The children act consistently with the manner I expected them to from book 1. Violet still likes to spend her time thinking of various inventions (although I have to say I’m a bit disappointed in her because she always talks of things with levers and gears and then goes out and invents… a lockpick?? But yes, I know she is only a child and what’s more she had no gears available :P ). Klaus still saves the day after reading stuff in books (yum, my favorite kind of saving the day). Sunny is still my favorite, and she still likes to bite things with her four sharp teeth. She said her first actual word in this book and one of the reasons I’d like to read more books in the series is that I’d like to see her growing up. As for the Count Olaf, he is a true villain in this story: whereas in the previous book he only threatened he’d kill one or another, in this book he actually gets to kill two people. I do hope he’ll end up behind bars eventually. :)

The author insists on remembering the reader that this is not a happy book nor will it ever be one (“So I must tell you that if you have opened this book in the hope of finding out that the chil­dren lived happily ever after, you might as well shut it and read something else.”). He is right, as the poor children go through a lot more misfortune. The end saddened even me, what with the children having to say goodbye to all their friends the snakes, not to mention Sunny having to part ways with the Incredibly Deadly Viper… It was to be expected, of course, but written in such a way that I could not help being a bit sad. What can I say, the book keeps up with the expectations it formed. Cool.

Speaking of the snakes in uncle’s collection, I almost loved them myself. The ones I found most interesting were “a pair of snakes who have learned to drive a car so reck­lessly that they would run you over in the street and never stop to apologize.”. There were also snakes who had learned to talk, snakes who had to be kept away from typewriters and more such wonders.

The author keeps up with explaining the more difficult words for his young readers who may not be familiar with them. I still think it’s a great idea but at the same time was a bit annoyed by it in this book (unlike the previous one). Not a big issue since I am not exactly in the book’s intended target but I was surprised by the difference (in me, of course, not in the book).

What I liked most: I have only recently noticed the fact that the author has named all the books in the series (all but last) with alliterative names (such as The Bad Beginning or The Reptile Room :P ). I find it very original and ingenious, especially as he extends this to every place name I’ve noticed so far (Lousy Lane, Swarthy Swamp, Hazy Harbor, Curdled Cave and many more :) ).

What I liked least: Stephano/Count Olaf says at one moment that he has read up on the Incredibly Deadly Viper and he knows everything there was to know about it. But the viper has only recently been discovered by Uncle Monty and everything about it was kept secret as Monty was a bit paranoid about someone stealing his new snake. So there absolutely were no books written on the topic. I agree that the Count might have lied about the reading — but how did he know about the viper’s name? I really don’t think Monty would have told him that, and the kids even less.

Recommend it? Yep, especially to children of course.

This book is a sequel to:
The Bad Beginning

This book is followed by:
The Wide Window
The Miserable Mill
The Austere Academy
The Ersatz Elevator
The Vile Village
The Hostile Hospital
The Carnivorous Carnival
The Slippery Slope
The Grim Grotto
The Penultimate Peril
The End

Amazon Affiliate. If you click an Amazon link and buy something, I receive a small percentage of the purchase price.

Popularity: 10% [?]