Post by Christmas Chief on Sept 18, 2012 14:56:17 GMT -5
By Sherry Ann:
Additional reviews (that is, those not in this post) can be located throughout the thread, linked to here for ease of reference.
By Dante:
---
So, Who Could That Be At This Hour? comes out soon, but Hachette was committed to delivering preview copies to various sources in August (even if the promised Snicket Delivers Snicket campaign never materialised), and true to form, various reviews have begun to appear. This is the place to post them. Most professional reviews will be smart enough not to spoil anything, but if I or you see anything resembling a spoiler, spoiler tags should be used. Please see the Official Spoiler Thread for more information.
REVIEWS:
Barnes & Noble:
Lemony Snicket has been silent too long. In his first appearance since 2007, he begins what he claims, perhaps deceptively, to be the first of a series of four volumes. To prove its purported existence, he proffers a teaser sample: "There was a town, there was a girl, and there was a theft. I was living in the town, and I was hired to investigate the theft, and I thought that the girl had nothing to do with it." Whether that claim is true, we have no idea, but we do know that sooner or later, Mr. Snicket will probably tell us the truth. Editor's unflinching recommendation.
Source.
Publishers Weekly:
Snicket, author of the wildly successful Series of Unfortunate Events stories, returns with the first in the projected four-volume All the Wrong Questions series, supplying "autobiographical" accounts of his unusual childhood. Nearly 13 when the book opens, Snicket is beginning his apprenticeship for a mysterious organization under the tutelage of dimwitted S. Theodora Markson, who is ranked dead last in effectiveness by the agency but who may be the source of Snicket's tic of defining vocabulary pedantically, a word which here means, oh, never mind. Unlike Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography (HarperCollins, 2002), which left readers as uninformed about him as they were before they read it, this account reveals that Lemony is "an excellent reader, a good cook, a mediocre musician, and an awful quarreler." Not mind-blowing, but it's a start. And perhaps not true. Straight answers are hard to find as Snicket and Markson investigate a theft in a seaside town that's been drained of its sea, encountering deception and double crosses at every turn. Full of Snicket's trademark droll humor and maddeningly open-ended, this will have readers clamoring for volume two.
Source.
Kirkus Reviews:
Young Mr. Snicket seems to always ask the wrong questions. In the basin of a bay drained of seawater, where giant needles extract ink from octopi underground, sits Stain'd-by-the-Sea, the mostly deserted town where 12-year-old Lemony Snicket takes his first case as apprentice to chaperone S. Theodora Markson. They have been hired by Mrs. Murphy Sallis to retrieve a vastly valuable statue of the local legend, the Bombinating Beast, from her neighbors and frenemies the Mallahans. Nothing's what it seems…well, the adults are mostly nitwits…and Snicket is usually preoccupied with someone he left in the city doing something he should be helping her do. With the help and/or hindrance of girls Moxie and Ellington, can Snicket keep his promises and come close to solving a mystery? Author Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) returns with a tale of fictional-character Snicket's early years, between his unconventional education and his chronicling of the woes of the Baudelaires. Intact from his earlier series are the gothic wackiness, linguistic play and literary allusions. This first in a series of four is less grim and cynical and more noir and pragmatic than Snicket's earlier works, but just as much fun. Fans of the Series of Unfortunate Events will be in heaven picking out tidbit references to the tridecalogy, but readers who've yet to delve into that well of sadness will have no problem enjoying this weird and witty yarn.
Source.
---
By Sherry Ann:
---
The following reviews were published by individuals on Goodreads.com, reviewing WCTBATH from a somewhat more informal position.
Goodreads:
Lemony Snicket is back again with the story of his apprenticeship in the unknown organization with which we readers are both familiar and unfamiliar with. As a smart as a whip child he investigates a theft or not a theft in a world of bungling adults, awkward places and lovely literary references. This book will improve your vocabulary and remind you to always take a closer look at the world around you. As Lemony solves one mystery and reveals to the readers two others, you might find yourself thinking that asking all the wrong questions just might be the best possible way to learn.
-
The mysterious questions begin on page 1 as Lemony tells a story of his life as a 12 year old boy. Things are never as they first seem and inquiries are answered with more questions. Intriguing characters with fabulous names (sub-librarian, Dashiell Qwerty; mysterious girl with question mark curved eyebrows, Ellington Feint, and young reporter, Moxie Mallahan) keep you on your toes as one mystery blends into another. Book 1 ends with more questions than answers, but I'm ready for 3 more installments of this delightful series.
-
A fun and interesting start to a new series, though it's so short and leaves so many questions unanswered (though repeatedly not the titular one) that I almost wish I had waited until the series was finished. Curious to see what Series Of Unfortunate Events fans think of this one, since it's distinctly different in a lot of ways, but does keep the "a word which here means" running gag, the idea that adults are generally pretty dumb and not much good at things, the secret society trope, the nested mysteries, and much more.
-
I am a die-hard fan of the "Series of Unfortunate Events" by the same author. This "memoir" is meant to be a bit of a prequel to SoUE. It was good, but sadly it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Snicket's writing style isn't really a good fit for a first person narrative. Granted, I believe this is supposed to be the start of a new series, and I am REALLY looking forward to reading the rest of the books.
Source.
Alamosa Books:
I would recommend this book to: anyone & everyone!
You probably shouldn't want to read this book. It's the pointless tale of a shiftless young author asking questions that shouldn't be asked and getting answers that aren't. Set in a dying town that ought to be under water and populated by characters who should really have better things to do, Who Could That Be at This Hour begins with a cup of drugged tea in a dingy tearoom (and stationery shop) and ends thirteen chapters later with a 12th birthday celebration feast of dusty peanuts. There is quite a load of meandering about in between, much of it involving the non-theft of a not-priceless artifact from a land-locked lighthouse. And coffee grounds.
And may I say I laughed my back side right off while reading this book! (I guess gratitude is in order for that.) I am not sure what else I can say — literally, as I signed a waiver saying I wouldn't say much, and figuratively, as words fall completely short of describing this book. I can say that Lemony Snicket is back in rare form. And there are three more installments to come in his autobiographical series, All the Wrong Questions.
I can't wait!
Source.
---
Additional reviews (that is, those not in this post) can be located throughout the thread, linked to here for ease of reference.
Tumblr Review
GoodReads.com
Yakima Herald - Book Scene
Booklist.com
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal &
PublishersWeekly (short)
A.V. Club &
The Baltimore Sun
USA Today
Boston Globe &
Washington Post
The Daytona Beach
The Salt Lake Tribune &
Chicago Tribune
The Cornell Daily Sun
Daily Nebraskan
The Guardian
GoodReads.com
Yakima Herald - Book Scene
Booklist.com
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal &
PublishersWeekly (short)
A.V. Club &
The Baltimore Sun
USA Today
Boston Globe &
Washington Post
The Daytona Beach
The Salt Lake Tribune &
Chicago Tribune
The Cornell Daily Sun
Daily Nebraskan
The Guardian
By Dante:
---
So, Who Could That Be At This Hour? comes out soon, but Hachette was committed to delivering preview copies to various sources in August (even if the promised Snicket Delivers Snicket campaign never materialised), and true to form, various reviews have begun to appear. This is the place to post them. Most professional reviews will be smart enough not to spoil anything, but if I or you see anything resembling a spoiler, spoiler tags should be used. Please see the Official Spoiler Thread for more information.
REVIEWS:
Barnes & Noble:
Lemony Snicket has been silent too long. In his first appearance since 2007, he begins what he claims, perhaps deceptively, to be the first of a series of four volumes. To prove its purported existence, he proffers a teaser sample: "There was a town, there was a girl, and there was a theft. I was living in the town, and I was hired to investigate the theft, and I thought that the girl had nothing to do with it." Whether that claim is true, we have no idea, but we do know that sooner or later, Mr. Snicket will probably tell us the truth. Editor's unflinching recommendation.
Source.
Publishers Weekly:
Snicket, author of the wildly successful Series of Unfortunate Events stories, returns with the first in the projected four-volume All the Wrong Questions series, supplying "autobiographical" accounts of his unusual childhood. Nearly 13 when the book opens, Snicket is beginning his apprenticeship for a mysterious organization under the tutelage of dimwitted S. Theodora Markson, who is ranked dead last in effectiveness by the agency but who may be the source of Snicket's tic of defining vocabulary pedantically, a word which here means, oh, never mind. Unlike Snicket's Unauthorized Autobiography (HarperCollins, 2002), which left readers as uninformed about him as they were before they read it, this account reveals that Lemony is "an excellent reader, a good cook, a mediocre musician, and an awful quarreler." Not mind-blowing, but it's a start. And perhaps not true. Straight answers are hard to find as Snicket and Markson investigate a theft in a seaside town that's been drained of its sea, encountering deception and double crosses at every turn. Full of Snicket's trademark droll humor and maddeningly open-ended, this will have readers clamoring for volume two.
Source.
Kirkus Reviews:
Young Mr. Snicket seems to always ask the wrong questions. In the basin of a bay drained of seawater, where giant needles extract ink from octopi underground, sits Stain'd-by-the-Sea, the mostly deserted town where 12-year-old Lemony Snicket takes his first case as apprentice to chaperone S. Theodora Markson. They have been hired by Mrs. Murphy Sallis to retrieve a vastly valuable statue of the local legend, the Bombinating Beast, from her neighbors and frenemies the Mallahans. Nothing's what it seems…well, the adults are mostly nitwits…and Snicket is usually preoccupied with someone he left in the city doing something he should be helping her do. With the help and/or hindrance of girls Moxie and Ellington, can Snicket keep his promises and come close to solving a mystery? Author Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) returns with a tale of fictional-character Snicket's early years, between his unconventional education and his chronicling of the woes of the Baudelaires. Intact from his earlier series are the gothic wackiness, linguistic play and literary allusions. This first in a series of four is less grim and cynical and more noir and pragmatic than Snicket's earlier works, but just as much fun. Fans of the Series of Unfortunate Events will be in heaven picking out tidbit references to the tridecalogy, but readers who've yet to delve into that well of sadness will have no problem enjoying this weird and witty yarn.
Source.
---
By Sherry Ann:
---
The following reviews were published by individuals on Goodreads.com, reviewing WCTBATH from a somewhat more informal position.
Goodreads:
Lemony Snicket is back again with the story of his apprenticeship in the unknown organization with which we readers are both familiar and unfamiliar with. As a smart as a whip child he investigates a theft or not a theft in a world of bungling adults, awkward places and lovely literary references. This book will improve your vocabulary and remind you to always take a closer look at the world around you. As Lemony solves one mystery and reveals to the readers two others, you might find yourself thinking that asking all the wrong questions just might be the best possible way to learn.
-
The mysterious questions begin on page 1 as Lemony tells a story of his life as a 12 year old boy. Things are never as they first seem and inquiries are answered with more questions. Intriguing characters with fabulous names (sub-librarian, Dashiell Qwerty; mysterious girl with question mark curved eyebrows, Ellington Feint, and young reporter, Moxie Mallahan) keep you on your toes as one mystery blends into another. Book 1 ends with more questions than answers, but I'm ready for 3 more installments of this delightful series.
-
A fun and interesting start to a new series, though it's so short and leaves so many questions unanswered (though repeatedly not the titular one) that I almost wish I had waited until the series was finished. Curious to see what Series Of Unfortunate Events fans think of this one, since it's distinctly different in a lot of ways, but does keep the "a word which here means" running gag, the idea that adults are generally pretty dumb and not much good at things, the secret society trope, the nested mysteries, and much more.
-
I am a die-hard fan of the "Series of Unfortunate Events" by the same author. This "memoir" is meant to be a bit of a prequel to SoUE. It was good, but sadly it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Snicket's writing style isn't really a good fit for a first person narrative. Granted, I believe this is supposed to be the start of a new series, and I am REALLY looking forward to reading the rest of the books.
Source.
Alamosa Books:
I would recommend this book to: anyone & everyone!
You probably shouldn't want to read this book. It's the pointless tale of a shiftless young author asking questions that shouldn't be asked and getting answers that aren't. Set in a dying town that ought to be under water and populated by characters who should really have better things to do, Who Could That Be at This Hour begins with a cup of drugged tea in a dingy tearoom (and stationery shop) and ends thirteen chapters later with a 12th birthday celebration feast of dusty peanuts. There is quite a load of meandering about in between, much of it involving the non-theft of a not-priceless artifact from a land-locked lighthouse. And coffee grounds.
And may I say I laughed my back side right off while reading this book! (I guess gratitude is in order for that.) I am not sure what else I can say — literally, as I signed a waiver saying I wouldn't say much, and figuratively, as words fall completely short of describing this book. I can say that Lemony Snicket is back in rare form. And there are three more installments to come in his autobiographical series, All the Wrong Questions.
I can't wait!
Source.
---