortune of the parents, but when she is of age (eighteen). They go to live with their very distant relative, Count Olaf, a horrid man who forces them to perform hard labor and all sleep in one room. The author seems to make the story humorous (as it is depressing) by using running jokes throughout the story like Sunny's baby talk ("Gack!" probbably meant "Who's that mysterious figure in the fog?") and defining words throughout the book. The book series ends once it reaches lucky thirteen, and I'm in no hurry for it to end.
Rating: Summary: AWESOME, MUST READ!!!!!!!!!!! Review: The Bad Beginning is the best book I have read in a long time! The Baudelaire Children's lives are filled with very unfortunate events and unforgettable characters. The book is very humorous in a strange, dark kind of way. I bought the first one and couldn't stop! Now, 2 days later I am on the third! This is a really GREAT book! I know that if you start to read it, you will not be able to put it down!!!!!!!!!TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
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