The Bad Beginning #1 (Series of Unfortunate Events) by Lemony Snicket

Once upon a time, Violet (14), Klaus (12) and Sunny (2-3?) Baudelaire lived with their mother and father in an enormous mansion with an enormous library. However, this being a bad beginning, there follows a series of unfortunate events that changes their happy lives for the worse. The bad things start when the Baudelaire siblings learn that their mother and father have perished in a fire that also burnt their enormous mansion down to the ground. Things get even worse when the executor of their parents estate finds a distant relative - Count Olaf - to take care of them until Violet is old enough to inherit the family fortune. The Baudelaire orphans are soon very unlucky indeed.

I enjoyed reading this a lot. The author has a wicked way with words that is both suitable for younger readers and amusing for we older readers. He also taps into the fear of young children that something might happen to their parents, whom they depend on for everything at that age. This aspect reminded me of the Grimm fairy tales that I used to find upsetting rather than entertaining as a child, and Snicket has some great pantomime baddies. The Baudelaire children are strong and resourceful though, and they understand that reading will give them knowledge (yay!), and that not all adults necessarily know more than them, which is a scary thing to realise when you're wee.

The worst thing about this book was that it was over far too quickly and I haven't yet bought any of the others. It was gone in one sitting, which is good of course, but also bad. I want to know who Beatrice is, and I want to know what happens next. More!