A Series of Unfortunate Events 6: The Ersatz Elevator / 9780061757181

I first came to this series after watching the tie-in movie "Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events". I love the series for its superb characterization, lovely writing, quirky plotlines, and deeply dark humor. This sixth book in the series carries on the tradition and will not disappoint fans.

Like the rest of the novels in this series, this book is very slender and can be whipped through in a few short hours - if it has any drawbacks at all, it would perhaps be the price-to-page ratio. However, the story is engaging and well-told and it's impossible to not be drawn into the drama of the Baudelaire orphans as they struggle to survive in their new home in the penthouse apartment of the Squallors. The neighborhood is intensely interested in being fashionable and as elevators are now "out" and stairs are "in", the orphans are faced with the daunting prospect of living in the top apartment of a 66-floor skyscraper.

A note about the audiobook edition of this book: this installment returns to the superb narration of Tim Curry that the early books in the series featured. Curry does an incredible job with the story and it is impossible to not be drawn into his deep, rich narration as he follows the orphans in their adventures.

~ Ana Mardoll