The Bad Beginning

• This is quintessential gothic literature, quintessential here is a cumbersome word for the perfect example of quality or class, cumbersome here is a word to describe something laborious and unnecessary, laborious here is a...you get the idea.
• Count Olaf is to this day the scariest villain in literature I've read. Lemony uses such descriptive words that make Count Olaf even scarier when he isn't there. Gleaming, gripping, sharp, it's such a great contrast to his messy appearance. You wouldn't expect him to be so capable given how crinkled his clothes or how many crumbs are in his eyebrow.
• The third layer of Snicket lore sprinkled in throughout this whole series is a game changer and something I haven't seen topped yet. Maybe Gorillaz if that counts.
• The theme of resilience in this series is very timely for me now just as it was when I was a kid. Relentless evil and trauma that makes you feel helpless. But my favorite part in each book is when Violet digs into whatever instance situation the siblings find themselves in and solve a seemingly unsolvable problem.

I'd forgotten the author's habit of explaining words. That was charming when I was a child, but kinda annoying as an adult. Still one of my favorite series. I'd also forgotten how delightfully morbid this series was. Looking forward to rereading it!