The Definitive Ranking Of The "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" Books

"The world is quiet here." **Spoilers Ahead**

13. The Miserable Mill

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This is probably the least believable of Count Olaf's disguises. A female receptionist named Shirley is hardly a clever disguise for a criminal mastermind. Also, if the Lucky Smells Lumbermills employees work for only coupons then how are they supposed to use those coupons if they have no money?

12. The Hostile Hospital

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Another unbelievable disguise but this time that disguise belongs to Sunny. Even if she is properly dressed as nurse I dare say that her height (or lack their of) would give her away as not actually being an adult. This books also gives the Baudelaire's hope that one of their parents may still be alive. A hope that is never fulfilled. However, the Volunteers Fighting Disease song is quite catchy.

11. The Vile Village

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This book brought on some serious unfortunate times for the Baudelaires. They lose yet another caring guardian, Hector. Isadora and Duncan reappear only to disappear with Hector in a hot-air mobile home. After they escape from the Village of Fowl Devotees they are seen as criminals. This is a title that haunts them throughout the rest of the series. On a positive note, Sunny walks for the first time.

10. The Slippery Slope

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This book marks the first and last appearance of Quigley Quagmaire. It also shows the Baudelaires at their bravest. They scale a frozen mountain and challenge Count Olaf and his troupe head on. The orphans strong morals prevent them from letting Esme Squalor fall into a trap. Good for them but I don't know many of us who would take that high road.

9. The Ersatz Elevator

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The thought of drinking parsley soda is almost as terrifying as the thought of repelling down a pitch black elevator shaft. Unfortunately for the Baudelaries, they had to do both of those things. While Esme and Jerome's penthouse sounds pretty awesome, Jerome's cowardly behavior constantly obeying Esme's every demand and ultimately giving up the Baudelaires is beyond frustrating.

8. The Carnivorous Carnival

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This was one of the more violent books of the series with Madame LuLu and the bald-headed man getting devoured by lions. Um, isn't this a book for children? Ambidextrous Kevin's constant Debbie downer attitude is a bit annoying. Also, Sunny's cooking skills begin to blossom.

7. The Penultimate Peril

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The whole first half of the book focuses on a big meeting on Thursday but that meeting never comes. J.S. is finally revealed or should I say "are" finally revealed. This book probably contains the most answers to any unanswered questions from the previous books.

6. The Austere Academy

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This book marks the start of the mystery that is VFD. It also contains one of Count Olaf's better disguises; no one suspects a P.E. teacher of wrongdoing. I have yet to decide which is worse, running laps under the watch of Count Olaf or listening to Vice Principal Nero play his violin for hours on end.

5. The Bad Beginning

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This amazing first book of the series is what hooked so many fans at the start. However, it is difficult to deal with how oblivious Mr. Poe and Justice Strauss can be to Olaf's evil plans.

4. The Grim Grotto

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This book by far has the coolest cover (it's such a nice shade of seafoam green). This book shows the return of Mr. Poe, only to have the Baudelaires decide that they don't need his (useless) help any longer. Also, the whole wasabi thing to stop the spread of the medusoid mycelium from spreading was totally genius!

3. The Wide Window

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Aunt Josephine's house should be awesome in theory but the fact that it was so unstable it collapsed into Lake Lachrymose leads one to think otherwise. Aunt Josephine was a terrible guardian but the Baudelaires handled her absurdities with such grace and kindness that it shows how truly wonderful all of them are.

2. The End

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This book provided the perfect ambiguous ending to the perfectly ambiguous series. Friday was cool and Ishamael was undoubtedly the worst cult leader ever. The fact that the Baudelaire's were kind enough to bury Count Olaf after all he had done to them is really touching. I like to think that they all lived happily ever after but knowing the lives of the Baudelaire's I'm sure that was unlikely.

1. The Reptile Room

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Uncle Monty would seriously be the best guardian ever! I can't imagine anything better than eating coconut cream cake and going on expeditions to Peru. The fact that Olaf murdered Uncle Monty was certainly a tough one to swallow but it made for an excellent storyline. It sets up the whole background for how the rest of the Baudelaires time will be having to deal with Count Olaf.