My favorite Baudelaire was, in this book too, little Sunny. I like the other two brothers, of course, but there’s not much to be said about them as they are quite the same as they’ve been in the rest of the books. Whereas the little Sunny is growing and it’s actually starting to learn to talk — she said about three or four actual words! Not to mention my favorite: she said Sappho! wanting to mean “I’d be very pleased to hear a poem of yours!” (she also said Denada! when compared to a sack of flour and asked not to take offence and Merd! at a particularly rough moment in the narration :) ). The Baudelaires’ friends, Isadora and Duncan Quagmire were very likable too, especially as they’re always taking notes (and I love note-taking myself :P ), Duncan wanting to be a journalist when he grows up and Isadora being a poet (well, she only wrote couplets but some of them were quite funny :) ). In the opposite corner we have the school vice principal, a strange looking man (“He was almost completely bald, but he had four tufts of hair, which he had tied into little pigtails with some old rubber bands.“) called Nero, who enjoyed mimicking others and thought himself to be a genius violin player. He was evil and made the orphans’ life hard, but he was actually quite amusing with his twisted logic (or lack thereof). As an example, all his punishments for any wrongdoings were meal-related (the weirdest one being: “If you’re late we take away your cups and glasses, and your beverages will be served to you in large puddles“).

It’s interesting how, after the first three books had Violet saving the day by her inventions and Klaus doing the same by his reading, the author has started to vary the pattern a bit. In this book all the three Baudelaire kids were suffering from lack of sleep (Count Olaf had a hand in this), so they cannot get out of the situation they’re in all by themselves. Sure, Violet does invent something, and Klaus reads lots of useful stuff, but they really couldn’t have done it without the Quagmire kids (a cool thing as variation is always welcome :) ).

Every one of the books in the series so far begun with a warning to the reader. This one didn’t disappoint either, and here’s what the author had to say:

I only tell you that the story goes this way because you are about to become acquainted with rude, violent, filthy Carmelita Spats, and if you can’t stand reading about her, you had best put this book down and read something else, because it only gets worse from here. Before too long, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire will have so much adversity that being shoved aside by Carmelita Spats will look like a trip to the ice cream store.

Speaking of the author, he is starting to make his own presence known to the reader. He keeps alluding to a woman named Beatrice, whom he seems to be much in love with. Not only that but he is also trying to weave himself into the story — he mentions once or twice how he has himself known Count Olaf and he has influenced his (the author’s life for the worse). Needless to say I’m really curious to see how this part of the story will develop in the following books. :)

Actually, there is yet another reason why I’m curious to read the next book: this one, unlike the others, ended up like a movie with a sequel: with lots of questions. Questions that I’m looking forward to find the answers of, both in hopes of Count Olaf being caught once and for all (I know there are eight more books so he probably won’t be caught any time soon, but I’m hoping against hope) as for a chance of finding out more about the Quagmires (who had a fortune of their own and as such had caught the Count’s attention too). What can I say, the series have never sounded better :)

What I liked most: Vice Principal Nero’s completely twisted logic that had amused me and scandalized me in turns. Also, the fact that we got new characters to get to know and care about :)

What I liked least: It’s not something I have actually did not like but I couldn’t help wondering how did the two Quagmires move out of the Orphans Shack (since they could only have access to the dormitories with a slip signed by their parents and they had no parents to sign it… why did that change?)

Recommend it? Yes, I myself am loving the series more and more :)

This book is a sequel to:
The Bad Beginning
The Reptile Room
The Wide Window
The Miserable Mill

This book is followed by:
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: 12% [?]