When Did You See Her Last? is the captivating second book in Lemony Snicket's newest series, All The Wrong Questions. Following on from the first book Who Could That Be At This Hour? the book follows a young Snicket in the town of Stain'd by the Sea. With a missing persons case to solve and no help from his inept tutor S. Theodora Markson, Snicket and his young friends band together to find Cleo Knight and stop the nefarious Hangfire from carrying out his unknown plans.
What I like about the book, and many of Lemony Snicket's other books, is that it's intelligent. Yes, it's aimed at children but there are so many subtle references to other writers and poets and artists that every time you read the books there is something new to find and people of any age can enjoy them. The tone of the new series is also a lot less somber than Snicket's previous books which makes the book far more engaging for the audience, especially younger readers.
Told from Snicket's point of view, the book also has a lot more depth to it as you can see the world through the narrator's eyes and there was a lot less guesswork about what the characters were doing. They still held the element of confusion and mystery that is expected with Snicket's writing but the first person viewpoint meant that it also has a very personal outlook on the plot. I
enjoyed this because it made the book feel a lot more personal in comparison to A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Something I didn't like about the book was the lack of explanation surrounding the back-story. Snicket mentions his sister throughout the book which I liked because it gave him a past but there was no real mention of how they came to be in the situations they were in. Obviously it's a series and more will be revealed as the books continue but I thought that maybe something about the last time they had seen each other, or a bit more depth about their relationship would have shown another side of the characters for me. While there were things I didn't like about the book, the characters were engaging and there was, for most of them, a back story and side plots that gave them depth and crea elements that makes you care about them. And I think that's important in books.
All in all, I would recommend When Did You See Her Last? primarily to readers between 10 and 14 but I would also say that readers older than that can still get enjoyment from it because of the subtle references to other books and writers that are scattered through all of Snicket's books. I would also recommend the first in the series to readers so that this one makes sense.
The rating I'd give When Did You See Her Last? is 4/5.
Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!
