the book series I almost couldn’t finish
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- A reading vlog that’s going to be very….unfortunate
I gave up on reading this series at least four times while reading but I finally finished 🫡 and it was worth it despite the emotional damage!
Have you read this series? Did you actually enjoy it?? Let me know!
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Here are the titles I recommended in the video:
📚Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
📚The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin
📚A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
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Timestamps
background on the book: 00:00
initial thoughts: 1:55
mid series thoughts: 5:07
I don’t think I can finish this: 9:40
why this series is so great: 12:09 
Развлечения
you being jewish is a bigger plot twist than most of the ones in the series you discuss
Jews come in all ethnicities :)
For me it’s the lovely freckles on the thumbnail☺️
That genuinely took me off guard.
I was amazed by the books when I cried when Count Olaf died. A man who did horrible things for 12 past books, and still you feel sorry for him is amazing story writing.
You just unlocked a memory for me, I just remembered I cried when he died as well. I completely agree with your point 💜
The main thing that kept me reading these books was that the kids never gave in to despair. Terrible things keep happening to them but they keep going because they refuse to believe that terrible things are all that happen in the world.The last book gave a kind of closer that the world is a dark place but darkness isn’t everything there is.
Yeah this series I always felt was hopeful
I remember being so mad at the way the series ended. I was terribly upset by it. But my younger brother explained to me why he loved the ending and it made me appreciate the series and the ending. My baby brother told me that in life, we don't always get the answers to the questions we have and that's okay. We can still choose to be happy with what we've got. Just because we don't have all the answers doesn't mean we can't have closer and try to be happy.
There is no darkness without light and no light without darkness
As someone who's childhood was neither whimsical nor happy, I appreciated this series so much for representing children dealing with loss and adult neglect/incompetence without losing hope.
Same
One other thing I love about these books is how they reflect a lot of frustrations and experiences children deal with in a more extreme light. Whenever the adults in power in these books dismiss the children’s ideas just because they come from a child Count Olaf gets away, someone dies, or some other terrible but preventable thing happens because the siblings aren’t given any agency in their own lives and situations. A lot of the time when you’re a child you often feel like you get talked down to or taken seriously because of your age, and it can often be very frustrating. I think it’s really neat to have a book series reflect this, while also allowing children to appreciate that it’s just them moving house and not an evil actor trying to steal their fortune.
When Handler was at his peak of popularity he came to my local Barnes and Noble. This event catapulted him from an author I liked into a performer I loved. Because even his author signings were in universe. He appeared as Snicket’s “publicist” Daniel Handler, he spoke of Snicket himself still being on the run and unable to come, he did an accordion musical number about Count Olaf as if he was a real person, and if you brought the Unauthorized Autobiography to be signed like I did he signed it as Daniel Handler in the introduction but also as Lemony Snicket on the title page. He signed only Snicket if you brought a book of the main series. You only got Handler’s autograph if you brought Unauthorized Autobiography.
He was *dedicated* to the bit more than any author I’ve ever seen. By far the greatest book signing I have been to and likely will ever attend.
Thank you for being the cool Book friend we all need ❤
thanks so much for watching! 🥹
Couldn't agree more 👏
@@magicbymikailaI read that series and almost completely agree with you,it does make me wanna put it down,but uh-I loved it.edit:I loved the tv series even more.because uh-it incorporated Beatrice so wonderfully
I read the books as they came out when I was younger and loved them. I've read them 3-4 times since. I'm in my 30s now, and I still enjoy them. I enjoy the satire, and as I've aged, I've come to love the very non-Disney angle of the storytelling and the commentary on childrens' insightfulness and adults' tendency to overlook that proficiency.
I probably shouldn’t have read this as young as I did
same tbh
Fr
Same
Agreeable
I'll never get over the darkest death in the books: that hypnotist tripping backwards into a freaking running log saw. The books were freaking metal for doing that.
I read this at 9 years old, and I loved it. It felt like a series of mysteries novel, where every book the Baudelaire's who have to solve the crime in order to escape Count Olaf. And Daniel Handler might have been on to something when he choose an adult narrator in order for kids not to internalize things because thinking back on it, I do have a layer of detachment I probably wouldn't have if I went and dusted out the books to read them now.
Loved hearing your perspective reading it as a kid, thanks for sharing!!
I tried reading this series in middle school but I couldn't even finish the first book because it was too depressing. But then a few years ago I tried reading it again and absolutely fell in love with it. Lemony Snicket is such a clever writer
I think I definitely appreciated the prose and cleverness of the storytelling more as an adult than I would have if I read it as a kid! It’s just a unique narration, I loved it so much 👏🏼
@@magicbymikaila I died on the third book
I watched the Netflix show and when season 2 ended with them losing Sunny and falling off a cliff I immediately went and read the books and I was really impressed that it was almost a 1:1 adaptation. One of my curiousities was about the VFD and the sugar bowl and unfortunately that remained unanswered so I read his other series called "All the Wrong Questions" and everything remained a mystery. Even the monster in the ocean.
Every time I pick up a lemony snicket book I think it might answer some questions but it always leaves me with more
When I was like, 8 or 9 in 3rd or 4th grade, I found this book in the library, and started reading. I was OBSESSED. The idea that even in books, not everything’s perfect, not everyone lives a perfect life, and that not everything is fair, had me absolutely loving it, because not many books represent it so well. I remember being super upset that the 3rd book wasn’t in the library, but my English teacher had it and let me borrow it ❤
God i loved these books as a kid! I loved the narration and Count Olaf's disguises. But i especially loved Violet and Klaus. No matter what happened and hopeless things felt, they always got out because they were incredibly clever and inventive.
I think the big difference between the books and the series is that Netflix also drew from the prequel/sequel book, The Beatrice Letters, which gave some closure to the Baudelaire saga.
I know this sounds terrible but reading the series was very educating. It made me appreciate what I had because my life as a kid wasn't easy. But it was one of the first books I read that taught “it could be worse.”
I love reading _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ as a kid. I like to imagine this as a morbid cartoon serial about Violet, Klaus, and Sunny and how they just barely escape Count Olaf's devious schemes. It's a quirky and dark and fun world I liked exploring.
I haven't revisited it in a while, but I love that it teaches me that how good things and behavior will not always be rewarded but you should never give up.
I read these books as a kid and I really enjoyed it because even though it was really unfortunate, the mystery behind VFD was really interesting. I also obtained “The Pony Party” or “Lemony Snicket’s Unauthorized Autobiography” and it really explained everything that I had a question about.
The level of in-depth explanations in that book were truly unparalleled. No question was left unanswered when I finished it.
Where the Percy Jackson tv series lost its fantastical nature, I viewed the Unfortunate Events tv series as losing its grim qualities. Also you should watch the movie, honestly a creative and equally dark adaptation.
It also has the little elf.
I recognized the book as soon as I saw the hardcover-to-spine transition
Same even though ive only watched the netfix seriers
"How did you guys read these books at the age of 11, or 12? Did you also eat rocks for breakfast?" Funnily enough, i can say yes to both of these things as a child. 😅 I was a bit dumb as a child.
I’m 29, I read this series as a kid. I loved them because they were very different. I wasn’t a very happy kid, but these books made me feel grateful that I wasn’t The Baudelaire’s. Also, when I was little I thought Aunt Josephine was ridiculous, but as an adult I am slowly becoming more and more like her. Child me would have been absolutely horrified.
I read these books in middle school and I'm 31 now. I loved these books, for one thing, for the narrator's tone. I don't think I've ever read anything like it even still all these years later. I also liked learning new words from them. I've always had a morbid curiosty so these books just hit the perfect atmosphere for me, whimsical darkness. The slowest of slowburning angst with the saddest hint of hope at the end. Consequently, probably why I don't have much of a tolerance for angst anymore because I got my fill of it from this series at a young age 😂
I read these books as a kid and listened to the audiobooks on road trips. I'm not sure if the ones on Spotify now have the quirky little songs that the ones back in ye olden days did, but I adored them.
I liked the books for the writing-the random definitions and illustrations of figures of speech and concepts in literature within the story itself. It's so clever and just my sense of humor, and I loved the narrator's over the top, mournful tone and the occasional excursions by both the narrator and the characters into literary lecture town. But I also liked the messaging. Adults are not trustworthy or reliable. Governments are not trustworthy or reliable. The world is cold, bureaucratic procedure is often imbecilic, and the people who should be protecting you and setting an example have the same glaring, crippling character flaws as anyone. You will eventually make horrible mistakes and/or do terrible things yourself-driven to them, in ignorance, or on purpose because you are a human and humans sometimes do horrible things. But! But, but, but . . . You can be ingenious and enduring anyway. You can choose kindness and truth and grace. Even if the world around you doesn't, you can choose this. You can trust in your mind and rely upon the love of your dearest ones. And books of every sort and nature are always excellent sources of knowledge worth harvesting.
Listening to the books actually got me interested in the music of Stephin Merritt, I went straight from liking the Gothic Archies songs to Magnetic Fields and 20 years of loving all his different bands. I remember buying the album of songs from the books at Barnes and Noble and they asked me “have you heard them before? They’re really really strange, like not at all kids music.” I think they had some surprised parents buying them for kids since they were branded with the series.
I watched the one movie as a kid and made my mom buy the books for me. Violet’s inventiveness led to many broken items in my house as I played the story out lol.
I appreciated the idea of three siblings who had each others backs most of all. The only thing consistent in the events is their loyalty. As a kid, the terrible things weren’t even that memorable to me- instead I wrote my own story ending.
And mainly the anxious young kid I was enjoyed the way the story admits the world is flawed. It doesn’t sugar coat it, it highlights it. I cried when they realized there parents were dead after they got that false hope- but I also remember feeling resolve? Like I knew they could handle it. I also told my teacher “well if they died in the end I hope they died together.” Which is morbid but 🤷♀️
Thx so much for reading these! These were my favorite books ever when I was 8 or so; I used to spend lunch reading these. Their messages are so timeless and the characters stay with you forever, that despite the passing of the years, I still remember these books so clearly.
I watched the Netflix show and instantly fell in love. From their I read the books while watching the show and it was an interesting thing because I liked show so much and found comfort in its different take on the books. But the books were just so well written and different than anything else I'd seen and so raw and I felt seen and I absolutely loved them! I think I read them when I was 11 to 13 and this series (both the books and the show) will just forever be so close to my heart. Thank you for covering this series, the nostalgia combined with one of my favourite RUclipsrs made my day :)
I read ASOUE as a kid! (11) I loved it so much. Amazing subplot, impeccable vibes, the depressing jewish tone, the writing style, THE ALLEGORIES, the characters??! They were all so bizzare and charming. I think there's a lot of conplexity to the plot and the world that gets overlooked so often. From the depths of my soul, PLEASE READ ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS!! pls pls
Snicket's warning is essentially a "Dead Dove: Do not eat" tag...
I read these in high school and college. I loved them because they were so different from HP or JP, bc of how so depressing they were it was so different than how I grew up and was raised on. Bc of how realistic they are that you can be a good person and do good things but life is sh!t the majority of the time and it will not work out for you no matter what you do.
This was one of my favorite book series as a kid! I personally prefer a bitter sweet ending to a happy ending so I loved the darkness of the books. While the books are dark they balanced by brilliant humor and absurdism. I also loved the set up of kids vs adults. I actually do see the ending of the series as mostly happy, the Baudelaires are free and can live their lives as they choose.
I did not know that the writer was Jewish and inspired by stories he heard growing up. You should do a three part series comparing the books to the movie to the show. I read it when I was around twelve and maybe it was because I grew up one step away from being homeless but I was fine I liked that it showed good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.
I do remember the hope crushing aspects of the series, but maybe that was also part of what kept me reading. Like I was hoping it would get better😅.
I do remember liking that it portrays a certain level of realism in that bad things DO happen to good people and for no reason.
And I also read it all around middle school age, so maybe that made a difference. My favorite part was when he would use a word and then explain it. The humor in the books, even when dark was something I connected with.
Thanks for the video!
I’m only familiar with the Netflix adaption so I don’t know if Lemony’s little comments to Beatrice are in there but they were my favourite part of the show
they’re in the book too, there’s a little page right before the book starts that has the note to Beatrice! I love how the Netflix show included Lemony Snicket and his commentary, it thought it was done in such a clever way! 👏🏼
@@magicbymikaila One of my personal favourites was:
“You were pretty
And I was lonely
Now I am pretty lonely.”
A bunch of my classmates read these when we were in 3rd and 4th grade in like 2004. I never did. I was another kind of old soul, reading first edition translations of Narnia (language evolve and the way they are written, most kids can't comprehend the grammar and traditional spelling, not then, certainly not now). Harry Potter, Deltora Quest, The Breadwinner & sequels, Spiderwick and the Septimus Heap books. Etc.
Good (very late) night 🌙 from the EU!
I loved these books as a kid and aside from loving the whimsical writing and strengths of the Baudelaire children, I think having a consistent structure to the books was comforting in a way for me because of a lack of structure in my home life and from having ADD. It was something dependable in an otherwise undependable existence, and that really says something about how great the writing is that over two decades later, I still remember how I felt while reading the books. I think quite possibly that providing a dependency that children could rely on was at least one reason Handler/Snicket chose to write the books in such a way, along with the message that the world is unpredictable and bad things happen, but there are things you can depend on, and good things can and will happen too, especially if we hold onto each other.
I loved your insights into this and you made me want to pick up the series again. My overstuffed book case of unread books won't be happy about that, but I'm sure I will be ☺
The first book was required reading for us in 8th grade along with the hobbit. The teacher wanted to early on teach us that life wasn't fair but that didn't mean we couldn't find happiness. I've read the entire series and I think it's influenced my ironic deadpan humor as an adult. Daniel Handler is very influenced by Kafka cause his world gives me 'The Trial" kind of feels, where stuff doesn't make sense and is jumbled up.
I never read them but i absolutely loved the Netflix show and it still makes me cry
Hi Mikaila,
I dare you to read scholomance. It's relatively new but it's basically Harry Potters Darker Version with a badass female lead. Loved the Series and quite certain you would love it too.
I read the series when I was 13, I liked it because I enjoyed the unique writing style and it made me laugh several times (some highlights being the two or three pages of just the word "ever," "He found himself reading the same sentence over and over. He found himself reading the same sentence over and over.", and the chapter opener on deja vu followed by...a chapter opener on deja vu). I was hooked from the first page, and that only grew after the mystery of VFD was introduced. I absolutely had to finish so I could find out what VFD stood for.
I also loved All the Wrong Questions, which I read about two years ago.
I read these in... like... high school, and i found them to be light hearted and comical/whimsical.
In hindsight, that probably should've tipped me off to the fact that I was Going Through Some Stuff.... 😬
Edit - continued: And you're right, I read books for escapism too, which is why Im usually drawn to high fantasy.
I would LOOOOOOOOVE to see your take on The Name Of The Wind ❤🧡💛💚💙💜
I read these when I was a preteen to teenager. These books work best when kids start understanding sarcasm and satire, which is about preteen age. I really liked the tone, how original they were, the vocab words. Even though it is dark, it still manages to be light enough for kids to read. It's just so well done. I did think books 4-10 were repetitive, but by the end I was genuinely concerned that it wouldn't end well! And while it wasn't a happy ending, it wasn't too tragic. Like you said, it ended on a question and that feeling was perfect for the series.
Yes yes yes I'm so glad you finally made this video. I think that the series makes for some very fascinating discussion, especially if you do compare it to the TV show which is definitely telling a different story while still staying true to the books in a way that doesn't feel like it takes away from the original. It's like a master class in adaptations. When I was a kid, the thing that kept me hooked the most was, ironically, the writing style. Lemony Snicket being a character himself and telling us this story was just such a neat idea to me. As an adult now, I think that the message of the books is so important and also important is the realisation that these adults aren't just incompetent or whatever. They're adults. You can't always rely on them because they're people, too. The Baudelaires don't get to rely on anyone but themselves by the end, but they still have good moments with most* of their guardians and other supportive figures. Justice Strauss might be totally fooled by Olaf's marriage plot, but she still welcomed the Baudelaires into her library and allowed them to make light of their bad situation. Uncle Monty might've been under a horrible misconception the entire book which got him killed, but he treated the Baudelaires to entertainment and a warm environment and family of, well, reptiles. But still. Even Aunt Josephine, who on paper seems like the worst guardian known to man still cared deeply for the children and the Baudelaires could see that despite all of her flaws, she was still a good person.
I could go on and on, but... Alas. My favorite book is The Wide Window, which isn't the most popular pick, but I relate a little too much to Aunt Josephine for my own good and the literary focus and the hidden code... Also I grew up with the movie, too, and TWW was easily the highlight. I do recommend watching the movie. Unlike The Lightning Thief, it's a very enjoyable watch IMO. There are definitely some pretty big faults, but overall, I really like it and holy moly is the cast one of all-stars.
I could tell from the spine in the thumbnail what this was. I loved this series, film, and netflix show alot. The video games based on the film is good also. I am 27 years old and read these in elementary-middle school. I always likes how with these books the kids always got into unfortunate events, but always found a way out somehow.
I came across this series in middle school. I instantly loved it. At the time I was moving every week bouncing between my abusive mother and my father who never stayed in the same place more than a month. And then my dad gave up custody...
I understood the constantly moving around and not really having consistant adults that cared about your well being that the MCs experienced.
I kept reading because if they could keep going despite the relentless battering they had to deal with, then so could I.
I listened to them at 8 and loved the audiobooks. I think they made it feel more whimsical. I still love this series but it angers me to no end and I’m 14. Also the slippery slope is my favorite cuz sunny starts cooking and I love her.
I was a child when I read the series (probably about 11/12) and I did find it sad and Count Olaf was creepy but I also still had hope even though the story and Lemony Snicket kept telling us that hope was pointless! I did enjoy the mysteries as well as the story went on. And Violet, Klaus and Sunny are incredible characters. I remember being annoyed with the adults not believing them as well, especially in the early books. I used to get annoyed with Snicket sometimes defining words I already knew, now I appreciate it as part of his style.
It literally always kept me thinking about what would happen next in the books
I read the series when I was around 10. I remember really enjoying how smart and inventive the kids were. My take away was that no matter what your circumstances are you can still make it through. It really instilled a great value for being smart, creative, and observant and I think it unintentionally had me appreciating my siblings and circumstances more. My life not being as hard and frustrating as the Baudelaires was a plus.
I'm 26, I read them all at the age of 12. I read the entire collection about five times before finishing high school and I'm now revisiting the books reading them in french. (Nor english or french are my mother tongue tough). I did read the prequels during my high school and college years (hightly recommend). I always felt that more than anything, the series was telling me an universal truth no other book "for kids" was willing to tell: being good doesn't affect the world around you to be good to you; more than that, it talks about how difficult it could be to keep doing good, even if all you got was bad as payback. It felt true, raw and bittersweet. A little like life itself is as we grow. Remaining good and doing good is about who you are as a person, not how people are going to treat you. It's about what you're willing to sacrifice.
And as an adult now, I feel that some of these adult characters (although, sure, their shortcomings are enlarged) that felt so comical do reflect, in some degree, real adults. I remember talking to my mom at the age of 12 that there was no way grown ups would be like that. She replied with "maybe not exactly like that, but they can come pretty close. Adults who are bad are bad kids who grew older, not wiser, and now have power." I vowed to never be like that.
I loved these books as someone with an unfortunate household. It was more comforting than anything having strong characters learn to face whatever comes at them and refused to be doomed. I liked them as a kid because you root for them and feel their passion to continue to walk through all kinds of hell just to have the happiness they deserve.
I loved this series! The writing style, all of it ❤
I read this as my first series of chapter books I’ve ever read (9 years old), and fell in love. It’s how I realized I loved fiction, whimsical, mystery novels over realistic fiction. I think it’s a deep dive into how children are much smarter than adults believe. The fact that they could go through all that at such a young age, and still be doubted by adults. Which is why most children love the series because they feel seen and heard. They are underestimated and come out of every situation with all this hope and life still somewhere in them. Lemony Snicket is truly a very clever and talented writer.
Why did I guess it was a series of unfortunate events from the spine!!!😂
*I read this when I was nine or ten! The ending frustrated me so much!* 😂😖
LOL! Me and my sister call our room humble abode!!!😂😂😂
Lol, finished the series at 9 and I loved it!
I genuinely didn’t realise how messed up it was until I re-read it!
Like, how did I read it all at such a young age?
I’m so shocked at my child self!
I loved the movie/show as a kid. (17) I read it for the first time last month. Binged all 13 (and some of the prequel series) in 2 weeks. Lost momentum a little towards the end, but hyperfixation is a hell of a thing.
This is one of my favorite series, I read it when I was in college, mostly listening to the audiobooks (literally on tape, cassette tapes), in particular I love the Tim Curry versions rather than the full cast or Daniel Handler ones. I loved the playful, ornate language and the tone, it felt like such an irreverent take on my favorite bland childhood orphan series. I find them beautiful and devastating and brilliant and I wish I had them when I was a kid. But given the theater education I was getting when I was reading them involving a lot of sophisticated theory and Brecht and stuff like that, I probably was primed for appreciating it on a different level than I would have been able to as a kid. As I’ve read more Shirley Jackson and other books I’ve gained more and more levels of appreciation over the years. And I can’t overstate how beautiful I find the writing, the extra volume of Beatrice letters is stunning.
I am 12. And I read 12 of the books. As an avid reader, I was not prepared. But I kept coming back anyway, because indeed Handler's writing style is quite unique. It is mysterious, entertaining, educational, and even funny in some ways, like how he discussed dé ja vu in a page and the next page was almost an exact duplicate. I was half- paying attention, because I have a tendency to read at the most unusual times (I was getting picked up from school), so I double-checked, and when I realized that I was tricked, I genuinely laughed. I also love how Handler continues to use a specific term to describe the situation and relate to it. Like how he used the water cycle to express that the Baudelaires found something boring.
I also loved the way he was able to change the storyline entirely in ways one could not have considered or even thought possible. Something about the writing style compells you to read the book.
Furthermore, the story itself was well-organized and well-written, so that the story is just so...wonderful. Yes, it is depressing, but you just get excited the more you read, even when it brutally crushes all hope of the Baudelaires ever having a nice and normal life. It's because they overcome problem after problem, tragedy over tragedy, even the deaths of a few decent people along the way, but their being there for eachother is what makes them so resilient, so powerful, and it's really inspiring. Also, each character introduced makes a significance in the playing-out of the story, so that they actually feel real.
Lastly, the Baudelaires actually do go through things and some character development, and if any of them were missing from the group, everything would feel incomplete; partially because each of the three got them out of countless drastic situations and are vital to the survival of the others, partially because the three truly are the embodiments of integrity, so much so that when they do bad things to get out of these situations, they thought that they themselves became criminals, and also because they are much too loyal to eachother, and they all try to reassure one another.
Although, despite all that I said, I am definitely taking a break before I read the last book, because I'm not mentally prepared for the ending and because I would deeply despair to end such a marvelous book series. I feel like I grew with them.
Alright, I have now finished the last book. It ended abruptly but not too soon or too late. Yet another talent of Mr. Handler.
I read these books as a teenager and loved them so much. They remind me of that quote about fairy tales not telling children about monsters. But telling them they can be defeated. The books were like that for me. Telling me its possible to keep hope no matter how big the minsters are because you will find sanctuary and love somewhere
I loved the books and the television series growing up. Now that you've read them, I can't wait to see your book vs movie vs tv series skits!
I Love how you contextualize the process of reading this series.
I read these first as a kid when I was around 10. This was one of the first series that I read with darker themes, and one of the first I felt like a book wasn’t trying sugarcoat things or talk down to me.
A few years before I started reading these books my father died, and I’m autistic so the Baudelaire’s experience of grief and a world that has rules that don’t make much sense and keep on changing was something I could relate to. So I loved this series for that and the unbreakable bonds between Violet, Klaus, and Sunny their resilience gave me hope.
i read the first 5 books when i was around 8 or 9; i quite enjoyed them. i was more into darker themes as a child than i am nowadays, so i found them fairly mild on that front. never ended up finishing the series
I read the first book when I was 12. I liked it, but then I got distracted by the Hunger Games, and just never picked the series back up.
I enjoyed it as a child. It felt realistic for me. Felt like i was reading something that wasn't afraid to take me to a dark place. I was like middleschool age, and Klaus and Violet were very relatable for me in how the world viewed them. But how smart they were. I had alot of that as a neurodivergent child in the south.
I recommend reading the Artemis Fowl books, as he goes from villain to anti-hero throughout the series.
I read it during the pandemic at about 13-14. I did enjoy it and the tv show as well. But yes it was really depressing and it did take me a long time to get through it
You have singlehandedly made me read more again. Thank you for that!
If it helps, I had a very similar reaction. I saw the warnings all throughout the story and was like, “Geez, I can’t really believe it. I believe there will be a different, more positive perspective….somehow.” I confess, though, I kind of forget the ending of the books. So perhaps I got to take away a semi-positive perspective simply because I forgot certain details. And not gonna lie, as backwards-entertaining as this series was to read, I too, nearly could not finish it. I kept thinking, “geez, how much more punishing is this going to get?” And what’s great is that I like the conversation people have about the series almost more than reading it. Because I too, enjoy reading for escapism, and I also like to learn things sometimes.
But I like learning what other people got from the story. I like that you made an interesting point about how the story does feel repetitive, but the new characters do teach you different lessons. That is genius, and I never noticed that one before. You also make a great point about how Violet is depicted as an engineer, and that’s not really typical for how women are portrayed.
I also liked Cinema Therapy’s take on the movie that they made of the first three books, and how he said that you can’t always change your circumstances, but you need to learn to be happy where you are.
And the final, most spicy opinion I heard that you briefly touched upon, is that the children are portrayed as sensible, intelligent, and kind; many adults are portrayed as inept, oblivious, or sometimes downright malicious, and even the adults that are kindly are still impotent. The opinion I heard is that this was done on purpose in an effort to bring to light how often adults belittle children, even when they are being absolutely sensible, or are able to see more clearly than adults. Children are sometimes not even treated as people. Even Violet, who was the oldest, was not even treated like a teenager. It makes the story weirdly relatable to a younger audience, and kind of shows how becoming an “adult” only means so much. There are more important things to becoming a person than just achieving adult status.
I read the series off and on from age 11 to when I finally finished at 14 and I loved these books. I think they really comforted me actually, as a pretty depressed kid even really young I kind of already knew that bad things happen and would continue to happen and finding the admittedly dark humor in those situations fit me, and the siblings sticking together and them finding moments of joy with each other and always working out a way to rescue themselves was reassuring because I already knew that life in a way was going to be full of a repetitive series of unfortunate events but I didn't have to be alone in facing those events.
Me and my older sister loved these books so much when we were younger. I remember i started reading them in kindergarten and it has literally been my favorite book series ever since
as a twelve year old who read them at ten i liked them because of the way they were written. kinda like with trip and t'pol i loved their relationship bc it kept feeling like it was about to happen but something got in the way. ig it just kept me hooked, which is more than my 10 year old unmedicated adhd brain could say about almost anything
The Series of Unfortunate Events were so relatable to a 10 years old me and ridiculous at the same time. I've loved every page of them. I liked the certainty of the fact that everything always goes sideways, just like in real life, but you can survive to see another day. But I didn't realise it was a sad occasion for you, Mikhaila... Have you been a good daughter?
Oh, commenting again to add that I listened to them all with my daughter when she was 8 and the number of advanced literary concepts and words she learned from the series is immense, like deus-ex-machina. And so many turns of phrase and sayings.
That is so cool! I didn't know the author was Jewish... that made the books make a lot more sense. I'm part jewish, so that made the books more special to me.
That was interesting, the insight you made that him being Jewish, where many different people would argue over what one verse in the Talmud meant, versus how Catholics just tell you what it means and you have to accept it, was very interesting to me in the paralell in the adults and kids in the stories who pretended to know everything, and weren't willing to learn, vs the adults and kids in the stories who would try to find out what things meant. I love this in the stories, and how they emphasize the importance of learning all you can, and finding things out for yourselves,
I also liked, from the adult perspective, the themes of the importance of listening to your children.
ASOUE is a great book series, tragic but great. That being said, the Netflix show expanded the universe in a way that makes it feel similar but different.
so, I started reading this series when I was nine and absolutely LOVED it. it was one of the first books I read that felt like it was talking to me and not talking down to me. (also it was the first books that I wrote fanfiction for (at ten)) I also related a lot to the characters, which was rare in a lot of fiction I read at time. I loved the little hidden details and codes, and that's what kept me hooked until now.
These books came out in my late teens and early twenties and I ended up writing my BA dissertation about the books up to book 12.. the last one didn't come out until the year after I graduated. I loved the highly stylised nature of the book and wrote about the discussions of free-will.
I really enjoy watching these videos. Your insightful explanation of how stories are constructed and literary critiques are so fascinating for someone like me who only reads books for escapism. It never occurs to me to think about how the story was constructed or the author's perspective or how the nonsensical world building might have been intentional. Thank you Mikaila for opening my eyes to another way of enjoying literature.
Yes, I did read the books as a kid. However, I never read the last book because it hadn't come out by the time I finished the series up to that point. (I was 13 when The Penultimate Peril came out.) Also I was just so exhausted from the endless depressing narrative that I didn't want to subject myself to another book just to see how the story ended. Is it worth it?
Can't wait to read it!
This is a perfect summary of how I feel about the books.
I really love this series but the main thing that got to me was on how Lemony Snicket (I think that’s how to spell his name lol) introduced the Quagmires (again I think that’s how you spell it lol) and for me I instantly fell in love with them, and then to have them be captured and then barely see them again made me cry! Like we never really got to too see the Baudelaire and the Quagmires relationship grow 😭
Literally my fav book series 😂❤
I've only seen the movie and totally forgot this existed until I got your notification. Always a pleasure to hear your thoughts as a reader. Thanks for being cool
Awesome review Mikaila! Thanks for the video!
I love audiobooks with full casts
I started the books at age 9 or 10 but I definitely internalized them at the time lol. I too primarily consume media for escapism and these books made me so very sad but I loved them. I remember other kids hated the "annoying and snobby" narrator and his meandering tangents about vocabulary and obscure topics but I was enchanted by it. Snicket's dry wit, melancholy, whimsy, anxiety, and pessimistic yet earnest outlook spoke to me as an undiagnosed neurodivergent child unable to understand her first depressive episode. The books made me feel seen and understood. It validated my feelings of despair at an unjust world, yet also gave me hope because goodness could exist despite the arbitrary cruelty of the world. I looked up to the Baudelaire siblings so much and tried to channel their curiosity, empathy, and fierce loyalty to each other. A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Percy Jackson series were foundational to my inner world as I entered adolescence and even now, in my twenties, their impact remains.
P. S. I also almost couldn't finish the series. I put off reading books 12 and 13 for nearly a year.
I don’t know why but there was a phase in my life when I was obsessed with reading stories that make me cry and bawl my eyes out. A Series of Unfortunate Events is one of them. I loved reading this book series when I was a kid. 😂
"Teach you vital life lessons" made me suspect immediately. It's one of my favorite series ever. I read it first in third grade
I’m 32 and read it when it came out in ‘99 and last year I read it to my 3rd grade students and they loved it!!
omg this series was my childhood! i have vivid memories of reading the books in like 2nd grade, and i really liked the dark humor of the book.
i was an interesting kid.
I read this when I was like 9, and it kind of traumatized me, but I also really loved the world and how different it was from other books I'd read. The author also brings a lot of charm and mystery, and I was driven by curiosity a lot of the time.
I started reading A Series of Unfortunate Events when I was nine, and I really loved it. I honestly don't know why
I love this series so much!! ahhh!!
I was a late bloomer when it came to books, and I would hardly ever read anything over 50 pages long unless it was for school. ASoUE was one of the first book series I read through with full enthusiasm. I read it slowly over the years as I found them in school libraries, from 7th grade through high school. I think I was able to enjoy it despite the unfortunate events because the narration was so uniquely hilarious. It was a good counterbalance.
I am 27 and I loved these books growing up. I thought they were a great escape, and made me feel better about my own situation. Also, it instilled in me the feeling when I was a kid a sense of self-empowerment over the clunky corrupt adults in my life.
I read this series when I was 8 or 9. I think I just really loved the author's way of telling the story. And I found it really compelling and unique.
I loved the 13 books from beginning to end, I started reading them back when I was a child and I still read them now as an adult.
Omg i loved this 😊 plus the series. Its kind of funny because my mom watched it with me and my brother when we were quite young. Plus im getting one of the books for my school reading books!
I kinda don't think A series of unfortunate events is in the same category, or even plane of existence as other fictions. Rather, i kinda feel it is more like Fables or folk tales with recurring characters.