Title: The Wide Window [A Series of Unfortunate Events 3]
Author: Lemony Snicket
]Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery
Length: 183
Rating: 4 Star
Series Review: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13
Description/Synopsis:
Dear Reader,
If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all.If you haven’t got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair.I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Though I liked this one I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first two.
In this book the orphans travel to their Aunt Josephine’s house which is atop a hill off the edge of the cliff over the lake. The setting of this book was quite exciting. It was interesting to get a story based around a lake that is filled with leeches that eat you all up if they even sniff a crumb on you. They will even sink a boat to get to you, which is a hardship the children must survive thanks to Josephine. It was all very exciting really.
However, Aunt Josephine is the very reason why I didn’t like this book quite as much. I want at least one side character to like other than the children. Aunt Josephine is such a horrible person. She is terrified of just about everything and will not do or let the children do a great many things that would make life easier or just plain comfortable because she is terrified about something horrible happening. For example, she is afraid to cook hot food despite how cold the house is because the stove might burst into flames. While all this could be forgiven, she does look after the children despite the stupid challenges she invents. She also actually teaches them things like grammar cause she thinks it the most important thing ever. None of this though makes up for what she does at the end of the book so if you have not read this book skip the next paragraph.
Her fear of Count Olaf, which is understandable I suppose since he tried to get her to kill herself, makes her offer the children over to him even though she knows he will make them suffer for their money, in exchange for her own life. I was so mad. A part of me was happy she got eaten by the leaches because she created all the issues herself. I did feel bad for the orphans when that happened though because someone else that was suppose to love and look after them had died and this time they had to watch it.
I don’t really know what else to say because the overall structure of the stories seems to be the same. Find new home, some bad but not so bad things, Count Olaf appears in a new outfit and tricks everyone because he has shoes on, some bad things happen, children solve issues, Count Olaf is discovered and disappears again, children move into the next home and book.
I continue on reading for I want more substance and I hope that I shall get more the more I read/listen.
Till Next Time…
