The Reptile Room - Lemony Snicket

The Reptile Room
By: Lemony Snicket
Published: 1999
Audiobook Read by: Tim Cury
My rating: Delightful






And now we continue to hear about the Series Of Unfortunate Events that befall the Baudelaire children! This is the second book in the series and the kids and I loved it!

After their rescue from the clutches of Count Olaf, the children are sent off to live with their distant non-relative, Montgomery Montgomery. Uncle Monty, is a herpetologist, a word which here means, "someone who studies snakes". The children are faced with an intimidating house with hedges carved into the shapes of snakes. Their hopes of possibly finding a pleasant home are dashed as they travel down Lousy Lane, smell the acrid fumes of horseradish, and get their first glimpse of the ghastly house and it's evil looking hedges. As they go inside with Mr Poe to meet their new guardian, they are greeted by the nicest man they have seen in a long time! Uncle Monty turns out be wonderful and the children love him.

Now, I must warn you that reading any farther through this review will result in much distress and heartache. No one will hold it against you if you decide to stop here and happily go on your way confident that the Baudelaire children have finally found a good home. However, that is not the case. These youngsters are bound for many unfortunate events so if you read on you will hear about the terrible things that befall them.

Count Olaf, a name which here means, "BIG TROUBLE", is not gone for good! He returns to ruin everything and attempt to destroy the children and steal their fortune with yet another dastardly plan. As the tale unfolds, Olaf succeeds in making the orphans miserable yet again and very nearly manages to pull off his evil plot. However, through some quick thinking on the children's part, some bad luck on Count Olaf's part, and help from the Incredibly Deadly Viper, they manage to foil his plans!

Yet again, Lemony Snicket has given us a diabolically fun tale of woe that kept us on the edge of our seats. This book however, has several very funny scenes that had us laughing quite a lot, despite the sad state of affairs for the Baudelaires. I love the crazy way these books are written, even though the plot is ridiculously unrealistic, the style of the story it great! Count Olaf is such an evil character and the despicable deeds he commits are wonderfully awful!

We listened to the audiobook performed by Tim Curry and once again, despite not having the supporting cast he had in the first book, he is magnificent! I can't imagine anyone else that would be better suited to read these books! :)

Overall, despite the terrible things that happen to the children and the complete lack of a happy ending, this is a delightful book! I highly recommend you give this series a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed!