Bad beginning was fantastic - Rated 
In this short book alone, the three youngsters, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire, encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, and a disastrous fire. Also they come across a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast. CAUTION! This book is full of bad luck and miseries so if you can not stand that then don't read this book. This book is only for the really brave 9 - 13 year olds who are very bold. If this description does not sound anything like you then do not read this book all about misfortune and not a drop of joy.
Gripping, grim and tragic story, yet sooooo good! - Rated 
this book is the first in a series of unfortunate events, written by suspicous author Lemony Snicket. Be warned that it is a tragic tale of despair and unfortunate events, it contains puttensca sauce, a tatto of an eye, itchy clothing, a grappling hook and fire.
But it's a brilliant read and will draw you into the next book in the series. Quite short, easy to read books, good for able 9 year olds and up, boys and girls. Great present, you'll love it! Lemony also defines hard and trick words which is helpeful.
Great for girls too - Rated
My 8 year old spent the whole of half term reading this and her sister , 6, enjoyed listening to the story. I can't believe the adults who are complaining it is too short - this is a childs book and it is quite long enough for an 8 year old. I have been begged to get further books and that is the aim of childrens books, to encourage them to read. I would say my daughter is not a natural reader and this is the first book she has ever asked me to buy further episodes off.
The defining of 'difficult' words is fantastic. I think childs volcabulary has expanded by 100 words at least, just from this one book.
I was more scared of the plot than the children!
Not exactly a fairy tale... - Rated
The Lemony Snicket books are very popular among the boys in my Year 4 class, largely because they turn the predictable, good-characters-live-happily-ever-after, bad-character-gets-his-comeuppance type story on its head. This, the first in the series, starts as it means to go on as the three main characters - siblings Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire - lose their home and their parents in a big fire before being packed off to live with their closest relative, Count Olaf. But Count Olaf just happens to be a greedy, conniving and generally rather unpleasant character who tries every which way to get his hands on the children's inherited fortune.
The Lemony Snicket books are aimed at readers aged between 8 and 14; they are easy enough to read and - if you're prepared to heed the author's warning on the first page - enjoyable too, being, as they are, darkly comic and just the right side of "mildly disturbing".
Matt Pucci
I felt cheated - Rated 
It's clear from the other reviews I've seen that this book appeals to children, but as an adult I found it frightening and disturbing - the idea of three children being left under the total control of an abusive adult. On the other hand, unlike many of the other reviewers, I wasn't bothered by the author's trick of defining words, which I found witty and well done.
But what really annoyed me was the way the book finished. I expect a book to be brought to a proper close, so that you feel satisfied at the end, even if a thread is left dangling to entice you on to the next one in the series. Each of the Harry Potter books, for instance, is a complete read in itself, particularly the earlier ones. This book was very short, and there was no sense of the story being complete. In fact, if you want to know what happens next you have no choice but to buy the next book in the series. That's fair enough if the book is 600 pages long, but this is a very short book which I read in less than an hour. It was as if the author had just dropped you in the middle of the story, like Scheherazade. I felt cheated, and I'm certainly not planning to buy any of the other books in the series.
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