The Ersatz Elevator - A Series Of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket - Reviewed by Youssef Elias

The Ersatz Elevator is the 6th instalment for the Series Of Unfortunate Events. There are 3 main characters named; Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Violet, who is the eldest is known for her creation of inventions. Klaus, is the 2nd eldest, is known for his knowledge of books since he reads a lot. Sunny, is the youngest, is known for her very sharp teeth to cut things. They are orphans since their parents died in a house fire. The caretaker of the Baudelaire’s finances is Mr. Po. He is the person to put the three children in a book but something always goes wrong. Their enemy, Count Olaf, always follows them and tries to steal the Baudelaire’s fortune as their parents were very wealthy.

Plot Summary of the book:
Mr. Po sends them to stay with 2 wealthy people, Esmè and Jerome Squalor. They live at 667 Dark Avenue. The children had to climb 66 flights of stairs since the elevator was closed.

Throughout the book, Count Olaf is disguised as Gunther in an auction as they could see his one monocle to correct his vision and the high boots to cover a tattoo on his ankle.

Klaus recognises that all of the floors have one elevator, but the top floor had an extra elevator. They investigate the area for clues. They find out that it is an Ersatz Elevator, despite that it is empty without an elevator. So they went down the shaft and find 3 Quagmire children and said that Gunther was going to steal them and hiding the Quagmires in an item which he would win during an auction.

Klaus looks at an auction catalogue and notices item number 50 which is VFD. He does not know what it is. They rush to the auction and asks Mr. Po to buy item number 50. They bet $1,000 and they won. The box contained Very Fancy Doilies (VFD).

During the auction, Count Olaf is revealed since the wind blew his monocle and boots, seeing the eyebrow and tattoo. He flees and the Baudelaire’s move to another home, hoping that Count Olaf will never follow them again.

The most amazing part of the book was when Klaus found the Erstaz Elevator and down the shaft found the Quagmire triplets finally.

Why I recommend the book:I recommend this book to people who like Mystery, Action and Fantasy. Each of the main characters has an identity and something that they are good at. If you have seen the hit-action/adventure film: Lemony Snicket – A Series Of Unfortunate Events, I would start picking this book up and reading it.