The Reptile Room (Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)

by Lemony Snicket

This story has a happy ending. No, wait, that was a different tape...Dear Customer, If you have picked up this sheet, you have probably not read the warning so clearly outlined in my prior message. This story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire orphans spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle. But don't be fooled. The three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odour, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp and the reappearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again. I have made a solemn vow to present this information to the public, but there is nothing stopping you from tearing up this paper and pretending you've never heard of this CD. Then you can sell something that is less unpleasant. With all due respect, Lemony Snicket

• ISBN10: 0060283130
• ISBN13: 9780060283131
• Publish Date: 30 September 1999 (first published 25 August 1999)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 18 October 2011
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 190
• Language: English

Reviews

Well it's still sad and depressing but at least there were no sexual overtones and less brutal violence in this installment. So win!

The second book, The Reptile Room, sees the Baudelaire siblings placed with a new distant relative - their father's cousin's wife's brother? - Uncle Monty - a herpetologist/snake scientist. Uncle Monty has a trip planned to Peru - an expedition to study snakes and find specimens for him to present at the Herpetological Society. He can't leave the children home so he plans to bring them with him. To prepare for their trip he has the Baudelaire's working on all their favourite things. Violet has to build, fix and maintain snake traps. Klaus has to read through all the Peru guidebooks and make notes. And Sunny needs to chew the long rope into small manageable pieces. Honestly the only thing I could think of at this point was - don't they have to attend school? I mean obviously not Sunny, but Violet and Klaus? It's actually starting to really bother me and I don't know how I never noticed when I first read the series.

Count Olaf makes an appearance when he turns up disguised as "Stephano" - Uncle Monty's new assistant. When he finds Monty is suspicious of him (although not for the reasons he thinks - Monty thinks he's a Herpetological Society spy, trying to preempt his findings) he kills him and comes up with the new plan to take the Baudelaire's to Peru and kill them there. Honestly I'm not really sure how he's going to get their money with that plan. But there you go.

As I said in my review for the first book; It was fast paced if sad and depressing but then you are told in the beginning that it would be so I guess it's my own fault. 3.5 stars.

[cherryblossommj]

In the reptile room... 🎶

Same review for The Bad Beginning also applies. After starting the show on Netflix, we were enticed to start the series. My oldest (9) is reading the books either through the library or Libby and we are all listening to the audiobook on our adventures here and there. While I doubt I would enjoy the series for myself, sharing it with the children has been entertaining. We are about to now start The Miserable Mill after finishing up The Wide Window.

Library audiobook. Library book. Libby to Kindle.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Full series overview here on The Bent Bookworm!*~

The Reptile Room starts off (after the necessary doom-and-gloom letter from the narrator, of course) on a much better note for the Baudelaires. At last it seems they may be going to live with someone who genuinely cares for them and has their best interests at heart. BUT WAIT. Let’s not get too carried away. This is, after all, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and indeed they do seem to be the MOST unfortunate of children.

Soon after they arrive at their new home – another relative, this one a eccentric but lovable scientist, disaster strikes and they find themselves being hunted by the horrible Count Olaf once more. Only of course, since they are children and have been greatly traumatized, no one believes them. Because why would you? Naturally, things go from bad to worse and the children find themselves in a desperate fight to avoid being kidnapped right under the nose of the law. Sunny, the little rascal, plays a very important part in this one – eliciting a few eyerolls as somehow she manages to have the mental compact of about a 7-year-old in the body of a 15-month-old, but you know. Realism isn’t the point here. In the end, they narrowly avoid Count Olaf once more.

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[thepunktheory]

I'll make it short: this book is simply amazing!
I'm only two novels into the series but it's already one of my favourites. Lemony Snicket has a rather unique way of writing. Although the story has a dark tone, he still manages to make you smile. Moreover, you'll feel with the Beaudelair children from the first moment on.
I was so happy for a brief moment when things were looking up for them, but hey, I ain't called A Series of Unfortuante Events for nothing.
As expected, the second installment held some surprises for us in store.
Lemony Snicket's way of telling a story will paint a picture in your head. The Reptile Room is both heart-warming and heart-breaking. I can promise that you'll love it!

So far, A Series of Unfortunate Events is absolutely brilliant. The second installment, The Reptile Room, is no exception! Can't wait to read more!

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

After an adult finally realizes what an unsuitable guardian Count Olaf is (but only after he attempted to marry Violet). The children go to stay with Uncle Monty herpetologist, but guess who's coming to dinner? and its not Sidney Poitier. Count Olaf returns hunting the children as Stephano, Uncle Monty's new assistant with another attempt to steal the Baudelaire fortune.

The Reptile Room is as clever as the first, Uncle Monty's name Montgomery being his first and last name and wanting to name a harmless snake the Incredibly Deadly Viper. The adults in this series of events are starting to remind me of Basil Faulty in Faulty Towers. They are all a little over the top and blundering idiots. Now that I think about it, the murder that takes place is botch due to their inadequacy, instead having a "the butler did it" attitude. The Reptile Room is a fun, childishly intense mystery, that made me think, do adults always know what they're talking about?

[boghunden]

To me, this book was not quite as good as the first.

I liked how the three children were acting together and seeing all the things the adults weren't, and I liked Uncle Monty. Violet is a genius and I really like her.

This book is witty and different enough from the first one that it doesn't feel dull and repetitive.
All the references were great as well, like Red Riding Hood and the story of the boy who cried wolf (does that one have a name?).

And I'm on to the next book!

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I love that despite the fact [a:Lemony Snicket|36746|Lemony Snicket|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199734355p2/36746.jpg] writes for children, he's morose quite and sarcastic sadnesses are still totally digestible for adults. For me, A Series of Unfortunate Events is an hour-read book, a quick and easy weekend read, and lots of fun. I've always liked his writing style and when he began publishing his new series, starting with: [b:Who Could That Be at This Hour?|13477819|Who Could That Be at This Hour? (All The Wrong Questions, #1)|Lemony Snicket|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333060600s/13477819.jpg|19008874], I happily began reading them. However, I had started A Series of Unfortunate Events in middle school and lost interest in high school and never finished the series. More than ten years later, I'm remedying that.

[b:The Reptile Room|78418|The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #2)|Lemony Snicket|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352146294s/78418.jpg|888312] is particularly fun in this series because we've already been introduced to the Baudelaire children and the nefarious Count Olaf, but we aren't so far in the series that we already know the pattern that the next twelve books will entail. Certainly for an adult, it's a predictable, but it's still fun at this point. The childrens' latest guardian - an estranged uncle with an impressive snake collection - is charming and eccentric, and just as frustratingly naive as all the adults in the series, another running trope of amusement and frustration as the children can see the world clearly in the ways that imaginative adults cannot.

The only reason it loses a star, for me, is that it is beginning a repetitive cycle with repeated cliches, but it retains all the rest based upon the fantastic writing and delightful characters. It's a series I would happily recommend to anyone, despite their age.

[Suz @ Bookish Revelations]

Another brilliant and cleverly written entertaining book in the Series of Unfortunate Events. The Baudelaire orphans find themselves in danger once again, as Count Olaf posing as Stephano seeks them out once again and attempts to haul them off to Peru in an attempt at getting his hand on their fortune.

Full review coming soon.

[celinenyx]

Read this one when I was little, so a huge part of it I couldn't remember very clearly any more. I love Snicket's style, and I feel the explanation of meanings of words is becoming a running joke. Really looking forward to rereading the next part of the series, The Wide Window, which was one of my favourites as a child.

[ibeforem]

Again, the book was quite good. I’m starting to get into them. One especially charming technique he uses is the use of more complex vocabulary and then defining the vocabulary within the story. You’d think this would be annoying, but it really isn’t.

I have to give an extra “huzzah!” to the songs that appear in the audio version of the book. They are really great.