Vile Village (Series of Unfortunate Events #7)

Unfortunately, this is one of my least favorite books in the series. Not because it is poorly written, or has plot holes, but because the Vile Village is the novel the changes the Baudelaire children's lives so drastically that I actually starting crying in the waiting room of the CPR clinic I was attending. 

The Vile Village by lemony Snicket is the seventh novel in a Series of Unfortunate Events, and begins with Violet, Klaus and Sunny sitting in Mr. Poe's office while he tries to find them a new guardian. On his desk is a pamphlet about a town who believes in the philosophy "it takes a village to raise a child" and Mr. Poe decides to send the children there after numerous calls to potential gaurdians fails. At first the Baudelaires think that it might be perfect, the village had the initials VFD, and they hope that this town might be what the Quagmires were trying to tell them about. 

Of course, it's never that simple for the Baudelaire orphans, as VFD actually stands for "Village of Fowl Devotees" and the residents have adopted the children solely to do all of their chores for them. Everything from makings ice cream sundaes and cleaning the windows, to trimming hedges and cleaning the ugly crow statue the town just had installed. The only bright spot is that the town, not wanted to be bothered feeding, educating or clothing the children, moved them into Hector’s house on the outskirts of town. Hector was a quiet man, but he liked to tinker and read. In fact, he had a warehouse full of books and mechanical devices that the town had outlawed with their thousands of insane laws.

Hector listens to the children and their concerns about Count Olaf and the Quagmires, and instead of brushing it aside believes them. Hector has been building a self sustaining flying mobile home and promises the Baudelaires that when it is finished they can all fly away together and rescue the Quagmire triplets.

Of course, who should show up in the Village of Fowl Devotees, but Count Olaf and his new girlfriend Esme Squalor pretending to be a detective and chief of police. They immediately arrest the children for a murder that they themselves have committed, and the village decides to burn Violet, Klaus and Sunny at the stake (one of the insane rules).

While in jail Violet and Klaus manage to not only break out, they are smart children after all, but realize that if Count Olaf is in town so are the Quagmires. After escaping from jail the Baudelaires look around the town and come to the conclusion that the crow statue installed just before their arrival must house their friends. Indeed, when the three smash it to pieces Duncan and Isadora are inside. The five friends embrace and run for Hector’s house, who has finally finished the airborne mobile home. Unfortunately, the Baudelaire’s bad luck prevents them from ever reaching it. Duncan and Isadora manage to climb aboard, but Esme stops the Baudelaire orphans from reaching their destination.

Still accused of murder, the Baudelaire children have no choice but to run, and keep running. This is why this book makes me so sad. The Quagmires are safe, but in all probability the friends will never get to see each other again. And while very few of the guardians the Baudelaires had were good ones, at least they had a place to rest their heads and food in their stomachs. Now, they are truly alone. No guardian, no Mr. Poe, just them trying to outrun Count Olaf.

The Miserable Mill (Series of Unfortunate Events #4)

While Count Olaf has many associates from his original acting troop who help him in his attempts to steal the Baudelaire fortune, The Miserable Mill is the first book where someone from outside joins the attempts. Dr. Orwell is an optometrist who lives in Paltryville, the city where our story takes place and she plays a huge role in this novel.

The Miserable Mill, by Lemony Snicket, starts off with the Baudelaire children being adopted by Sir who runs the Lucky Mills Lumber Company. Instead of providing a warm and nurturing home, he forces the three children to work the dangerous lumber machines, share a bunk in a dormitory with fellow workers, get paid in coupons, and have a lunch of a mere stick of gum. Even Sir’s partner Charles, who is treated like an assistant rather than an equal, thinks that the children shouldn’t be working. Charles tries to sneak them extra food and show them the library, but as he won’t stand up to Sir, it does little to help the situation.

While working at the Mill, one of Count Olaf’s associates trips Klaus and breaks Klaus’ glasses. To get them fixed, Klaus is sent to the only optometrist in the area, the aforementioned Dr. Orwell. After his appointment, Klaus returns confused and doesn’t seem to hear and understand what Violet and Sunny say to him. As it turns out, Dr. Orwell is a hypnotist and has hypnotized Klaus to cause accidents and hurt people around the mill. When Violet and Sunny go to confront the doctor about what is happening they discover Count Olaf in her office, and the villains laugh at the orphan’s pitiful attempts to stop them from stealing the fortune and their lives.

Luckily, and that is not a word often used to describe the Baudelaire children since that dreadful day at Briney Beach, they are able to outwit the evil adults (with no help from Charles, Sir or Mr. Poe). Violet, not usually a researcher, reads books on eyes and hypnosis to break the hold on her brother, Klaus helps to build an invention that stops the lumber machine from killing anyone, and Sunny uses her sharp teeth to protect her siblings from being stabs by Dr. Orwell.

Unfortunately, Sir blames the entire incident on the children, and sends them off to a boarding school until Mr. Poe can find another guardian to care for them. This book start to reveal that the evilness of Count Olaf and his associates is much more far-reaching than the children thought. Dr. Orwell was willing to hurt the children and listen to Count Olaf even though she wasn’t in his acting troop. The novel sets up that the children need to be wary of people they haven’t met as Count Olaf might know them from somewhere else and be working together.

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.