One of the books I read this summer is called The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket. The book is in a big series called, A Series of Unfortunate Events. This is the first book in the series. The Bad Beginning does not say when it takes place, but I think it is the past because it  has the old time vibe. The pages are uneven and ripped like a treasure map, and the narrator uses lots of uncommon vocabulary. The main characters are Violet Baudelaire, the eldest, Klaus Baudelaire, the middle child, and Sunny Baudelaire, the youngest. They are from a very very wealthy family, and they all have very interesting talents. Violet is a inventor, Klaus loves to read, and Sunny is a bitter! The main problem is that there house had a mysterious fire and their parents died, so they had to live with their evil relative Count Olaf

Count Olaf was so evil he made them do horrible chores all day, and only took them as orphans because he wants the Baudelaire fortune. Violet, Sunny, and Klaus  are trying to tell everyone Count Olaf is a bad man. All throughout the story they are trying to escape, but when they try and fail, Count Olaf will punish them. One time he struck Klaus across the face. The only good thing is that the orphans have a lovely neighbor, Justice Strauss. Sometimes they sneak to her house in the day and garden and read in her library. Count Olaf is an actor, and he goes to work in the day, leaving them a long list of chores. The three children don’t make any big decisions. Their problem does not get solved because every chapter ends in a cliffhanger, even the end of the book, so you have to read the other books to see what happens. There is also a movie that is good which is  based on the first three books.   

The Bad Beginning was not my favorite book, but it was good. I liked it because it is very mysterious and the narrator is interesting. He says things like “ I am sorry to say but the book in your hands is very unpleasant ”. I did not like this book because at the 7th chapter it became repetitive. I think that someone that likes sad mysteries, and books in a series, would enjoy it.

I give it ***  stars!