Title: The Grim Grotto
Author: Lemony Snicket
Series: Series of Unfortunate Events #11
Genre: Young-Adult, Adventure, Mystery
Published: September 21st 2004 by HarperCollins Publishers
Plot:
Dear Reader,
Unless you are a slug, a sea anemone, or mildew, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this book, in which the Baudelaire siblings encounter an unpleasant amount of dampness as they descend into the depths of despair, underwater.
In fact, the horrors they encounter are too numerous to list, and you wouldn’t want me even to mention the worst of it, which includes mushrooms, a desperate search for something lost, a mechanical monster, a distressing message from a lost friend, and tap dancing.
As a dedicated author who has pledged to keep recording the depressing story of the Baudelaires, I must continue to delve deep into the cavernous depths of the orphans’ lives. You, on the other hand, may delve into some happier book in order to keep your eyes and your spirits from being dampened.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
Review:
It’s been a long time since I read the first ten books of this series, and I easily fell back into reading this one. Snicket creates a tragic event in three young children’s life into an exciting, extraordinary and unique tale of mystery, adventure and despair.
He continually tells you not to read on and relates the story around a theme. For this instalment our central focus was upon the water cycle which was related to the underwater adventure. It’s interesting how he manages to pair this with the nature of the three children and their journey and he continually reminds us throughout the book of this!
We have still yet to have our questions answered and if not got more than we originally started with, but Snicket’s really holds the attention of the reader and makes the pages turn!
The children are as intuitive as ever, and they make up an interesting and intelligent set of characters. It’s nice to watch the progression of Sunny from a baby into a more able and talking toddler and Violet seems to always be beyond her 15 years in my view.
I found there was real suspense, excitement and with in this story. However some of his continual repetition that created the characters began to annoy me at times, and I found myself wishing they’d shut up. Despite this, I think the book has some very engaging moments, a good mystery that doesn’t really give away the ending and a continual need to carry on and read the series.
The Grim Grotto is without a doubt a fantastic addition to the young adult genre. I think Snicket makes the Series of Unfortunate Events appealable to both the young generation and the adults who like to indulge in the young-adult genre.
My Rating:
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