Rating: 
Summary: I dislike it
Review: I did not like it. I say a haouse called awful end is better. This book did not have a moral i found it to be life sucks but what can you do?I dont reccomed this book to kids the only reason I read it is 'cuse my cursh was reading it you know how that works. I treied to use it for him to like me but after the first two books I felt like trowing them out the window.
Rating: 
Summary: Tragic, intolerable, and miserable fun
Review: The poor, poor Baudelaire orphans. Life throws them down a flight of stairs at every step. Somehow, however, they overcome their ill fate (at least until the next volume) through wit and strategy. They must, as the adults in their lives are either clueless or evil, period. For this reason, the children-and hence, the readers-have no time to dwell on the unfortunate events. Though their world is set on the All-Tragedy-All-The-Time Channel, you find that you enjoy brainstorming a solution rather than only empathizing. The circumstances are so gleefully unbelievable that you never once walk away with a tear in your eye or a lump in your throat. This is hilarious quasi-goth wordplay, villains with more than a touch of Disney camp, and three kid protagonists you can relate to/want to be like/want around in the event of a nuclear holocaust. The ages 9-14 set will swap this out with their parents and older siblings. I haven't made babies yet, but this is the first book I'm saving to read to my kids when they are old enough to enjoy a story without pictures. I got overeager and tried to read it aloud to my husband whilst he watched the History Channel. He was annoyed, confused, and frightened.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyed by me and my children
Review: I'm having a great time reading this series aloud to my children, and they are enjoying it immensely. The style, the pacing, the cliff-hanger chapter endings...all contribute to the fun we're having. When the action gets intense, I shut the book and ask questions. What should Violet do next? What would you do? We even talk about the law, and how people should have a will drawn up. We talk about how brave the children are. But we also talk about how today they could call 911, and how they should not feel helpless. The aside definitions sometimes spur discussion, with my 8 year old saying that he knows what that particular word means. But often he doesn't know the word. Anyway, the series is working for me and mine, and it's great to read out loud.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow, what a bad book!
Review: This is proboably the worst book I've ever read. It seems that most of it was written by an eight year old, or even younger then that. Sometimes it seems like it's some sort of kids TV show. The writing is highly unprofessional, especially when the author keeps saying things simular to, " The rest of this story is so very sad. Do not read past this page." Also, the clulessness of the kids' older friend (forgot his name) drives you crazy!
And as for the ending, wow. It's like an ending to any old cartoon, tricky, but not any good. This whole book can be made into a 30 minute cartoon.
Rating:
Summary: At last - a cure for diabetes!
Review: "Lemony Snickett" has penned that rarity, a children's book that is engaging, interesting, and fun to read for both parent and child, without resorting to saccharine and sentiment. The word that best describes the misfortunes of the Baudelaires is "relentless." The nonstop series of tragedies, disasters, and betrayals would scar a delicate child, if it weren't for the author's deft regular intrusion into the narrative. He warns the reader of impending disaster and offers the opportunity to quit reading and imagine that everything turned out well. These little asides let the child in on the joke, reminding him that this isn't real. It works perfectly. Some of the more delightful features of this book and its sequels:
1) The Moral of the Story: Everything WON'T turn out all right in the end, justice rarely prevails, and bad people take advantage of scruples to do bad things. Welcome to the real world, kiddies.
2) The Real Moral of the Story: You'll be okay, even if things don't turn out all right in the end. This point appears to have been lost on some parents. It's an important one for a child to learn: getting fired, jailed unjustly, or deprived of the "A" you are convinced you deserved on a term paper are only events in your life; they aren't your life. What a way to get across to the kids "This Too Shall Pass."
3) Lemony Snickett: The author has cleverly inserted a story within the story, dropping hints of his own dark past, frequent references to his lost love Beatrice, and (in later books) alluding to personal relationships with some of the characters. All of this not only lends verisimilitude to the story for the younger readers, but adds interest for the older.
4) General cleverness: The names and settings in this and later books are remarkably witty. There are now web sites dedicated to explaining some of the more obscure references, but no adult reader can fail to smile as soon as the names Sunny and Klaus are introduced. Almost every name is worth looking up, and references to Edgar Allen Poe and his works abound. Sunny's baby babble is inventive. The author pauses to define difficult words, and his definitions will sometimes open adult eyes.
5) It is fun to read aloud: the over-the-top bad guys and helpless good guys make this an ideal book for individualized voices. Beware: when a character pops up in Book Six that you haven't seen since Book Two, you'd better remember what his voice sounded like - because your child will. Trust me.
Rating:
Summary: The Bad Beginning
Review: In my opinion a Series of Unfortunate Events is the best series of its kind. There is suspense, action, and some scary parts. It is a great book for any one!
Here is the idea of the book. There was a terrible tragedy that happened to these three children. They are introduced to a man named Mr. Poe who turns out to be the only man they can trust besides their new neighbor. The orphans move in with the only relative available.
Throughout the story, terrible and not so terrible things happen to the unlucky orphans. Again I recommend this book and the whole series for that matter to anyone!
Rating:
Summary: "Scream and Run Away"
Review: This is a review mainly of the unabridged recording of "The Bad Beginning" ISBN 0-8072-6178-5 read by Tim Curry, with an interview of Lemony Snicket by Leonard C. Marcus. And the song "Scream and Run Away preformed by the Gothic Archies. This is also a review of the hard back book ISBN 0-06-440766-7.
Initial listening of this book brought horror and disgust (which in this case means repugnance.) Determined to finish the story despite the author's constant warnings, I must say that I became enamored of his style.
There are several pluses to listening to the recording. The pace of the recording helps keep you going when you would have set the book aside. The absence of the books illustrations by Bret Helquist allowed you to imagine a more sinister Count Olaf and a cuter, yet with a tad of tomboy, Violet. Now the significant plus is the unmistakable voice of Tim Curry of "Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "Oscar" (1991 as Dr. Poole) fame. His interpretation of the voices gave just as much panache to the characters as Lemony's writing.
Not in the book, but as additions to the recording are two significant items that help with the understanding of the story, where it came from and where it is going. First is an interview with the author. It covers many of the standard questions asked in an interview; the answers and the communication style is some what unique and a little over the top. Also there is a recording of a song that Mr. Snicket says is played by the Baudelaire memorial orchestra; I have since found that it was realy preformed by the Gothic Archies, written by Gay and Loud.
I do not want to give away the plot however I can tell you that at one point they are forced to eat "boiled chicken, boiled, potatoes and 'blanched'- here means 'boiled'- string beans"
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Addictive Series
Review: If you like addicting dark series, this is for you. What I like about these books are that the author gets you involved and leaves a lot of questions hanging, which are up to you to solve. It's very addictive, and once you read one, you can't stop. I can understand how some people don't like them, but it's called a Series of Unfortunate Events for a reason. A lot of adults think childrens minds are all happy and sugar-coated, but that's not really true. If you like happy endings, back away. Although the books are all about misery, I am hoping that the actual series has a good ending. I guess only time will tell.
Rating:
Summary: so much fun...
Review: these are great books for adults too...great humor...very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: BOOOOO!!!
Review: This book was absolutely horrible! I mean, really! The whole series is crazy! I mean, what's the point! The books are awful! I mean, everything comes out happily, but no, can't have them actually being HAPPY! No, no, it's like being happy is against all the rules! It was awful! I don't see why everyone else thinks it is so good! It is NOT good! Don't get this book!
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