this one was a tad boring but I did find the concept kinda interesting. so, 3/5.

This one may have ended up being one of my favourites of the series, had it not insisted on addressing a person "who looked neither like a man nor a woman" as "it." I know this series is an older one, and a few times it addresses them as "he or she" but boiling them down to a thing just because they don't look like a man or a woman is so disrespectful. Yes, I know there are few non-binary folks who do prefer being addressed as "it," but I'm looking at this from the perspective that this person is one of the villains of the story. When the reader already knows that this person is a villain, and then says that they look like neither a man nor a woman, a connotation gets wrapped around people who don't look like your idea of a man or a woman and forms them into villainous people. There's a similar problem with having villains with physical deformities. It's just inconsiderate to people with the same characteristics to take something different about them and make it the most evident trait of a villain.

and so it begins... *insert picture of that meme where the Baudelaire's and like 'look count olaf!' and every adult is like 'absurd!'*
that page of the 'ever's... brilliant!

I first read this book oh about...10 years ago? re-reading it I still quite enjoyed it but I know I definitely found it more entertaining as a kid. I do want to slowly reread these though because I never finished the series as a kid!

kinda like book two in that there wasn't a lot there to do with the plot. only little hints. still enjoyed it!

loved getting to meet lots of different creatures in this one! some fun stuff is gonna happen soon!

edit: giving this one 4 stars. Looking back on it, it was probably the most boring, as it's still setting up the world a little from the first book.

Still love this series! It's just super short so I don't really know how to rate it...