I had been wanting to read this series for a while, and when I saw that the audiobooks were read by Tim Curry, I knew that was the way to experience it. And, indeed, his narration is wonderful and his voices are deliciously rich, especially for Count Olaf. And Sunny, whose expressive gibberish—as translated by Lemony Snicket—is a highlight of the book. I really did like the Baudelaire orphans: Violet, the inventor; Klaus, the reader; and Sunny, the biter.

But I kind of expected the book to be...more clever? Pseudonymous Bosch was compared to Lemony Snicket, and he's devilishly clever, but Lemony Snicket seems to have two gimmicks: reminding us that everything will be terrible and defining words for us. Yes, it's a book for children, but usually, the word definitions aren't very amusing. I want better authorial intrusion!

I expect the series will improve, though.