The Dilemma Deepens: A Box of Unfortunate Events, Books 7-9 (The Vile Village; The Hostile Hospital; The Carnivorous Carnival)

NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

A Warning from the Publisher:

Would you rather sprain your ankle, bruise your hip, and lose a toe to frostbite on the same day? Or would you rather have these accidents happen on three different days?

This collection of volumes seven through nine in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is the equivalent of having three ghastly accidents right in a row. Contained here are such unpleasantries as kidnapping, disguise, murder, paperwork, another disguise, heart-shaped balloons, false allegations, stiletto heels, a shattered crystal ball, a cryptic map, an irritating song, and quite a few more disguises, all bundled together into a continuous barrage of horror and dismay.

The more sensible approach would be to read The Vile Village, The Hostile Hospital, and The Carnivorous Carnival months or even years apart from one another, so you have time to recuperate from the misery each volume offers—or better yet, to turn your eyes away from Mr. Snicket's work and find a literary experience that would cause you no distress whatsoever.

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education, which may or may not explain his ability to evade capture. He is the author of the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, several picture books, including The Dark, and the books collectively titled All the Wrong Questions.

Brett Helquist's celebrated art has graced books from the charming Bedtime for Bear, which he also wrote, to the New York Times–bestselling A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket to the glorious picture book adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.