I enjoyed it a lot. I like how Lemony Snicket writes the books and that he creates a whole new "persona" to act as the author/investigator, as if the books are his journal. I find this style of writing really engaging and FUN? Like I'm reading a memoir (but informally) or listening to my grandpa's stories of his past adventures (even though this one is fictional).
I am also excited to see the journey of young Lemony Snicket in the Stain'd-by-the-Sea town and why he purposefully chose Theodora as his chaperone.
Love the worldbuilding/the descriptions. Reading ASOUE as a child, this all made me so curious. Thinking there was maybe a whole world where adults had mysterious picnics and moonlight badminton parties and solved whacky crimes with their best friends. And libraries and people with special interests, and how that is something that virtuous people have/do. I didnt believe that VFD itself existed, but something in these books made me think that being an adult might be this big adventure, with some secret codes, meetings...
I think a lot of my enjoyment came from my nostalgia/love for ASOUE, too. Some of the little easter eggs (Monty, Hector, someone using their teeth to cut a sheet!, something weird in the sea, secret organisations...)
But I also really liked the whimsical and weird world we get to see in this book. I wonder whats with the masks and the bell? Sounds creepy. And I wonder if we will ever learn what the S. stands for. I LOVED this book, and this series in general, as it's written in this comedic, children's witty style, with the repetition of words and it's so fun and such a quick and easy read.
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