Bad Beginnings (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

A series of unfortunate events has been one of my favorite series since I was in middle school. I still remember having to wait months between books, and talking with my friends about what I thought the "note to the editor" at the end of each book meant for the Baudelaire children. This summer while taking the Never Ending Book Quiz on GoodReads I can across a question about Count Olaf. It made me nostalgic for the series and I decided to reread all thirteen of them. Since they are short books, at least they start out that way, I will reread the series within two weeks. That means one review a day for nearly two weeks. 

The Bad Beginning starts the tale of the Baudelaire Children and their unfortunate lives. While at the beach, Violet, Klaus, and sunny are told that their parents have died in a fire and are being sent to live with their closest relatives. Here starts the ineptitude of adults in this series. Rather than interpreting the parents last wishes as family the children knew well, Mr. Poe send them to Count Olaf, who happens to be the relative in the nearest zip code. 

Olaf is a horrible man who hardly feeds the children, forces them to share one small bed, and is only after the fortune the Baudelaire parents left their three children.  The only thing standing in Olaf's way is that Violet isn't 18 and can't touch the money, even as her guardian he can't get near it. So Olaf hatches a plan, to wed the fourteen year old, giving him the legal right to all of her money. The three try to find away out of the marriage, but Olaf's friends kidnap Sunny, the youngest and threaten to kill the baby if Violet and Klaus don't agree to the plan. 

All seemed hopeless, adults wouldn't believe them, and with their sister's life hanging in the balance Klaus had nearly given up. Luckily, the two oldest Baudelaire children are smart, and find a way to get Count Olaf to admit his plan before he actually marries Violet. 

Just as the author says that he wishes the story ended there, that the children are giving to a loving relative, it would make for a boring series. Olaf and his friends elude police capture, promising to come after the children's fortune and kill them. 

I love this series so much, and am excited to continue reading it. I love the style the author uses. It's as if he's an investigative journalist following their story. He makes the reader laugh, even when the Baudelaire's situation looks bleak and impossible.  It's great for younger audiences wanting to expand their vocabulary in new and fun ways. I would recommend this book series to people who enjoy novels like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Spiderwick Chronicles, the Golden Compass, and Anything on a Waffle.