[3.5] this isn't one of my favourites in the series, mainly because the plot is so formualic by now, and as a reader, you're well acquainted with the characters and how they're going to react to others, or other events in the book. that said, i do feel like the series shifts slightly at this point, with the introduction of the quagmire triplets (the first time the baudelaires have more children helping them!!), and the first mention of v.f.d (so excting on a reread!!), which really launches the bigger mystery of the whole series into action. reread will be continuing!! ( )

Continues the wretched adventures of the charming Baudelaires at boarding school. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny face strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, a girl named Carmelita Spats, smelly sneakers, and the metric system.

Upon reread, this is now my favorite in the series.

ASOUE 2024 Ranking:
1. The Austere Academy
2. The Wide Window
3. The Bad Beginning
4. The Reptile Room
5. The Miserable Mill ( )

2

4/5

For the fifth book in the series, this was an interesting one. It changed the formula, even if slightly, in a way that sorta threw me, and the main characters, off to what would happen. And, just to point it out, my opinions about the characters and the world are still kept in this one.

The setting this time is a boarding school, but as the Baudelaire orphans' luck would dictate, it's a really unpleasant one. Absent teachers, a narcissistic vice-principal, awful students and a horrible shack for a home, all make this one a very unpleasant place for the main characters to live for a couple of weeks. I suspect the school setting might make it more relatable to kids that were reading the series, even if I'm far too old to identify myself with that.

The things that made me most excited in this story are not ones that I can talk about without a healthy dose of spoilers. For starters, the fact that Olaf's plan this time is painfully simple: that's very nice for the simple reason that it could perfectly work in the right conditions. Just to make the children so tired that they'll fail all subjects and be expelled. And, for the most interesting part, now the series seems to start developing into something more. The Baudelaire's only friends so far are kidnapped by Olaf and we're left with both the promise that we'll see them again and that they discovered an important part of a bigger mystery in the plot. I'm very interested in seeing what will happen.

In the end, this is a somewhat formulaic entry in the series, but a fun one nonetheless. Since it's a quite short book, it's probably a 3-4 day read even for slow-readers. ( )