Book Review: Lemony Snicket's The Series of Unfortunate Events Book 1: The Bad Beginning

"Dear Reader,
I am sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,Lemony Snicket"

Hardbound Book 1
Photo Courtesy of LemonySnicket.com

I first saw this in a 3books-in-1movie "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events".

After watching, I was curious about the elaborated details of each scenes so I decided to find a book. And I'm sorry to say, all of the bookstore I searched and find all of the books we're OOS!

But it's ok, since the book is too slim for a fat price! Thank goodness for the audiobook edition! I love the british accent of the narrator, Tim Curry. The music gave me LSS too. The book was superbly narrated and dramatize the dark humor, the creepy Count Olaf and even the cough of Mr. Poe makes me laugh! 

The plot is very engaging it will drawn you closer to the Baudelaires orphans as they strive to survive the wake of their parent's death in a mysterious fire and at the same time strive to escape the watching eye of Count Olaf! you wanna finish the entire series in just one sitting! The writer's style is very descriptive and even the images on the book beautifully detailed.

If your looking for a smart book with characters that are just-in-the-nick-of-time problem solver, the entire series is perfect! The main characters were the three Bauldelaires. The youngest and the infant, Sunny who loves to bite things and have shrieks and baby gurgles only her siblings can understand and translate. Klaus, the middle child, the only boy, who is a brainy bookworm that helps in answering and defining things that'll surely help them out escape the peril. And last but not the least, Violet, the eldest, the mechanic and inventor.

Let's start off with Book 1: The Bad Beginning

Soft bound Book 1
Photo Courtesy of LemonySnicket.com 

The Bad Beginning is the first of thirteen books in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events that narrates a fictional story about the start of all the tragedies in the lives of the three Baudelaire children. The mysterious fire that killed both their parents and leave them as orphans.

The Baudelaire were in the seashore when they receive the awful news from the coughing Mr. Poe, who is a banker in charge of their enormous fortune their parents leave them when they'd die on a fire that burned down their house. The will stated that the guardian must be a close relative and should be near or inside the city where they live. Hence Mr. Poe searched and found the nearest relative and sent them off to live with him, Count Olaf who in fact the children never heard or seen before.

The instant they entered the ugly smelly house they knew that the count is a terrible person! He is even   forward to the children on his pursuits on their money. Together with his theatre troupe, weird looking beings that includes the hook-handed man, neither a man nor a woman, two white-faced women and others, Count Olaf they plot an evil schemes to get the fortune for themselves!

Scream and Run Away - The Gothic Archies

Overall:

After reading the first book, my questions wasn't answered yet. How did the Baudelaire mansion got burned? Is it just an unfortunate event? An Accident? Or was Count Olaf behind it? These question made me wanna read more! It has a lot of twist and can be very misleading, which in turn makes it more fun to read, exciting and thrilling!

The book states the fact that people can get very greedy and envious on other's fortunes and blessings and is ready to do anything just to take them away.

This book is quite a bit hard for kids, so I personally recommend this for teenagers due to some mature contents and sophisticated enough for adult readers as well.