A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Tenth

Much to their own surprise (and to that of us readers), the Baudelaire Orphans continue to survive their miserable Series of Unfortunate Events even into this, their tenth and most dangerous book yet. What misery and despair they hadn’t yet experienced at the hands of wicked Count Olaf comes crashing in hard, even from the outset of this story, and the suspense continues to build.

Little Sunny has been kidnaped by Olaf and his Troupe, while the elder Baudelaires have been cut loose from the speeding getaway car and left to careen off the Mortmain Mountains to their miserable deaths. The game is certainly afoot in this book, a phrase which here means not that the game has literally become a foot, but rather that it has begun in earnest (I couldn’t resist).

If the previous two books (The Hostile Hospital and The Carnivorous Carnival) had veered the series-wide plot into a new, more sinister direction, then this book has helped it to pick up some speed. In this tale, we learn many of the secrets of V.F.D., we meet the survivor of the fire, and we learn a touch more about Olaf’s upbringing that humanizes him just a touch. After all, if even he is afraid of someone more powerful than he, then we can find some hope in the wicked character’s weakness. He may not be “redeemable” in the literary sense of the word, but he might be at least something more than “pure evil.”

My favorite part of this book is that Sunny has begun to grow up a bit, after all these months of misery. She at times continues to speak her own language, but at others, she’s also quite candid and coherent. She’s been our favorite character from the outset anyways—in fact, we recently bought an orange-tabby cat and have named him “Sunny Baudelaire”!!—but this installment makes us love her all the more.

My second-favorite part is the introduction of these two characters, the bosses or mentors of Count Olaf: “The man with a beard and no hair, and the woman with hair but no beard.” Cleverer names in a book, I don’t think I’ve ever read. Beautiful.

We are nearing the end of this series by Lemony Snicket, and this particular book has really upped the ante for us. It continues to get a bit stronger and darker in content that I would expect in a book for my 8- and 10-year-old kids, but they are as into the books as I am. In that I’m reading it with them, I’m not really concerned about any untoward things cropping up unawares. We’ve had some good conversations sparked from scenes in these books, and I’m glad we can enjoy them together.

©2021 E.T.

Read More in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket:

1. A Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (1999)
2. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (1999)
3. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket (2000)
4. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket (2000)
5. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket (2000)
6. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket (2001)
7. The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket (2001)
8. The Hostile Hotel by Lemony Snicket (2001)
9. The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket (2002)
10. The Slipper Slope by Lemony Snicket (2003)
11. The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket (2004)
12. The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket (2005)
13. The End by Lemony Snicket (2006)