The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11)

by Lemony Snicket

HarperCollins, October, 2004.
Hardcover, 323 pages.
ISBN: 0064410145
Ages 9 and up

The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11) by Lemony Snicket

The Baudelaire orphans have survived an amazing array of misfortunes to date. But they are still alive, out of the hands of the dastardly Count Olaf and still do not appear to be suffering from post traumantic stress disorder. The narrator tells us that what happens next is so horrible that he feels compelled to inserts extensive factual information about the water cycle so that readers will get bored and stop reading the book. Undoubtedly, most will brave readers will soldier on.

Violet, Klaus and Sunny find themselves in an aquatic adventure when their search for the sugar bowl finds them on a submarine named Queequeg run by Captain Widdershins, his stepdaughter Fiona and Phil, whom you might remember from the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. The siblings must face the Medusiod Mycelium in the Gorgonian Grotto (a most unpleasant place) and, of course, Count Olaf and his henchmen make an appearance. Count Olaf, who is played by Jim Carrey in the upcoming film, seems as if he could be mellowing a bit in the book. Therefore, he will no doubt do something especially vile in the next installment of this clever, imaginative and absolutely addictive series.

--Claire E. White

The Grim Grotto (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 11) is available for purchase on Amazon.com

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This review was published in the November-December, 2004 of The Internet Writing Journal.