Review: The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events #5)

Title: The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events #5)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Library
Format: Ebook
Release Date: August 8, 2000
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Synopsis:

Dear Reader, 

If you are looking for a story about cheerful youngsters spending a jolly time at boarding school, look elsewhere. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are intelligent and resourceful children, and you might expect that they would do very well at school. Don’t. For the Baudelaires, school turns out to be another miserable episode in their unlucky lives. 

Truth be told, within the chapters that make up this dreadful story, the children will face snapping crabs, strict punishments, dripping fungus, comprehensive exams, violin recitals, S.O.R.E., and the metric system. 

It is my solemn duty to stay up all night researching and writing the history of these three hapless youngsters, but you may be more comfortable getting a good night’s sleep. In that case, you should probably choose some other book. 

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket

Review:

This story is a little different, because the Beaudelaire children go to school. However, it is not a typical school experience. They are ostracized from the rest of the school by having to live in the “orphan shack.” Since Sunny is a baby, she can’t go to school, so instead the vice principal (their guardian) makes her work as his secretary!

Of course, the story wouldn’t be complete without Count Olaf coming after the siblings. He gets past the security system the principal set up, and poses as the coach for the school.

The Beaudelaires make some friends named the Quagmires. They are a brother and sister, who were triplets but their other brother died in a fire just like the Beaudelaire’s parents. There are many similarities between the Beaudelaires and Quagmires. I can’t wait to see what happens in their friendship.

Have you read The Austere Academy? What did you think of it?

Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book. View all posts by jilljemmett