The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket Book Review

 The Miserable Mill 

(A Series of Unfortunate Events #4)

By Lemony Snicket 

Published Year: 2000

Page Count: 197 pages 

Medium Used: Oneplus Nord Ce6, Moon Reader 

Genre: Children's Fiction,Middle Grade, Young Adult, Science fiction, Hypnotism, Horror, Humor, Psychological, Fantasy, Siblings, 2026-read. 

Rating : 5/5 😎 😎 😎 😎 😎 

Some people have comfort food to go to in case they are feeling unwell or in need of something soothing in their tummy. These books have become my comfort go-to series when I feel low or disconnected while reading something else. Although the overall logic and execution in the book remains the same, there are some interesting twists and addictive surprises added to make the story unmissable. This book has added some very memorable characters other than the main, recurring ones - like Sir the Boss, Charles, Shirley etc. Also the author has flipped the roles of Klaus and Violet - here, Violet reads and Klaus invents! Sunny joins a sword fight with her sharp, biting teeth as her armor. Lol. It was fun. It could easily have become nerve wracking if I didn't know this is a children's book series in which nothing really harmful ever happens. 

In the last book, the children are almost taken prisoners by Count Olaf before he runs away with his minion in tow. Now, this book starts with Mr. Poe dropping off the children in an unknown town to go live with their distant relative that has agreed to take them on board. They go by train and Mr. Poe is so careless that he leaves them in the middle of nowhere,to navigate the route to their new home themselves, before returning back to his offices in the city. The kids walk to the lumber mill which is the address provided by their new guardian whose name and face are both a mystery, even after the book is finished and we might never see this person's character appear again. There is a opthalmologist's hospital right next to the mill and it is an oval shaped building, painted to resemble the eye tattoo on Count Olaf's left ankle. With sinking hopes and pounding hearts, the kids enter their new "home". 

The foreman who works at the mill is a cruel man and so is the Sir, the children's new guardian. He assigns them a small bunk to share in a windowless, smelling room and forces them into working from morning till night in the mill. Charles is a partner but clearly subservient to the boss. He shows them what little kindness they could use in the new, horrid place. Klaus gets hypnotised when he visits the opthalmologist's office to fix his broken glasses. It happens multiple times. They worry and they search for Count Olaf everywhere. When they finally meet him and try to warn the elders, as usual, their fears and worries are brushed aside. As the story progresses, Sunny and Violet must figure how to drag their brother out of the hypnotic trance he seemed to have fallen into. Klaus should figure how to save the siblings who are fighting in his behalf. Count Olaf escapes one more time. Run run run .. he does .. only to perhaps meet the children anew in their new home .. in the next book..!!! 

What a series !! I am becoming a child myself one more time, reading this. The children love reading and it is books like this that make it so easy to fall in love with the process! Cheers 🥂🥂🥂