I just finished The Miserable Mill, the fourth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the last time I read this book I was probably six or seven years old. This year I decided I was going to reread some of the children’s books I loved growing up, and this felt like a good place to start.

As a child, the authors I mostly read...or was allowed to read, were Roald Dahl, Lemony Snicket, Enid Blyton, Nancy Rue and Ore Olulonyo. Reading was my favourite thing to do, so I read everything. That said, even back then I knew I preferred Enid Blyton over Lemony Snicket any day, any time. Snicket (and a lot of Dahl) felt creepy and dark in a way I didn’t enjoy as a child.

Reading The Miserable Mill now, though, is a completely different experience. It’s still very much a children’s book, but I found myself actually enjoying it—mostly because of the dry, sarcastic humour. There are so many moments where the narration is quietly ridiculous, and I kept catching myself smiling or rolling my eyes at how deliberately obtuse the adults are.

This was so so so so so good

Usually I go for psychological thrillers, I read this as part of a challenge but this was more of a murder mystery primarily, and then maybe detective fiction / police procedural if you want to get into the nitty-gritty.

It had over-the-top characters. And when I say over-the-top, I mean over-the-top. This strangely worked for me because it fit this sensational, almost tabloid/urban-legend vibe: you read it and think, “that sounds like the wild news you hear — something everyone talks about for days and it spirals into an urban legend.” A lot of things felt stretched and fantastical, but in a way that kept me hooked.

The book does try to fill in gaps — unlike a lot of psychological thrillers that leave everything vague — but it still leaves a loose end: who killed? There are a couple of plot holes or things glossed over. Despite that, I was gripped. I love that psychological thrillers usually don’t fill the gap; this one tried its best, and while it was overarching and imperfect, it was still a gripping read.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

Underwhelming...but maybe it's just me