Lemony Snicket grasps you into the tale of the Baudelaire orphans as you follow them through a series of unfortunate events.

"The Bad Beginning" is the very first book in "A Series of Unfortunate Events"; a series of 13 wonderful books.
The Baudelaires each have one of their own unique talents. Violet, the eldest, enjoys inventing, Klaus, the middle child, loves to read and research, and Sunny, a tiny infant who has a knack for biting things with her unusually large teeth.

The cheerless tale starts off with the three children passing time in a beach near their large mansion. The three kids were enjoying their time alone until Mr. Poe, their parents' banker, informs them that their parents have died in a wild fire that has destroyed their mansion. While the children stay depressed, Mr. Poe informs them that he has located one of their distant cousins, Count Olaf, who is willing to become their legal guardian. But as it turns out, Olaf is an evil man who will do anything to get his hands on the children's large inheritance, even if its the last thing he'll do.

"The Bad Beginning" is a very well written book from the author's point of view. Lemony does a great job at describing the story line and the feelings of the Baudelaire orphans throughout the book.

This story is very simple and straight forward, you will be glued to it for hours on end!