The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Dear Reader,

I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to read this book because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put this book down instantaneously, because of all the books describing the unhappy lives of the Baudelaire orphans, The Miserable Mill might be the unhappiest yet. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are sent to Paltryville to work in a lumber mill, and they find disaster and misfortune lurking behind every log.

The pages of this book, I'm sorry to inform you, contain such unpleasantries as a giant pincher machine, a bad casserole, a man with a cloud of smoke where his head should be, a hypnotist, a terrible accident resulting in injury, and coupons.

I have promised to write down the entire history of these three poor children, but you haven't, so if you prefer stories that are more heartwarming, please feel free to make another selection.

With all due respect,

Lemony Snicket

I regret to inform you that this book series was one of my favorites when I was younger. As I revisit these books as an adult, it's become clear that I can accredit this series to many of my longheld quirks, which here means a completely morbid sense of humor and attraction to meta-references. Regardless, it surprised me to re-discover how gory and cynical these books are at heart, and yet what could I expect from a series that labels itself so blatantly as “unfortunate events?” I should have more carefully listened to Lemony Snicket's warnings ...

In all truth, A Series of Unfortunate Events is a pretty genius series and that definitely includes “The Miserable Mill.” The mystery spun through each episode of the Baudelaire orphans' journey is engaging enough, but Lemony Snicket's irreverent and witty writing style elevate these books to classic status for me. It's also impressive that the books successfully explain higher-level vocabulary and literary devices in a subtle way that builds on top of that growing mystery rather than detracting from it. “The Miserable Mill” is also where (in my opinion) the book starts to deviate from the formula established in the first three installments by forcing the Baudelaires to take up each others' strengths rather than just relying on their own. It's dark, it's intriguing, it's ridiculous and you know what? I can't wait to continue to reacquaint myself with this series.

What a waste!, The first three books in the series made me to think that it would make such a great book for children. But the ‘The Miserable Mill' is sure a miserable one in the way the story being portrayed.
Sunny made a sword fight with her teeth?
Klaus pulled the log with chewed gum?
Sunny scrubbed the branches off from the tree with her teeth?

What a stupidity!

If the above things were true then the story should be in fantasy but it isn't. I will never recommend this series atleast beginning from the ‘The Miserable Mill', or atleast ‘The Miserable Mill' to anyone.
To be sure I will never read it again, if I did then I would be perfectly out of sense, the word ‘perfectly' here means ‘absolute stupidity'.

The very very slight storyline formula change up was okay, and the children having to step into each other's shoes was good. Talk about morbid and gruesome too. But this book was just not very good overall.

And goodness the audiobook is so bad. Children and narrator were too quiet and the adults were so loud it could blow out your eardrum. The adult voices were incredibly annoying too. Can't wait to return to the Tim Curry narration soon.