Name: A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room
Rating: 3.945553539019964 (551 reviews)

Daniel Handler

Lemony Snicket

After narrowly escaping the menacing clutches of the dastardly Count Olaf, the three Baudelaire orphans are taken in by a kindly herpetologist with whom they live happily for an all-too-brief time.

A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room

Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire have found a new home and it looks as though they are going to be happy. Their new guardian, Uncle Monty, is a kind man. But then he employs a new assistant, who turns out to be none other than the evil Count Olaf.

The Reptile Room

The Reptile Room a Series of Unfortunate Events

Brett Helquist

There is nothing to be found in the pages of A Series of Unfortunate Events but misery and despair. You still have time to choose another international best-seller to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming and clever Baudelaire children read on . . . In The Reptile Room the siblings endure a car accident, a terrible smell, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a brass reading lamp, and the re-appearance of a person they’d hoped never to see again. With 5 million copies sold in the UK alone, one might consider Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events to make him one of the most successful children’s authors of the past decade. We, however, consider these miserable so-called adventure stories and the Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey that accompanied the books for children as nothing more than a dreadful mistake.

Briar's Reviews

Another fabulous addition to one of my favourite childhood series!

I read these way back in the day (you know, when Jim Carrey was Count Olaf) but I figured as an adult I should pick this series up again for the fun of it! And, oh boy, am I not disappointed! While I am not the target audience, I still get a big kick from these books and have a good laugh too! If I ever have a kid, these books are a MUST READ because they are hilarious and awfully cruel all at the same time. No wonder I have such a brutal, sarcastic sense of humour - I grew up on these books!

This book didn't strike me like the first one, but it's just as good, goofy and entertaining. I love Montegomery Montegomery and it's a real shame we didn't get more time in the book with him. He was so kooky and crazy that I wanted just a few more chapters before he meets his match. We all knew that this series wasn't going to end happily in this book (look at the title, folks) but I wanted to cherish the hilarious scenarios for a little bit longer before Count Olaf/Stephano arrives on the scene. 

I do wonder why the banker is in charge of the children. They have SO many relatives and a random banker gets to take care of them. Not even a lawyer... wouldn't a lawyer make more sense? It's child logic though, so I'm not going to let that ruin the story for me.

One big positive for this book is that the characters seem to grow. We see our Baudelaire children in a happy, family friendly setting and feel comforted. They get along, feel like they have a Father figure and want to go on adventures. Seeing another side of them was a real treat and I just know that these guys will continue to evolve ('cause... you know... I already read the series). I also really enjoy all of the terminology and slang that is explained in this book. I kept chuckling along the way as the reader was introduced to amusing sayings that have been plastered in literature for years.

Overall, this series is absolutely charming. I still love them to this day and I will see it through to the end! I have the next two books sitting on my shelf and it will be a challenge to find the rest...

Until next time, Count Olaf... 

P.S. I still imagine Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. I do love me some Neil Patrick Harris, but Jim Carrey was my childhood Olaf. 

Four out of five stars.

Ryan LaFerney

""If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book."" So cautions Snicket, the exceedingly well-mannered narrator of the mock-gothic novels, A Series of Unfortunate Events, featuring the misadventures of 14-year-old Violet, 12-year-old Klaus and infant Sunny Baudelaire. After escaping the clutches of the evil Count Olaf, the children once again find themselves facing death, mystery, and reptiles (!) in Snicket's The Reptile Room. Seriously, things look unfortunate once again for our trio. 

Things look hopefully at first for the Baudelaires. They are getting closer and closer to a great future after learning about their parents death. They have a new guardian in their lives, Uncle Monty - who is a kind and loving herpetologist (which means: studier of snakes and reptiles) who instantly takes the children into his care with love and devotion . However, he still seems naive just like every other adult in this series (cough* cough* MR. POE). Then there's Count Olaf who is still trying to take the kids fortune.

But have no fear, dear reader, for the children once again use their talents to outsmart Count Olaf once again!

The Reptile Room is a brilliant follow up to The Bad Beginning. All three children use their respective skills and interests to their advantage time and again throughout the series, and I love their ingenuity, their intellect, and their love for one another. I also love that Handler (writing as Snicket) clearly defines what is good and what is evil. Count Olaf is honestly, in my opinion, one of the most repulsive forms of evil that exists: he is greedy murderer who plays with deceptions and lies. Contrast this will the intellects of our heroes and their familial love for one another, and the message of these books become very clear.

I'm a fan. And I'm ashamed I'm just not reading this series.

Gisela Ayala 

I forgot how creepier Count Olaf gets. *shudders* This guy needs to be put away.

Rachel DeLaurenti

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! I love all the characters in this book and the writing style and just everything about it.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent children. They are charming, and resourceful, and have pleasant facial features. Unfortunately, they are exceptionally unlucky. In the first two books alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, a lumpy bed, a deadly serpent, a large brass reading lamp, a long knife, and a terrible odour. In the tradition of great storytellers, from Dickens to Dahl, comes an exquisitely dark comedy that is both literary and irreverent, hilarious and deftly crafted. Never before has a tale of three likeable and unfortunate children been quite so enchanting, or quite so uproariously unhappy. Ages 10+

Seher Mohsin

Gabriella Parker

Just like the previous book, this one showcases the Baudelaire’s courage, wit and being able to keep calm and think under pressure despite their unfortunate situations. Uncle Monty has to be my favorite guardian of theirs. It’s also been a while since I saw the show and Mr. Poe is more annoying than I originally remember?

Samiha Tasnim

One of the most difficult things to think about in life is one's regrets. Something will happen to you, and you will do the wrong thing, and for years afterward you will wish you had done something different.


It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.


It is very unnerving to be proven wrong, particularly when you are really right and the person who is really wrong is the one who is proving you wrong and proving himself, wrongly, right. Right?


What happens in a certain place can stain your feelings for that location, just as ink can stain a white sheet.

A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room

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