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The Reptile Room Book Review

5.0 rating
Reviewed by Ashlee Kelsen in Book Review
  • AuthorLemony Snicket
  • PublisherHarperCollins; Reprint edition
  • Published5/08/2007
  • Pages168

Heyo guys! I know I said, I would try to think of something new and different, but I was kind of stumped to think of something new. So, today I am going to be doing another review. We are going to be continuing the A Series of Unfortunate Events series!

The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket. I’m really excited to share my thoughts about these books and what it’s about! I would recommend going to episode 14 to catch up on the previous book, A Bad Beginning! So without further ado, here’s my review!

The Book Review Podcast

The Review

Last review I talked about the first book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series, the Bad Beginning. After all of that mess of events in the first book, you would think that the Baudelaires would be happy with their new guardian, Uncle Monty.

Well, no. After hanging with cool their new guardian and seeing his amazing Reptile Room, filled with snakes, frogs, lizards and all kinds of reptiles, the Baudelaires find out that Count Olaf ended up disguising himself as Uncle Monty’s new assistant, Stephono.

You would think that Uncle Monty would see that, wait! That looks like Count Olaf, but surprisingly not! The Baudelaires are doing their best to stay away from Count Olaf and convince Uncle Monty that Stefano is not who he says he is!

After many, questionable events happen, and for example: the incredibly deadly viper (which is a misnomer, but you’ll find that out in the book). Something.. happens to Uncle Monty.

One morning, the Baudelaires wake up to see Uncle Monty dead in the reptile room and Stefano claiming he was bitten by a snake.

Obviously, the Baudelaire’s don’t buy that. You follow the three Baudelaires, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, as they try and prove that Stefano is Count Olaf, mostly to Mr. Poe who is very bad at looking closely and seeing the truth. The book is entertaining, mysterious and fun to read!

Author Praise

Lemony Snicket does a great job constructing this story and making it fairly easy to read and convert into the Netflix Original. The idea is very intriguing and got me, personally, hooked to the story!

Also, I believe the books get more advanced and thicker the more you read into the series, so that’s a win for me!

Basic Facts

  • The book is, surprisingly, only 190 pages long
  • As all of the books are in the series, there are 13 chapters in the book
  • I do not believe this book has won an award
  • The author is Daniel Hadler or Lemony Snicket (which is his penn name)
  • The publishing brand is scholastic

What is My Rating?

If I had to rate this book, I would definitely give it a 4.5 out of five stars. I love the setting and Uncle Monty himself, but if you want to hear more about that, stay tuned for my character thoughts. This book is a super quick read and worth it!

If you enjoyed the first book, the bad beginning, I bet you’ll love this book just as much. You can see the Baudelaires shine as they use their talents to solve this mystery. Granted, it has been a while since I’ve read this book, so I will settle for a 4.5 because I did enjoy this book a lot.

Would I Recommend?

Now that I’ve given the book a rating, it’s the question, would I recommend the book? It really depends. If they’ve read the first book, then 100%! It’s a great sequel and extends the series really well.

Though if they haven’t, no. They wouldn’t understand the events happening and won’t have a big grasp on who Count Olaf is and what he’s done in the past. So it really depends if they’ve read the previous book or not.

Highlights Segment

Time for the highlights segment! A time where I spoil a lot. (Not counting the description, that was an accident.) so here we go!

  • I guess I should’ve mentioned this the first episode, but I’m going to include it now: I’ve always liked how Lemony gave us the information of the Baudelaires, at the same time teaching us sayings and words that help improve the readers vocabulary! I also enjoyed having the dramatic irony included in the story, it made it super fun to read, already knowing what’s going to happen. But, overall, the aspect is a good thing to have in a fictional book.
  • I really enjoyed Uncle Monty and his character, especially the way he cared for the Baudelaires. I know we’re only on the first book, but I honestly believe Uncle Monty is my favorite guardian. He is so kind and a great character to add in such a melancholy book.

Character Thoughts

Alrighty, finally we have our character thoughts! My favorite section of the podcast, obviously. Here we go! Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, are as amazing as always and are so, so smart!

They always find a way out and I wonder, how are they going to get out of this situation, and they, guess what, they do. They obviously work amazing all together but they can shine bright on their own, shown in this book. Count Olaf, horrible as always.

He is so much scarier in the books and it makes me feel so bad for the Baudelaires that they have to deal with someone like him. And Uncle Monty was a great new character and so kind!

But, as all characters are.. they end up, well I can assume you know already. My favorite character was Uncle Monty in this book, can you guess?

I mean, who can say no to his coconut cake? My least favorite character will be Mr. Poe for this episode. While in the show he’s so gullible it’s kind of funny, but in the books, it’s quite annoying that he doesn’t see past Count Olaf’s disguise.

I mean, come on! Some kids figured it out before you!

Thank You For Listening!

Thank you so much for listening to this week’s podcast! I really hope, if haven’t already, you pick up the series and read through it! It’s very entertaining and just a great series. Before I end this episode I wanted to show a message I got from a friend of mine. Thank you so much and I appreciate the message!

About Lemony Snicket

Daniel Handler is an American writer and musician. He is best known for his children's series A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions, published under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The former was adapted into a Nickelodeon film in 2004 as well as a Netflix series from 2017 to 2019

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR

The Bad Beginning The Reptile Room

Ashlee Kelsen

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About Lemony Snicket

Daniel Handler is an American writer and musician. He is best known for his children's series A Series of Unfortunate Events and All the Wrong Questions, published under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. The former was adapted into a Nickelodeon film in 2004 as well as a Netflix series from 2017 to 2019

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The Bad Beginning The Reptile Room

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Hi, my name is Ashlee Kelsen. I am the host of, Readability! I am 11 years old and I love reading! I am apart of the Battle of the Books team at my school and I am enjoying it, nonetheless. I have a little brother I hang out with all the time and we both love reading so much! I really hope you enjoy my podcast, every Saturday! Keep reading!

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