The Penultimate Peril (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Twelfth)
by Lemony Snicket
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of The Penultimate Peril.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2316)
Read in January, 2008
"... One can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." page 180
"I'm not sure we ARE noble," Klaus said quietly, flipping the pages of his commonplace book. "We caused those accidents at the lumbermill. We're responsible for the destruction of the hospital. We helped start the fire that destroyed Madame Lulu's archival library. We...more
"I'm not sure we ARE noble," Klaus said quietly, flipping the pages of his commonplace book. "We caused those accidents at the lumbermill. We're responsible for the destruction of the hospital. We helped start the fire that destroyed Madame Lulu's archival library. We...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in December, 2005
The latest Lemony Snicket disappointed me. The Penultimate Peril crossed the line from dark into dreary. The lives of the Baudelaire children are now genuinely depressing. They're trapped in a maze -- Everywhere they turn they find confusion, betrayal, and danger. From a book called Penultimate Peril, I expect some hints of resolution, particularly when the books goes to great pains to define the term denoument. Instead, things just keep going from bad to worse. While it's intriguing that the Ba...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2005
same formula as all the others, but the plot thickens! favorite snicketism from this volume? “the three adults smiled at the children, and the children smiled back, but of course the baudelaires were not born yesterday, an expression which means “young or innocent enough to believe things certain people say about the world.” …violet was born more than fifteen years before this particular wednesday, and klaus was born approximately two years after that, and even sunny, who had just passed...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
Everyone who's read the first 11.
Here's the point: The Penultimate Peril continues to tie it all together, and the return on your investment is shockingly huge. Lemony Snicket manages to tease out a few underlying themes, like what to think when good people let you down, and whether doing evil things makes you an evil person. There are incredible images here of reflections, fire and justice. The illustrations are also picture perfect. And even though the series grows...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
people who like intricate character-development, vocabulary and dry humor
Laine and I listened to this as we drove home from Big Cedar Lodge in the Ozarks (great vacation spot by the way). Do audiobooks, by the way?
Anyway, I think I enjoyed this more than Laine. It was read by Tim Curry (got to love that) but I just loved the story and found myself laughing out loud a few times.
I loved the Harry Potter-esque battle of good vs. evil and not knowing who is a good guy. I loved the Potter-esque character development too. It may not be quite as intricate as Po...more
Anyway, I think I enjoyed this more than Laine. It was read by Tim Curry (got to love that) but I just loved the story and found myself laughing out loud a few times.
I loved the Harry Potter-esque battle of good vs. evil and not knowing who is a good guy. I loved the Potter-esque character development too. It may not be quite as intricate as Po...more
Like this review?
yes
1 comments
recommends it for:
people who like mysteries
This book is was a mystery triller by Lemony Snicket. Its is set in I believe England in the late 1900's. The characters are klause, Sunny and Violet baudilare, and all the terrible things that happen to them. They have terrible encounters witht he notrious villian count Olaf, who is always try to take their fourtune thier parents left behind.
I love this book, and this series. Snicket masterfully puts words together with such grace and beauty, it is truly something to behold. It's mood is d...more
I love this book, and this series. Snicket masterfully puts words together with such grace and beauty, it is truly something to behold. It's mood is d...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
The Penultimate Peril, Is a book written by Lemony Snicket, which is in the series of A Series of Unfortunate Events, which holds a story of three rich orphans, that lost their parents to a disastorous fire in their home. Unfortunately a villain named Count Olaf has been after their safekeepings, for twelve long books, and he is finally got them right where he wants them, or not, the orphans are holding on for dear life now, Kit snicket which has been with them all along keeping them from near d...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
Although a bit of a disappointment, this book did have me asking some interesting questions. Such as, what do you do when a 'good' person lets you down? What is true evil? Can just the 'bad guys' commit evil deeds, or can 'good guys' commit them, too? If an otherwise good person does something horrible, such as give a bratty girl a harpoon gun, does that make them a bad person? Most importantly, who can you trust in such a world? Still no explanation about the sugar bowl, even though that is wha...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
EVERYONE
GOD!!! I loved this book. The Baudelaire children once again survive Count Olaf's clutches. They go to a Hotel to disguise themselves from getting caught. The become concierges and help around the hotel. There are twins that work are part of staff, one is good and one is evil. They must be careful from the evil. As they help out, they find out that Count Olaf is booked in the hotel with his girlfriend Camilla Spats. Also, a the bad people who help Count Olaf is also in the hotel, for a conventi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
Maybe 13 books was just going too far. I mean, I want to finish out the series just to find out what happened, but at this point, it's becoming more of a chore than a pleasure. It's also kind of depressing how true the author stays to the title of the series. Truly, they are all unfortunate events, and you seriously begin to wish you had never started. But the books are so well-written. I can't say no. So, would I recommend these books? Yes. Only if you get them all 13 and treat them like one bi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
This book felt really slapdash. I like the SUE series for the most part, but this one...it's a little TOO stylistic and a lot of his goofy little tricks get in the way of the story. I DO think there were some interesting questions posed, though, and I'm excited to see that Snicket has made these characters experience real crises of conscience -- just as in Harry Potter we get good people who do bad things, we have the Beaudelaires struggling with whether or not they are "noble." I'm ex...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2006
recommends it for:
Lemony Snicket Lovers
The Baudelaire orphans' next destination is the confusing Hotel Denouement where nothing is as it seems. Answers to our questions seem at our fingertips…but remember, this is a Lemony Snicket book. We are left asking more questions. And, I ask you, how does one get their hands on a harpoon? A strange, and violent edition to the series. I’m kind of done with these books. It’s a good thing it’s almost over. I’m ready for the series to be wrapped up. Book #14 of my 2006 Book List,...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
?? not sure
i dont really like these books that much. they're not very good. i only read them because i wanted to find out what happened to the baudelaire children... i guess #13 is the best, but it frustrated me because it left so many questions unanswered and it's the LAST book in the series!! yeah, i read the beatrice letters, but it didnt really answer anything or make sense...
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2007
My last favorite. The setting is classic: a hotel. But a very unique hotel that is organized by the Dewy Decimal system used in libraries. More mysteries (including those about the author himself) are cleared up and baffled. Exciting twist: all the characters, both great and annoying, from the past 11 books check into the hotel and everyone ends up in the same stew-pot.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2005
I LOVE, ABSOLUTELY LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS ENTIRE SERIES!! I enjoyed the way the author writes. Very witty, and you can learn a lot of vocabularies from reading his books. Meanwhile, although it is supposed to be a book written for youngsters, the suspense is just killing me! I kept wanting to find out who people are and it just keeps me guessing. Evil Count Olaf!!!
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
Probably, only Snicket could think of a confusing hotel with a Dewey system. Brilliant! Very funny! And Snicket seems to call for fanfiction writers to elaborate more. (Who is the mysterious guy who offers a taxi ride? And many more!) The sugar bowl problem is indeed mysterious, even though avid readers can probably guess what's inside.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
4th and up
I listened to this one on cd. I know many of the students like this series and was interested for that reason. I like the way the author explains the meanings of words and idioms. There are some parts that are quite funny. It was not my taste, but I feel like I can direct kids to these if I think they might like them.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
recommends it for:
humor fans, mystery fans, parody fans, Lemony Snicket fans
The Baudelaires wind up at the Hotel Denoument and inadvertently cause a bit of trouble, as they are wont to do. For me, the wonderfully obnoxious Carmelita stole most of the show, as did Esme Squalor in her lettuce-leaf bikini. I just love how horrific her fashion sense is.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2007
Wow! A lot happened here. All past characters reappear in interesting ways. I felt an immediate bond with Dewey, and unlike all the expected murders before, I found his accidental death tragic! Oh, and I just lvoe the subtle ways that Sonny's grown up.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
kids aged 11-13
Hmmm...these were the first books i really foccused reading. I've read the whole series and quite enjoyed them at the time. The books can get quite confusing/boring due to the way the author writes and some story lines are not as good as others.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
