Handler, Daniel

• Bad Beginning, The (1999)

  [6/10]

  "The Baudelaire children -- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny -- certainly do get off to a bad beginning. Their home burns down, killing their parents. Fortunately, the children's parents left them an enormous fortune. Unfortunately, their next of kin, Count Olaf, wants to do away with the children to get the money for himself."

• Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

  [7/10]

  "In most cases where I have both read the book and seen the movie adaptation, I recommend the book as the better experience. In the case of A Series of Unfortunate Events, I have to recommend the movie over the books."

• Reptile Room, The (1999)

  [6/10]

  "A nice continuation of a series that could quickly spoil if the narrative style remains so fixedly consistent."

• Wide Window, The (2000)

  [5/10]

  "Lemmony Snicket has followed his formula from the previous books exactly, and has not introduced anything new or interesting."

  Average score: 6.00