The Miserable Mill

Author: Lemony Snicket
Series: A Series Of Unfortunate Events, Book 4
Publisher: Harper Collins
Star Rating: 4/5
Date Read: August 12th, 2014
Read Count: 2
Review:
I feel like I just can’t help but enjoy these books. I am sure I read this one in my primary school days but I couldn’t remember it at all, so it was like I was reading it for the first time. I finished it in the train ride from my boyfriend’s house (where I access these books when I have nothing else to read) and was glad I had the foresight to grab number five as well, The Austere Academy, for the train ride home.

The Miserable Mill sees the Baudelaire children placed with their fourth guardian, a man whose name is unpronounceable and everyone just calls ‘Sir’, who owns a lumber mill where he puts the children to work upon their arrival. It’s a very dull, boring place with very hard work not fit for children who like inventing, reading and biting. They are keeping their eyes peeled for Count Olaf, who they are sure will turn up at any moment in a disguise to take their fortune.

I feel kind of guilty when I read these books that I enjoy reading them, because of the absolute misery of the orphans. When I was younger this never would have crossed my mind. I guess it is a testament to Lemony Snicket’s writing that he can make you continue reading when you know nothing is going to go right for the Baudelaire children. I always feel like I’m being a told, even if its rather dark, a story by a master storyteller. Easy but very enjoyable to read. I’ve never heard anyone have anything bad to say about this series, despite the subject content! I also felt like I was more enraptured by this book than the other books, but that could be because I couldn’t remember what happened in this one, as opposed to the previous three I remember quite well. On to the next one!