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The Slippery Slope Book Review

The Slippery Slope is a 2003 children’s novel by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler). It’s the tenth entry in the series and a return to form after the latest lackluster effort.

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“Well-read people are less likely to be evil“

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Violet and Klaus make their way up the Mortmain Mountains to rescue their sister Sunny from Count Olaf and his troupe. They meet Quigley Quagmire, a kid whom they thought to be dead, and visit the headquarters of a mysterious organization called “V.F.D.” Yes, there is a lot to unpack here in terms of storytelling, and that is what made this book actually the most important one in the series so far.

So much happened, in fact, that I was utterly surprised by those developments. Usually, this series is reliant on one entry at a time with each being self-contained within its own world, but this is the most epic, most ambitious effort so far as it really makes you excited for the rest of the plot to unravel.

Quigley being alive was a very good twist, and I really liked his character and his interactions with the Baudelaires. The entire family history starts to unpack so intriguingly here, both of the Baudelaires and the Quagmires. Of course, the most important development is the mysterious organization “V.F.D.” finally getting some traction. I found that mystery wonderfully realized and those parts of the book were easily the best ones.

I loved the beginning as it was instantly memorable, the mountain being so well utilized into the action. The snow gnats were very memorable as was the ice toboggan in the final chapters. This novel presents one of the best utilized settings in the entire book series. I admired how Handler managed to make use of it so well, and his descriptions are excellent.

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What isn’t excellent, though, is the whole thing with the scouts. I found them way too ridiculous, too silly even for a children’s book. And utterly unnecessary as well. They complicated things too much while Carmelita herself continued to be too awful of a brat. The climax is excellent and it was fun seeing all of them together arguing on the mountain, but again they were not needed, and their continuous recitals made the book quite boring in those parts.

I find the repeated phrases and the over-reliance on enumerating things very annoying and childish. Those parts stalled the book and grinded it to a halt. It’s obvious that the author wanted to prolong it, but I would prefer a shorter, more concise book than one filled with fillers. Again, he describes well and he is great at world-building, but he continues to be terrible at dialogue.

The Slippery Slope does justice by Sunny. Yes, she is badass here as never before has she been this great. I loved her evolution from a baby to a kid, and how brave and smart she’s become. By separating her from the rest of the triplets, the book became different from all the others and a lot of fun. Her scenes with Olaf and Esme are terrific, and both of them are excellent here. Finally, they got more moments to shine after being sidetracked in the last novel.

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I also liked the other people on the mountain, and how Olaf’s villainous history finally began to unravel. Klaus and Violet are both good here and they worked together quite well, but again this was Sunny’s book to shine first and foremost. The whole book is uneven, but quite fun to read and definitely benefiting from great attention to detail.

The Slippery Slope has very weak, distractingly childish and filler-like dialogue with some moments grinding the action to a halt, but the descriptions are great and the mountain setting is beautifully utilized into the story. The mysteries continue to unravel, Sunny gets the best role so far in the series and the story is the richest and most important out of them all.