Snicket, Lemony

• 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."

• 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: 5.67