The Miserable Mill
In The Miserable Mill, the Baudelaire orphans once again encounter an uncaring guardian, a plot by Count Olaf to get their money, and an almost complete lack of help from the adults around them. Snicket isn't making huge changes to his formula (yet), but he's having a lot of fun playing around with the details.
This time around, Count Olaf stays off page for more than half the book. Everyone knows he's going to show up eventually, and waiting for it to happen creates some great tension. And when he finally does arrive, it's even a bit surprising because of his disguise of choice this time around. We also get some more hints at his past. This book introduces and then kills Dr. Orwell, another of Olaf's associates who hadn't yet been introduced. But she is also associated with the eye Olaf has tattooed on his ankle. It appears on the cover of her book and her home/office is designed to look like it.
Violet and Klaus are also forced to switch places a bit this time around. The plot hinges on Violet doing research late into the night and Klaus inventing something on the fly. It's fun to see them take strength from imagining what the other would do. And Sunny continues to protect everyone with her abnormally sharp teeth, which she here uses in a sword fight that brought me out of the story a bit. I mean, really?
This book also featured a rather gruesome on-page death that made it feel much darker than the previous books. This is far from the first death in these books, but it's definitely the most gory. I'm surprised it made it into a children's book, and I'm wondering how Snicket will continue to raise the stakes after this.
Next up, the orphans are heading to school. Which I had been wondering about. I suppose it's just been summer vacation since the series started, though.
This time around, Count Olaf stays off page for more than half the book. Everyone knows he's going to show up eventually, and waiting for it to happen creates some great tension. And when he finally does arrive, it's even a bit surprising because of his disguise of choice this time around. We also get some more hints at his past. This book introduces and then kills Dr. Orwell, another of Olaf's associates who hadn't yet been introduced. But she is also associated with the eye Olaf has tattooed on his ankle. It appears on the cover of her book and her home/office is designed to look like it.
Violet and Klaus are also forced to switch places a bit this time around. The plot hinges on Violet doing research late into the night and Klaus inventing something on the fly. It's fun to see them take strength from imagining what the other would do. And Sunny continues to protect everyone with her abnormally sharp teeth, which she here uses in a sword fight that brought me out of the story a bit. I mean, really?
This book also featured a rather gruesome on-page death that made it feel much darker than the previous books. This is far from the first death in these books, but it's definitely the most gory. I'm surprised it made it into a children's book, and I'm wondering how Snicket will continue to raise the stakes after this.
Next up, the orphans are heading to school. Which I had been wondering about. I suppose it's just been summer vacation since the series started, though.
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