The Miserable Mill and The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

My personal thoughts on the series as a whole (besides the fact that this series is incredibly wretched and full of unfortunate events is posted in my post prior prior. If you want to see my opinions on all the books as a whole, please (please do not, though, as the post is as wretched and full of unfortunate events as the actual series) go the one prior by scrolling down, a phrase which here means, 'putting your finger on the little bumpy area between the left and right button and pushing in downward'.

THE MISERABLE MILL

The Baudelaires are taken to the Lucky Smells Lumbermill in Paltryville, where they are forced to work there. They soon realizethe incredible injustice that goes on there, along with 2 people that are  unpleasant. Flacutono, who is the foreman and is actually the bald man with the long nose in disguise, and Sir, who heads the Lumbermill and is a nasty man who cares for no one but himself. We also meet Charles, a kind but often indecisive man, and Phil, an optimist, both who become more important characters later in the series. When Flacutono purposefully trips over Klaus and breaks his glasses, so he is taken to Dr. Orwell's house, where he is hypnotized. The next day, Laus causes an accident, but wakes up suddenly after it. Soon after, though, he is tripped again, and taken to Dr. Orwell's, his siblings along with him. They soon discover that the receptionist, Shirley, is actually Count Olaf in disguise, but no one believes them, just like every single other time he has followed them. When they arrive, a message from Sir tells them that if Klaus caused one more accident at the mill, they wold be placed into the care of Shirley, hence Count Olaf get his hands on the Baudelaires, Determined to break Klaus out of his hypnosis, Violet researches it to discover that a single word can break him out of it. When Violet discovers that Dr. Orwell, Flacutono, and Shirley and manipulating Klaus to make an accident, Violet stops them just in time by figuring out the word to break Klaus out of his hypnosis, which is inordinate. Klaus manages to stop the accident, and the adults soon discover, too late, of course- that Shirley is indeed Count Olaf, and Flacutono is his henchperson, and hey flee together, with the news that the children are to be sent to boarding school, with the thought, that perhaps, they may be lucky after all.

THE MISERABLE MILL NOTES

While I have not mentioned this detail in the summary, the two older Baudelaire siblings find themselves in positions that are not up their alley, a phrase which here means, 'not their major', but they manage to succeed. Therefore, Lemony Snicket manages to portray the switched positions plot line IN A NON CRINGEY WAY. YES! LEMONY SNICKET HAS DONE WHAT THE LOGIC OF TV SHOWS, BOOKS AND MOVIES CHARACTERS HAVE FAILED TO DO!

THE AUSTERE ACADEMY
The Baudelaires are taken to Prufrock Prep, where they meet Vice Principal Nero, an arrogant, impatient person with absolutely no heart whatsoever. They also meet Carmeltia Spats, a nasty, rude girl whom the Baudelaires have to put up with and have to meet again later in the series. Finally, they meet allies, the Isadora and Duncan Quagmire, who are supposed to be triplets but their other sibling, Quigley, died in a fire (except not really), that took their home and parents, just like the Baudelaires. The Baudelaires tell the Quagmires of Count Olaf and their troubles, and they offer to help. The two older siblings attend boring, pointless lessons, while Sunny works as a secretary for Nero, and for a while it seemed like perhaps life would be okay after all. However, Count Olaf, who is disguised as a gym teacher named Coach Genghis. Coach Genghis makes the orphans to laps all night, making them too tired to study, hence making them flunk. Nero notices this and threatens to expel the orphans to Coach Genghis if they do not get a perfect store on a exam taken the next night. The Quagmires take the place of the Baudelaires in the laps, along with a sack of flour as a substitue for Sunny, which ultimately gets them revealed. On one hand, the Baudelaires manage to expose Coach Genghis' true identity, On the other hand, he manages to kidnapp the Quagmires, and the orphans are expelled, with nothing but the three letters V.F.D, that the triplets had managed to shout to them. 

THE AUSTERE ACADEMY NOTES

This book is where things get a) desperate b) very interesting. Until now, the books follow a similar cycle: the Baudelaires find themselves in place to live (and end up not liking it, most of the time), Count Olaf follows them, the Baudelaires try to convince the adults that whoever the person he is disguied as is Count Olaf, they fail, and have to prove it to the adults themselves, who only prove that they are useless. Up until this book, the Baudelaires instinct has been to flee, not fight. However, with the kidnapping of the Quagmires, the Baudelaires are determined to bring Count Olaf to his knees no matter what. We are also introduced to V.F.D., three mysterious letters that are not what you expect. 

Well, that's it for today. I hope you come for more boom reviews, except not the reviews reviewing this series. 

With all due respect, Sooyoung Jo