mckiheather's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Having seen the Netflix show a couple times and finally getting to read it, it’s such a good story because I don’t think there’s really any other story like it and it’s told in such an interesting way. I think the audiobook format also adds to that story telling in a really interesting way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
micaelacccc's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Why is this marketed to children? So so so creepy and gave me the ick at Count Olaf and the men who thought Violet was a "pretty thing"
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Grief
sadiaa's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely started reading for the nostalgic element, can't wait to get through the whole series
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Death of parent
lilshelly's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The nostalgia at visiting one of my favorite childhood series again. I remember all the plot beats so well but am still so excited to experience them again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Child abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Fire/Fire injury
anonymousbiblioholic39's review against another edition
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
** SPOILERS AHEAD **
Enjoyment: 5/5
* The Bad Beginning was a very fast-paced and enjoyable read. I finished it in less than a day, and I think it would be perfect for anyone who wants a quick read to fly through.
Writing: 3/5
* I really enjoyed all of the creative interjections to the story that the author added in where he addressed the reader. Idk, I just thought that was a cool way of narrating a story. Outside of that, the writing wasn't anything remarkable or lousy, just what you'd expect for the genre.
Characters: 1/5
* There wasn't much character development. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny did have their own separate interests and personalities, but they didn't feel all that real. We never got to see why Count Olaf wanted the Baudelaire estate outside of just simple greed, either. Pretty much all of the side characters were shallow and some even useless, should I say so myself. Justice Strauss was flat as a character, and the descriptions of Count Olaf's theatre troupe were unnecessary filler.
Plot: 4/5
* The book was well plotted, but the marriage shenanigans were creepy, so minus 1 star for that
Overall rating: 13/20, 65%
Enjoyment: 5/5
* The Bad Beginning was a very fast-paced and enjoyable read. I finished it in less than a day, and I think it would be perfect for anyone who wants a quick read to fly through.
Writing: 3/5
* I really enjoyed all of the creative interjections to the story that the author added in where he addressed the reader. Idk, I just thought that was a cool way of narrating a story. Outside of that, the writing wasn't anything remarkable or lousy, just what you'd expect for the genre.
Characters: 1/5
* There wasn't much character development. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny did have their own separate interests and personalities, but they didn't feel all that real. We never got to see why Count Olaf wanted the Baudelaire estate outside of just simple greed, either. Pretty much all of the side characters were shallow and some even useless, should I say so myself. Justice Strauss was flat as a character, and the descriptions of Count Olaf's theatre troupe were unnecessary filler.
Plot: 4/5
* The book was well plotted, but the marriage shenanigans were creepy, so minus 1 star for that
Overall rating: 13/20, 65%
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Alcohol
Minor: Grief and Injury/Injury detail
ophycore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Fatphobia, Violence, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Transphobia and Alcohol
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
Spoiler
Neglect, Abductionbooksjessreads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I read this for my StoryGraph genre challenge, since I had wanted to read this as a child and never got round to it. I feel weird reviewing this when I am not part of the target audience, but here we are.
I thought this was quite enjoyable, and certainly super weird. It isn't something I would have picked up as a child but it was interesting. Lemony Snicket was very clear in that there isn't a lot of happiness in this book, and he wasn't wrong, but some part of me felt like perhaps it was too much for a children's book. But, children might like this... idk?
I felt like there should have been some sort of trigger warning for the child abuse However, I thought it was written well and it was comical in places. I also liked how Snicket was both the narrator and a character in the book. This just added a great dimension to the story.
Some people have mentioned how they didn't like the definitions of words being brought up constantly within the text. I didn't mind them so much and I knew why they were there. They did break up the writing, but I am not who the book was aimed for, so I skimmed past the definitions and just kept reading.
Overall, a good read and I have decided to continue reading the series.
I thought this was quite enjoyable, and certainly super weird. It isn't something I would have picked up as a child but it was interesting. Lemony Snicket was very clear in that there isn't a lot of happiness in this book, and he wasn't wrong, but some part of me felt like perhaps it was too much for a children's book. But, children might like this... idk?
I felt like there should have been some sort of trigger warning for the child abuse
Spoiler
Klaus getting slapped and adults literally laughing at him would certainly not be comfortable for some children to read here.Some people have mentioned how they didn't like the definitions of words being brought up constantly within the text. I didn't mind them so much and I knew why they were there. They did break up the writing, but I am not who the book was aimed for, so I skimmed past the definitions and just kept reading.
Overall, a good read and I have decided to continue reading the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Confinement
johannarose's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Confinement, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
“If you have ever lost a loved one, then you know exactly how it feels. And if you have not, then you cannot possibly imagine it.”
One stormy day the Baudelaire children's' lives change in an instant. When they're approached by a family friend, Mr. Poe, and told their parents have perished (which here, means died) in a house fire, the children have no idea what their future holds. For Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, they hope it means a kind relative to take them in, help them with their grief, and give them a loving home - the reality is so much worse than you, or I, could imagine.
I remember reading this series when I was just a kid, spending most of my spare time in libraries and clutching books to my chest. I would take stacks and stacks of whatever I could find home - but this is one of those series that never quite left me. I feel like these definitely shaped me, in both my personality and vocabulary in my tween years. I decided to pick up the audio now, over a decade after my first read of them, just to see if they still held the same charm for me. And I'm happy to say, they really, really hold up.
One of the criticisms I see a lot of these books is that a lot of the language is too vague, or purposefully bizarre, but I really find a lot of charm in that. The way Handler (Snicket, in this case) chose to navigate a world that is both incredibly similar to our own but add spins that make it seem otherworldly has just concreted these books as classics, unable to quite feel dated when they're almost twenty years old. Of course, some of the content does date them, with the inclusion of character descriptions that border on transphobic, fatphobic, or otherwise - I still find it hard to fault The Bad Beginning specifically because so many of it's characters are caricatures of humans, themselves, and show both the worst and best parts of humanity.
Even as an adult the nausea holds up from the plot, Violet and the rest of her siblings go through horrific things in this novel and the author doesn't shy away from them. What's refreshing is, they're also addressed as being bad without boiling each instance down to a palatable lesson. Sometimes bad things happen because of bad people, sometimes bad things just happen, and it's almost comforting to know that a lot is just out of the character's control. I also think, particularly, this one has an iron-clad plot steeped in a lot of loopholes and twists that set up payoff for the next twelve books.
Honestly, if you were a fan as a child like I was, I would really consider picking up the audio to revisit these! Tim Curry does an incredible job as the narrator while they have children voicing the Baudelaires and various other actors for the other adults. It was a great audio to listen to and a short one!
Content warnings: child abuse (present throughout, no one treats these kids well), death of a parent (mentioned, not seen), grief, emotional and physical abuse (Olaf gaslights them, the other adults are stupid), fire (the parents die in a house fire off page), adult/minor relationship (the end plot hinges on Olaf's disgusting plan, though no romance happens)
One stormy day the Baudelaire children's' lives change in an instant. When they're approached by a family friend, Mr. Poe, and told their parents have perished (which here, means died) in a house fire, the children have no idea what their future holds. For Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, they hope it means a kind relative to take them in, help them with their grief, and give them a loving home - the reality is so much worse than you, or I, could imagine.
I remember reading this series when I was just a kid, spending most of my spare time in libraries and clutching books to my chest. I would take stacks and stacks of whatever I could find home - but this is one of those series that never quite left me. I feel like these definitely shaped me, in both my personality and vocabulary in my tween years. I decided to pick up the audio now, over a decade after my first read of them, just to see if they still held the same charm for me. And I'm happy to say, they really, really hold up.
One of the criticisms I see a lot of these books is that a lot of the language is too vague, or purposefully bizarre, but I really find a lot of charm in that. The way Handler (Snicket, in this case) chose to navigate a world that is both incredibly similar to our own but add spins that make it seem otherworldly has just concreted these books as classics, unable to quite feel dated when they're almost twenty years old. Of course, some of the content does date them, with the inclusion of character descriptions that border on transphobic, fatphobic, or otherwise - I still find it hard to fault The Bad Beginning specifically because so many of it's characters are caricatures of humans, themselves, and show both the worst and best parts of humanity.
Even as an adult the nausea holds up from the plot, Violet and the rest of her siblings go through horrific things in this novel and the author doesn't shy away from them. What's refreshing is, they're also addressed as being bad without boiling each instance down to a palatable lesson. Sometimes bad things happen because of bad people, sometimes bad things just happen, and it's almost comforting to know that a lot is just out of the character's control. I also think, particularly, this one has an iron-clad plot steeped in a lot of loopholes and twists that set up payoff for the next twelve books.
Honestly, if you were a fan as a child like I was, I would really consider picking up the audio to revisit these! Tim Curry does an incredible job as the narrator while they have children voicing the Baudelaires and various other actors for the other adults. It was a great audio to listen to and a short one!
Content warnings: child abuse (present throughout, no one treats these kids well), death of a parent (mentioned, not seen), grief, emotional and physical abuse (Olaf gaslights them, the other adults are stupid), fire (the parents die in a house fire off page), adult/minor relationship (the end plot hinges on Olaf's disgusting plan, though no romance happens)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
joisaddler's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence