This review can also be found at Goodreads.

Finally we have come to the end of the woeful tale that is the Baudelaire orphans. I feel you'll either really like this book or you won't, as to some it might feel like you don't really get an ending you want. To me there only could have been two endings, a middle ground where things are okay enough for them but they've survived it all or things went dramatically south. There could never have been a happily ever after where these children are concerned, they've been through too much and faced some pretty crappy odds, I could never be satisfied with this book ending with everything being perfect just because it's a children's book. It wouldn't fit these stories and it would be a real slap in the face to young readers.

Again Snicket never dumbs things down just because it's aimed at young readers, this series teaches a lot of things to children and most importantly sometimes you have to do something against your morals for the greater good.

In this final book the orphans find themselves on an island far from VFD and villains and with people who aren't willing to put up with Olaf, which is rather amusing. Could the children finally have found a safe haven?? Could they have found somewhere where VFD and the treachery of the world can't reach them??

Although not as fun as the first few and the repetitive style, the 13th book still can't help but get you invested and continue the need answers, and this is where this series is such a winner. It keeps you going book after book. Still the one thing I feel was missing was the time frame this all took place, I know it's all happening very quick but for me I would have liked it. This series goes to show that childrens books aren't just for children.

Happy reading.

xx

 This review can also be found at: Blogger & Goodreads.

We open with Baudelaire fleeing from an angry mob wanting to burn them at the stake, life for the orphans will never be smooth sailing. With nowhere safe to turn they head to a hospital after another encounter with the letters V.F.D.

After being assigned work in the Library of Records there's a chance luck could be on their side, especially when co-worker Hal says he recognises them, and not from the lies printed about them in the newspaper but from the many documents he sorts and files. At last it looks like they may finally get some answers, their biggest problem, Hal has the keys and their not allowed to read the documents they sort. Not to mention complicated filing system.

As Violet, Klaus and Sunny pursue their quest for answers they have to grow up fast, and part of that is doing some things they don't want to. In order to get some answers they'll have to steal Hal's keys and steal the file their after, but with Count Olaf hot on their heels a race to find the missing file.

Much to my enjoyment there was more to the story than them searching for the file, the hospitals new head of human resources, Matthias, is planning a spectacular surgery that everyone will want to witness. A lobotomy.

Happy reading.

It takes a village to raise a child, or three. With this motto in mind the village of VFD is the newest home to the Baudelaire orphans, a home filled with bizarre, not to mention ridiculous, rules and a counsel of elders who all wear crow hats. The town of VFD is home to nesting crows and their devotes, none of which actually want to raise the children. So the orphans are placed into the care of Hector the handyman, although useless when it comes to helping when it comes to the counsel he does care for the children and is even willing to look after Isadora and Duncan Quagmire if they find them. Hector is willing to spend any free time he and the children have to locating the kidnapped triplets.

Picking the town seemed like the fairly obvious choice to the Baudelaires as they still don't know what VFD means, for them it's a risk. It could answer so many questions but could also lead them straight into danger. Although the town turns out not to be as they had hoped soon poetic clues turn up and they can only be from one person.

This book once again follows the hunt for the Quagmires and the Baudelaires poor lives living with a new guardian. We are now at the half way point in the series and Snicket has been dropping more clues in regards to the bigger picture and the conspiracy that has led the Baudelaires down this journey. As always there are more questions that need to be answered, who's Beatrice?? What happened to her, what stopped her and Snicket from being together.

And most importantly, who is Jacques Snicket and why does he have that tattoo?? 

Happy reading.

xx

Once again the life of the Baudelaire orphans is put in danger. 667 Dark Avenue is their new home, Esme Squalor, the city's sixth most important financial advisor don't you know, and her husband Jerome are their new guardians. Living in the penthouse apartment that seems to defy the laws of any rational architect, a 71 bedroom apartment, the Baudelaires seem to have found themselves in a decent home.

Esme is all about what is in and what is out, the only reason the children didn't end up with the couple who knew their parents was due to the fact that orphans were out and now their in. Jerome seems genuinely happy to take the three of them in, of course like any adults in this series they all have faults. In Esmes case she is utterly self absorbed and only cares about being the most fashionable, whilst Jerome on the other hand doesn't really care, anything for an easy life. But although he is kind natured he has his own traits that make him just as useless as any other adult. He hates to argue. Which means Esme always gets her way, even if it means going to restaurants that serve food he doesn't like, climbing the stairs to the penthouse because elevators are out or when Olaf makes his inevitable return.

For me what has made this series so far enjoyable is that Olaf doesn't have to be there all the time. Plus with the addition of the Quagmire triplets the story has shifted focus onto helping Duncan and Isadora, for me this is best move Snicket could make. These books have the potential to get boring real quick but he's given the reader something new to read, whilst Olaf and his money grabbing plans are still the main plot there is a new driving force behind the series which means it isn't the same old story: orphans get relocated and Olaf follows. The same story over and over.

The change in direction with this book came at the right time, there is only so many times you can keep having the same plot. We've hit the turning point in the books and the real truth is beginning to emerge.

Happy reading.

xx