I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.
And it's charming: funny, cute, clever, although it really is a series of unfortunate events! It doesn't shy away from this fact, nor does it shy away from the children using their wiles to escape from any perilous situations.
The fact that each child has their own strengths, and that they are all intellectual strengths - except Sunny who is an infant and just bites - endeared me to them all the more. Snicket's play, with the form, with vocabulary, with the cliches only endeared me to this book even more. It also made it fun for even an adult to read. While some of it is fairly obvious, so much so that younger children will catch it, some of it feels like a nod and a wink to older readers.
Anyway, I borrowed this in paperback form from my sister to read on the sailboat since I got the majority of this series free as an e-book. (Starting with two.)
I'll be sure to continue quite soon.