“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”

From Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning.

There is nothing so attractive to children as to be told that they cannot or should not do something, and Mr. Snicket uses that same principle to set his series off to a enticing start. Upon deciding to read past the first sentence, the reader is introduced to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire who are children of a wealthy family that is rocked by tragedy quickly after the story starts; the children’s parents (and home) have been wiped out by a mysterious fire and the three siblings are now alone in the world. The children are packed up and sent to live with their new guardian: Count Olaf. Count Olaf is mysterious, mean, and an all around not nice guy, but the Baudelaire children have no legal reason to be placed in another home. The children soon realize that Olaf is only interested in them in order to get his nasty hands on the Baudelaire fortune… and he’s not afraid to commit a few (three, to be specific) murders to get it. It will take all three children working together relying on their strengths if they will have any chance of outwitting their evil guardian.

The blatant honesty with which Lemony Snicket (author Daniel Handler’s pen name) is captivating, puzzling, and off-putting all at the same time. Part of the challenge of the book is figuring out if Snicket wants you to read the book or really just put the depressing book down and walk away. The story is often put on pause so that Snicket, the narrator, can explain a word or create a page-long diversion from the book’s stressful moments. All-in-all the book is a quick, interesting read that carries the reader easily through the entire series. Each sibling is unique with different strengths and weaknesses that make it necessary for the siblings to rely on each other; these character differences also allow a variety of attitudes to be developed for the reader. Snicket also does very well in creating a villain that is undeniably evil without being too terrifying for young readers. Each character in The Bad Beginning holds a captivating read for readers of all ages; each page holds twists and turns that push the story forward to the last page.