This is the fourth and final novel of the All the Wrong Questions series by Lemony Snicket, which is a loosely-linked prequel series to A Series of Unfortunate Events because it doesn’t tell you all the background but it introduces you to that world and some of the characters.
At the start of this book, the main protagonist, young Lemony Snicket, is still trying to defeat the dastardly villain Hangfire; trying to save the wrongly accused Dashiell Qwerty; and also trying to get his hands on the statue of the Bombinating Beast before it falls into the villain’s hands.
All of the action in this book takes place on a train which is transporting Dashiell Qwerty to prison; however, every character from the previous books is also on this train, each with their own motive for being there. The plot is very complicated and a lot of plans go wrong or backfire, it gets a bit confusing at times because there is so much deceit taking place. I read the whole book at once to try to hold all the threads in my head at once!
If you have not read all the other novels yet, I would recommend reading them all in order as quickly as possible so that you can more easily follow the whole complicated plot.
I think that Lemony Snicket’s distinct writing style is wholly entertaining. In summary I found this book quirkily enjoyable and it did justice to the rest of this unusual yet compelling series.
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Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
