The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket

(NB: This is a review of the original book, not the film-tie in, as illustrated from the product description/image.) This book is about the woes of The Baudelaire children, who at the start of the book, are orphaned by the loss of their parents in a fire, and their efforts to escape the clutches of Count Olaf. Olaf has to be one of the vilest villains I have ever had the disgust to come across in a children's book. His dastardly scheme is to become their guardian and then kill them...as he knows that they have a huge inheritance...and if they were to 'tragically' get disposed of...then the fortune would become his. But obviously, the story isn't as ...

Violet, Klaus and their baby sister, Sunny Baudelaire are three very unlucky, very sad children. Their beloved parents have recently perished in a fire at their home. Not only have they lost their mother and father, but they have also lost all their possessions. The only things left to them are the clothes they stand up in. Mr Poe, the asthmatic, bronchial executor of their parents' will tracks down a relative with whom they must live. Count Olaf is not a nice man. Tall, thin, gaunt and distinctly suspicious, he does not treat the Baudelaire orphans well. They share a room with one bed, their clothes are ...

Mr Lemony Snicket deserves several awards. Firstly, and most obviously, The Award for the Most Unusual and Very Possibly Made Up Name in Literature. Secondly; The Award for the Most Sarcastic, Dry Wit in Children's Literature. And thirdly; The Award for the Ability to Tell a Riveting Adventure Story. Mr Snicket, or Lemony as I shall more familiarly call him in this review, is very honest, some might say painfully honest with his reader. The title for this review is a quote from the back cover of the first book in the 'Series of Unfortunate Events' collection of stories. He informs the reader that there will be no happy ending, and that you may like ...