Character-wise this is quite an interesting book, as the by now well-known main characters are joined by others, some we’ve already met and others that are brand new. My favorite part continued to be though the fact that Sunny is growing up, a source of continuous development for her character (unlike her two brothers that, although nice kids that I enjoy reading about, have had no new facets revealed in quite a while). She’s now, as the author puts it (albeit exaggerating a little), “a young girl”, and very proud of it. She is still not talking in complete sentences (with some exceptions), but she is also slowly revealing what is (probably) to be her own talent: while Violet is good at inventing things and Klaus’ favorite pastime is reading, Sunny is a natural when it comes to cooking, and, to be honest, I am very curious to discover the ways this particular skill will come in handy in the next books.

This has got to be one of my favorite titles in the series, because, in addition to the “same-letterness” that can be found in almost all of the names the author chooses for everything he needs to choose a name from, this particular title also has a double meaning. One, the most obvious, refers to the slippery slope that the waterfall has turned into because of the cold, that connects the top of the mountain with a lower level and that will play an important part in the book. The second, the less literal one, uses the figurative meaning of a slippery slope, that of a logical fallacy that ignores the existence of a middle ground between two possibilities, which, more or less, is what happens at one point in the book, as there are two expressions that are mentioned more often: “the world is quiet here” (implying peace, inactivity towards one’s enemies) and “fight fire with fire” (not hesitating to fight said enemies with all available means).

Also, the author seemed to have enjoyed himself tremendously by sprinkling all sorts of cultural references here and there. Such as when Violet tells us about a new know she invented and names Sumac, after a singer she likes (Sumac = Camus backwards, and it can probably be said that “singer”/performer is some sort of opposite to “writer” too). Most of these references are to be found in Sunny’s “dialect” though, such as when she says “Matahari” wanting to say she’ll be a spy, “Rosebud” when she wanted to signal to her brothers to use the toboggan and “Godot”, meaning “We don’t know where to go, and we don’t know how to get there“.

The usual paragraph placed at the beginning of the book, meant to ward off readers, in this case is:

[...]unlike books most people prefer, which provide comforting and entertaining tales about charming people and talking animals, the tale you are reading now is nothing but distressing and unnerving, and the people unfortunate enough to be in the story are far more desperate and frantic than charming, and I would prefer to not speak about the animals at all. For that reason, I can no more suggest the reading of this woeful book than I can recommend wandering around the woods by yourself, because like the road less traveled, this book is likely to make you feel lonely, miserable, and in need of help.

What I liked most: The way the author has hidden a letter to his sister in a particularly boring part of the book :) (much like, later on, a secret clue is hidden in a list of ingredients since no one usually reads those).

Speaking of which, I have a new theory regarding the way the book will end. Not that the series have been predictable on the whole, far from it, but I like guessing at what might happen next. My previous theory was that Lemony Snicket’s beloved Beatrice (that he mentions as having married another man and died sometimes since) was actually the Baudelaire mother. After reading this book though I have a new one [possible spoiler although it shouldn't be since it's only a supposition]: I think that the Baudelaire mother was none other than Lemony and Jacques Snicket’s sister. Time will tell (although to be honest the thing I would like most would be a totally unpredictable denouement)(by the way, the book ended with the children heading towards a hotel called Hotel Denouement, and I don’t think it’s a random name, especially as there are only three more books left of the series).

Oh, and I also enjoyed the hint of romance in the air :)

What I liked least: Nothing (although at first I was a wee bit bothered by the idea of Sunny being called a young girl since she cannot actually talk, plus how old can she be since she was a baby not so long ago — it seemed a bit exaggerated to me; but later on, seeing how much pride she takes in her new state, I sort of got used to the idea and it stopped bothering me).

Recommend it to? Everyone who read the previous books. While the first few volumes could be enjoyed as standalone books too, the later ones are intricately connected so the best way to enjoy them is knowing what happened previously.

This book is a sequel to:
The Bad Beginning
The Reptile Room
The Wide Window
The Miserable Mill
The Austere Academy
The Ersatz Elevator
The Vile Village
The Hostile Hospital
The Carnivorous Carnival

This book is followed by:
The Grim Grotto
The Penultimate Peril
The End

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