I'm a bit conflicted about this one...

So first of all, I should say that SOUE is one of my all time favorite series and I LOVE the authors writing style (see passages below).

Second, the format of this book is very interesting, and the design is incredible. It's formatted like an accordion folder complete with a poster and then the bound letters which are all formatted differently- from normal typewritten letters, to telegrams, to a scrap of torn paper with handwritten notes. Also in the book there are a number of keepsakes that are taped in like a scrapbook, which is super neat. There is also a letter with a "code" in it. If you pay attention to the formatting, you will spot it no problem.

Third, I did really enjoy the letters back and fourth between and Lemony Snicket and Beatrice Baudelaire because it gave us a bit of a deeper glimpse into their personalities and histories. I especially loved learning more about Beatrice Baudelaire- you can certainly tell she's related to the three siblings!!

***SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE SERIES!!!***

And fourth, I really liked that on a first read through, this book was straight up confusing. However, once you realize that there are two Beatrice's here, everything makes much more sense. The Beatrice that Lemony Snicket is writing to is the Baudelaires' mom. Then the Beatrice who is writing to Lemony Snicket is Kit Snicket's child.


However, on the other hand...

First, my goodness. I REALLY wish we had dates on all of these letters! That would have made it much easier to follow from the very beginning!

Second, this line that won't stop bothering me: "And without the stories all three siblings told me of their troubles -- which in some cases differ wildly from your own accounts..." WHAT?! So are the SOUE books all wrong?

Overall, worth a read, but not sure I would recommend it because it is just so confusing. And that one line is seriously bothering me...

Favorite passages:
All I can do is hope for the best, but hoping for the best, like hoping for a bat to obey your orders, almost always leads to disappointment.

I will love you as a drawer loves a secret compartment, and as a secret compartment loves a secret, and as a secret loves to make a person gasp, and as a gasping person loves a glass of brandy to calm their nerves, and as a glass of brandy loves to shatter on the floor, and as the noise of glass shattering loves to make someone else gasp, and as someone else gasping loves a nearby desk to lean against, even if leaning against it presses a lever that loves to open a drawer and reveal a secret compartment.

But in my case, the only thing that made sense of the world was you, and without you the world will seem as garbled and tragic as a malfunctioning typewritr9.