#re3 - The Miserable Mill

As you guys are probably aware, I am not the biggest fan of this book. To me, it's repeats what the first three books in the series. And for me to maybe reread/read this series, I have to power through this - which is what I did last Sunday. That's right, I read this throughout the course of one day.

The Baudelaire orphans have been moved to yet another guardian. This time, they are moved to Paltryville to live with Sir, a man who smokes so much, no one ever sees his face. They expected to be safe. Shame that's going to be the case. Soon, Violet, Klaus and Sunny are forced to work at the lumber mill Sir owns, only have chewing gum for lunch and the fear. The fear that Count Olaf, a man who is determined to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune. But Count Olaf is nowhere to be seen...

I already admitted that out of the books I have read within this series (the first 4, the tenth and the final), this is my least. But rereading The Miserable Mill was interesting because, while I am still not a fan of this book, there were things in the book that caught my eye.

Through the series (well... the books I've read), the children fit certain roles. Violet is the inventor, Klaus the reader and Sunny is the baby so is often put in helpless situations. But in this book, the roles are switched. Violet has to be the reader, Klaus has to be the inventor and Sunny become a fighter.

Another interesting is Count Olaf. In the previous novels, Count Olaf appears very early in the story. Within the first 3 or four chapters. But in The Miserable Mill, Count Olaf came very late in the game. It was more his shadow being casted over this story and heightened the fear of him.

This book repeats the format of the previous novels, but it's trying to flip the pattern on its head.

Am still not a huge fan of this book, but it's nice not to dislike it as much as I did before. And now, into the books that I haven't read, starting with The Austere Academy...