2005: #16 – The Austere Academy (Lemony Snicket)

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
Series: A Series of Unfortunate Events #05
Published by HarperCollins Publishers on August 31st 2000
Genres: middle grade
Pages: 221


Also by this author: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Ersatz Elevator
Also in this series: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, The Ersatz Elevator

Dear Reader,
 
If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don't. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives.
 
Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system.
 
It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night's sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book.
 
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Book 16 was A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Fifth — The Austere Academy.

Mr. Snicket switched things up a little bit here. Unlike the first 4 books, this book didn’t end with Count Olaf quickly escaping and the Baudelaires just left to move on to a new home. Nope, this book ends with a kidnapping! There also was the introduction of a couple of new recurring characters, Isadora and Duncan, the Quagmire triplets (don’t ask). I was starting to wonder if I was going to want to finish the rest of these, but the last third of this book sucked me back in.

Page count: 4,490/15,000 — 29.93%