“If you have ever peeled an onion, then you know that the first thin, papery layer reveals another thin, papery layer, and that layer reveals another, and another, and before you know it you have hundreds of layers all over the kitchen table and thousands of tears in your eyes, sorry that you ever started peeling in the first place and wishing that you had left the onion alone to wither away on the shelf of the pantry while you went on with your life, even if that meant never again enjoying the complicated and overwhelming taste of this strange and bitter vegetable.”

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

It is very fitting that the first sentence of the last book(s) in the series be complex, confusing, and satisfying all at the same time, since that is how the book develops, as well.  The book follows Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire as circumstances grow more and more dismal as the Count Olaf has now removed them from their last chance at safety.  A storm lands the Baudelaires on a small island with an unquestioned leader, Ishmael, and a small group of devoted followers.  While the islanders follow Ishmael unconditionally, they seem to be the only adults to not fall for Olaf’s schemes or innocence act; the islanders also seem to know more about the Baudelaires than the children know about themselves.  The orphans do not follow along with all of Ishmael’s “suggestions,” and are exiled from the islander’s lives.  Violet, Klaus, and Sunny soon discover that this island may hold the key to their family history (and secrets), if they can only survive against Olaf, a mutiny, heartless adults, and a deadly outbreak.

The final book in the series is quick-paced and packed with conflict for the Baudelaires.  Just as things take a turn for the good, the (evil) actions of others force the orphans to take a step backwards; however, the children never allow themselves to stop doing what is right, even if it means sacrificing their own happiness.  Snicket brings the series to a mostly satisfying conclusion in both the end of The End and the epilogue “book” that carries the Baudelaires off into the mystery that is the end of a series.  (If you are curious for more information about the fate of the Baudelaire family, I would recommend reading Snicket’s book, The Beatrice Letters.)  The book holds a satisfying conclusion for readers that have followed the Series of Unfortunate Events from the beginning to end.