Oracle Online

The series records the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, three children marred by the tragedy of their parents’ death. To further complicate matters, they find themselves being bestowed upon ruthless and naĢve guardians, each of whom seem to have some unseen connection.

The series greatest asset is its ability to repeatedly fill the reader with hope, while always disappointing. The title doesn’t lie: these are truly unfortunate events.

Snicket, a pseudonym of author Daniel Handler, never allows the children to be too happy for too long.
There is no fear that the author will soften up the plot lines in order to shield the children from the unbearable misery that is the orphans’ lives.

Yet somehow, the misery is incredibly readable and highly entertaining. Sure, the lives are terrible, but they are filled with comic delights. The children find themselves posing as concierges at the Hotel
Denouement, the last safe place in a world corrupted by wickedness, and patrol the odd assortment of guests that show up for a conference/cocktail party/grand meeting. Memorable characters from past books, including EsmÄ Squalor, Count Olaf, and their band of mutinous villains all return for this penultimate tale in a series of thirteen books.

The book doesn’t quite have the incredible twisted ending that Snicket left readers’ with a cliffhanger in book eleven, The Grim Grotto, but it does bridge very well toward the next book in the series. Like this summer’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, this book is more like a part one of two than a singular work. The books, which are as much mystery novels as they are children’s action adventure, do rehash all of the old enigmas that seem to string together the series, but little is revealed about the actual content of these riddles.

Snicket reminds the reader in every chapter of what mysteries we are supposed to be looking out for (VFD, the mysterious fires, the strange connections of all the guardians), but he gives little in the way of information. Though this will make for a mind-numbing ride in book thirteen, it would have been nice for Snicket to give a few more significant hints toward questions fans of the series have been pondering for years.

However, when the writing is catchy and the jokes witty, it’s hard to complain. If you haven’t started the series, don’t follow Lemony Snicket’s advice: commence reading today.

And for those who have been following the tragic tales of the Baudelaires all along, you won’t want to miss their latest installmentčafter all, the series of unfortunate events is soon to reach its untimely end.