Saturday, December 19, 2015

Review:: The Grim Grotto, by Lemony Snicket


Title: The Grim Grotto
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events, #11
Format: Kindle
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Previously:
The Hostile Hospital
The Carnivorous Carnival
The Slippery Slope

It appears that the charm of The Slippery Slope slipped away with this one. The orphans are swept downstream and end up on a submarine. Things are pretty predictable, and I just didn't feel engaged by any of it.

Maybe it was the annoying characters that brought the book down for me. We see the return of Phil from The Miserable Mill, who was a sigh-worthy character on his own. But instead, he seems the least offensive, when we have to deal with a captain who basically rambles out words and can't seem to stop. Is he there just for word padding? It's difficult to tell. He disappears rather quickly, but not quickly enough.

Also, the fact that I could simply apply Murphy's law to this book and get the plot was kind of annoying. Poisonous spores? Someone will get poisoned. Probably Sunny. Olaf trying to capture the submarine? Olaf will capture the submarine. I even called the twistiest twist well before it happened, but probably because the book was trying too hard to foreshadow it in a twisty way.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the end of this series. I'm not sure if it's because I sincerely want to know what's going on; it feels like a bunch of nonsense thrown together right now (and previously) or if it's because I'll just feel a sense of completion. Either way, two more left.

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