A Series of Unfortunate Events(asoue)

[Amritama]

Welllll, I got my copy of book 13. I have to say, I'm still slightly bias to book 12, but I really liked how Handler tied up the end of the Baudelaire's story. True, more questions than answers were presented to us, but one of the themes in the book was that every story has its fair share of secrets (or a "great unknown") that we may never figure out.

Spoiler Below

I thought the islanders and "Ish" sort of made things a lot more harder to comprehend then they already were, but they certainly helped emphasize that everyone acts based on their own beliefs and what the situation calls for. I found the "death" of the islanders (sure, they didn't actually die on the spot, but a person infected with Medusoid Myecelium would die within an hour) a bit unnecessary. Then again, it DID work with the main theme of the book (which could be interpreted in many ways), but something more poignant would've satisfied me better.

Speaking about poignant, Count Olaf rocked in this book. Not that I've ever disliked him, but Count Olaf was at his best here. His death, though somewhat unexpected for me, was dealt with in a way that didn't totally convey good triumphing over evil. Also, Kit x Olaf was a wonderful surprise. It was the least expected thing to happen in chapter 13 (or the whole book), but it was sweet. Kit x Olaf used to be one of my crack OTPs (come on, the two contrasted like day and night), but now I know it's somewhat canon! =D It makes me wonder whether all of the books didn't portray Olaf correctly, since Olaf was kind of the reason behind Kit's death (there were many more external factors, but that's not the point) and completely responsible for Jacques' death. Perhaps Lemony's slight bias distorted the books, but who knows? That's one of the many secrets we may never come to know.

I'm actually glad the Quagmires and the rest of the gang didn't make an appearance, though I wanted Fiona to come back. She, in my opinion, was one of the best characters in the series, and she only got to appear in one book. Anyhow, I think their appearance would've raised waaaayyy too many questions than were already present, and this is the Baudelaire orphans' story ONLY. The "great unknown" could've, as Kit said, either killed or saved them, though it's something that's debatable. I mean, it could've been a cameo from the infamous FFP, people far worst than Count Olaf, or some sort of symbolism of a greater thing. I actually believe it to be symbolism to the future, since, for all of us, the future can be hard to figure out. Also, the fact that they decided to challenge it strengthens my hunch.

Overall, I liked this book, but I felt sorry for Kit. She was one of my favorite VFD members, though Beatrice may have not been Beatrice without her depart. Oh, and Beatrice was cute. <3

Whoa, that's one of my longest posts... Well, The End was great and reminded me a bit of the earlier books and their endings. Perhaps Horseradish: Bitter Truths You Can't Avoid might answer some (if not all, which I highly doubt) questions thar rose up throughout the books. Also, Amazon has two other books set to publish on the same day as Horseradish, although I believe they may be reprints.