Rating: 
Summary: Don't take this book seriously!
Review: That's the point of the whole series - the unfortunate events are so unfortunate that they're preposterous. The kids are pretty one-dimensional but their actions (or rather reactions) are things that kids their age might think up if they were smarter than average. And I do love Lemony Snicket's explanations of the harder vocabulary words. They're perfectly in line with the way the whole book is written - as if the author had just turned his head away to hide his smile. I wish I could give 3 1/2 stars instead of 3 or 4 but I'm happier bumping it up to 4 rather than down to 3.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone, but who it's for it's GREAT
Review: If you like the normal, doofy happy cheerful children's books then do not read this or any of the others in the series. But, if you love dark humor and dry wit then this book and the ones that follow in this series are perfect for you. This book is a wonderful teaching tool for reality. I mean, stuff happens and sometimes you have to deal with it. It's not everyday that one can enjoy a life like that of the Littlest Elf (see book 7).
Rating:
Summary: The Not-So-Bad Beginning
Review: When I first took a look at this book, I thought I would never like it: it seemed grim and depressing. But then I read it all the way through! It was excellent.
Here is a bit of the plot: The Baudelaire children - Violet, age 14 (an inventor); Klaus, age 12 (a reader) and baby Sunny (a biter) - learn that their wealthy parents have died in a huge fire that destroyed their mansion. They are then sent to live with their creepy distant relative, Count Olaf, who runs a ghastly theater troupe. Olaf makes them chop wood for no apparent reason, and prepare pasta puttanesca for his fellow actors (who all become drunk). The Baudelaires sleep in a tiny, filthy room with one bed, and with a cardboard box for a wardrobe.
Olaf reaches the depths of his vileness when he concocts a plot to seize the children's fortune: he attempts to marry Violet, in quite a sneaky way. But Klaus (after reading up on nuptial law) alerts Violet, who gets out of the marriage in her own clever manner. Count Olaf escapes...but promises to be back (which he is, in the next book).
Yes, this plot sounds highly disturbing. Then again, I am not Lemony Snicket, and I can't adequately describe the book's writing. Snicket goes out of his way to define words like "garlic" and "anchovies", but in a very entertaining way. He also interprets Sunny's infantile outbursts ("Gack!" means "Look at that shadowy creature emerging from the fog!" or something along those lines), and makes references to his lost love, Beatrice, in random places in the book. The language is old-fashioned, one might say, but in a good way!
Best of all, though, is the resourcefulness of the three children: they are intelligent, well-read, and generally amazing. Count Olaf, too, is so delightfully evil that the reader feels no guilt about despising him.
However, I wouldn't recommend "The Bad Beginning" to anyone under ten or so - although, of course, each person is different. I an fourteen, but I only really liked this series when I was thirteen. (Then again, I think the Harry Potter books are terribly scary - although I love them - so there you are.) There are a few literary references (such as Mr. Poe's son Edgar) that younger kids might not understand, and of course, the plot is pretty scary. But I believe that anyone age eleven or above could enjoy "The Bad Beginning," even adults. (I've met adults who were in love with it.)
But of course, you should not trust me. I suggest you read it for yourself: I doubt that you will be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Grim and Fantastic
Review: A Bad Beginning, and all the books in the series, are wonderful. The mix of the grim and ridiculous make for some of the funniest books we've read in a long time. My daughter (aged 9) loves to tell her friends--and strangers-- all about the books, and has been responsible for at least 8 Lemony Snicket converts. My only complaint is that I have to wait for her to finish a book before I get to read it. She reads them on her own time as treat to herself (as opposed to a school assignment or the result of parental nagging) and can often be heard laughting outloud.
Rating:
Summary: The Bad Beginning
Review: The Bad Beginning was the first book in the Baudelaire series. The Baudelaire children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, who were skipping rocks at Briny Beach, receive terrible news that their parents died in a terrible fire. Ever since then, the Baudelaires lves have been filled with misery and woe, starting with when they have been sent away to live with their terrible, greedy, and evil uncle, Count Olaf. The children have to do chores every day and cook food for Count Olaf's rude theater troupe, but things only get worse when the Baudelaires realize that Count Olaf is only after the enormous fortune the Baudelaire parents left behind. Klaus, then middle Baudelaire, is the one who figures out that Count Olaf wants to marry Klaus's older sister Violet literally in a play called The Marvelous Marriage in order to gain control of the Baudelaires fortune, and things get even worse when sunnt is hung from the top of a tower in a cage until Violet agrees to marry Count Olaf. You'll have to buy and read the book for yourself to see how the Baudelaires escaped from their miserable situation.
Rating: 
Summary: A bit too unfortunate for my taste
Review: When the Baudelaire children loose their parents in a terrible fire, they are adopted by a very distant family member, Count Olaf. Count Olaf lives in a gruesome house and is the leader of a strange and rather frightening group of actors. The children have to do all kinds of tasks and in general their lives are pretty miserable. And the situation becomes even more miserable when Count Olaf has a not so pretty surprise for them in store...The bad beginning is the first of a series of books that all have in common that the events described in them are indeed very unfortunate. For me the events are a bit too unfortunate, but maybe that is because I am grown up. I like it when something good happens every now and then. Also, the superfluous explanation by the author of words that are in my opinion not too difficult and can be understood by 10-year olds, starts to be irritating after a while. All in all an enjoyable read, but it cannot stand in the shadow of the Harry Potter series.
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: Well, I brought this book because after reading the blurb on the back cover it sounded like it had a Roald Dahl ring to it. However, because you now KNOW that nothing will go right for the main characters in the book, the book is very predictable, predictable here meaning YOU KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!!! I'm agreeing with the reader from Edinburgh here, (I'm from Sussex by the way, hello!). All of that explaining of words got really annoying, I still have no idea what all that was about. Also the characters were a bit dim...why on earth didn't they just run away from their evil uncle? I probably didn't enjoy the book because I was 14 when I read it, it is definately for younger children, even though I think the book would even leave them unsatisfied because it has a rubbish ending. Nice try Lemony Snicket, but better luck next time. What sort of a made-up name is that anyway?
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely ghastly!
Review: What a dreadful and depressing story. Bravo, Mr. Snicket!
Rating:
Summary: Miserable, but great!
Review: Have you ever thought about living without your parents? Well,in this book there are three children whose parents died in a fire. Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are three intelligent kids, but they've been having a very hard time. It started when their parents died in a terrible fire that burned down the whole Baudelaire mansion. When this terrible accident happened the children were at the beach skipping rocks. Mr.Poe, who is a family friend and the manager of a bank, went to the beach and told them the awful news. They had to go live with him until they find a relative for them to live with. Finally, they found a relative,his name is Count Olaf. Count Olaf lived in a very ugly house and on the door there was an eye and he also had the same eye tattooed on his ankle. His next door neighbour's name is Justrice Strauss a very nice lady who has a gorgeous house compared to Count Olaf's.
The first moment the Baudelaire's meet Count Olaf they don't really like him. All the orphans have to sleep in one room.The three Baudelaire orphans have to do a lot of chores for Count Olaf such as: making dinner for his rude and mean theatre group, sweeping, and cleaning basically everything.
I can't tell you any more, but I will say that this book is: funny, suspensful, interesting and once you start reading it you can't put it down. It is so good because they go through many adventures that they always solve. I hope that you do read this book and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. For the last time, I really urge you to read this book. Happy reading!
Rating:
Summary: Dark Humor
Review: I am 16 and found this book very enjoyable, but I do not think that it is appropriate for the age level that is suggested. A grown man wanting to marry a 14-year-old girl and an infant hanging from a cage is not something I would want a 10-year-old reading about. Other than that, I found the book witty and a fun read. Lemony Snicket is a wonderful writer.
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