“They didn’t understand it, but like so many unfortunate events in life, just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.”
― Lemony Snicket, The Bad Beginning

So full disclosure, I read these books growing up but I never finished the series because, if I recall, they weren’t all released yet. But I loved them. I grew up loving mystery novels and series (Nancy Drew fan here!) and this series fit right in with them. I plan on reading these to my daughter when she is old enough as well.

SPOILER ALERT

The funniest parts of these books are the narration. There is usually some focus of words and different meanings, which I love. There is a underlying mystery going on with where the Baudelaire parents are from and what their past looks like. Within these four books, we don’t find out much about it but we start building a foundation for a larger mystery and learning about how evil Count Olaf truly is.

In the original movie that was made for these books, I didn’t like how cartoon-esqu Count Olaf was as he is inherently evil. I mean, he hangs a baby from a basket like 30 feet in the air – he isn’t a nice person. I just hope that the series does better at making him actually evil.

SUMMARY

I recommend these books to everyone, honestly. They are not dirty, they are funny, they are full of mystery, and they are about how when you feel like you have nothing, you still have family.

GRADE: A