This was a very exposition heavy book but it's very welcome I think. I remember not liking this one much as a kid, I didn't even remember the two new villains from this one at all. I remember being blown away about Quigley showing up here (and him and Violet becoming a little bit of an item too). It's hilarious that they decide to just...take Carmelita :kek~4: I think it's a sign that I'm dented that "YOU CAN'T BE XYLOPHONE" made me crack up a little each time it came up. The story at large untangling was massive when I was a kid - the realization that the first few guardians were members of VFD and that Quigley had always been a little bit behind the Baudelaires.
I love that Sunny is more grown and has found her footing in the world despite being among some of the worst human beings. Sunny has become quite the chef and I love to make some of her cooking inventions on top of the mountain. More of VFD is revealed, and there’s a budding romance between Quigley and Violet, only to have them separated at the very end the debate of whether the means justify the end continues, and I’m very happy to see Violet not following Olaf’s footsteps in kidnapping, even though it seems to be an easy option to trade for Sunny. The Baudelaires now fare in this cruel world on their own, but the Quigleys are hopefully not far away, and I just hope they can all reunite at some point. But knowing all the warnings Snicket put in these books … perhaps not gonna happen .
I liked the allegory of how both sides of the schism are using the same codes. Often, both sides of a confrontation share more than they realize, but somehow the same ideals can be purposed to create conflict. Idk what I’m trying to get at… but I like this thread in this series - that good people sometimes resort to “vile” means to their ends and that evil people repurpose tools from good people etc etc.
