There was something about this latest installment in the Baudelaires' miserable adventures that brought the magic back for me. [Spoiler alert, if you didn't already know.] I am already a huge fan of Daniel Handler's adult novels. I find them clever, witty, and full of twists, in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller and Terry Pratchett (who are, of course, some of my favourite authors).
As Violet, Klaus and Sunny wind (and boy, has the road been winding so far) their way to their final adventure, the books have regained their momentum. I found 11 interesting... but not as engaging as many of the others. I laughed, but not as heartily. I laughed even harder at certain moments in the Hotel Denouement. The clever names were back in force, and the ridiculous references were fresh and funny. And "Snicket" revealed just enough of the secrets of who the VFD are, and what the schism was all about, to have readers dying for Book 13, and what can only be the big reveal.
And you just know it's going to be good - and probably just slightly ridiculous.