A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Penultimate Peril (Book the Twelfth)

(out of 5)
Whew! I must admit, I feel a bit relieved to have finished this 12th book of the series. It's all I've been reading for the last few months, and has thus been a long time coming to finally complete it to this point. I'm definitely ready for a break till the 13th book is released, but also anxious for its arrival.

Like I said before, it takes a little while for the mystery of this journey to begin to unravel, but once it does, it is an intriguing story that is difficult to put down. It is particularly clever how the 'author', Lemony Snicket, becomes a character in the story as well, which seems to be one the most interesting mysteries of all! I look forward to really learning who Lemony Snicket is, why he is researching the Baudelaire story, and where he is now.

The evolution of Sunny Baudelaire really seemed to hit me during Book 12. She has grown so much since the first book, where we first meet the biting, babbling (seemingly meaningless noises, if not for her siblings translation) Sunny Baudelaire. She now often speaks profound sentences, such as "The last safe place is safe no more". I was also proud to see her move on from biting to her ever-increasing skill of gourmet cooking (a talent which has surprisingly come in quite handy during many sticky situtations). What a talented young lady she has become!

It was quite a surprising twist at the end of this book! The Baudelaires definitely seem to be crossing the line between "volunteer" and "villian". It's hard to say whether they are becoming more treacherous than noble. For this reason and others I anxiously await Book the 13th, entitled, The End, which is scheduled to be released Friday the 13th of October 2006.

Here are some other amusing links to articles and audio that delve more into the life of "Lemony Snicket" and his Series of Unfortunate Events:

• NPR interview with Daniel Handler

• CBS, The Early Show, interview with Daniel Handler

• Lemony Snicket's Homepage