The Ersatz Elevator by Daniel Handler - Book Review

The series begins to expand and the books start to become larger with the sixth book of the series.

The Baudelaire orphans are once again sucked into the vortex of finding a guardian and Mr. Poe actually finds someone who agrees to take them in, considering that the past four times they have stayed with a guardian someone got killed, but the only reason why their new guardian Esme Squalor agrees to take them in is that orphans are “in”.

Esme Squalor is a vain woman whose only interest is the latest “in” items and places, but her husband, Jerome is sweet and cares for the orphans. They are rich and live in a penthouse, which is practically a maze of unused rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms.

The story begins with the orphans arriving at 667 dark avenues, where they meet their new guardian in a new house. For once, life is shining for them and they’re happy, but they still worry about their friends the Quagmires.

They also start learning about the lifestyle in this new house, where you label anything as “in” as fashionable or “out” as in everything not fashionable. The plot thickens when they start seeing clues of the VFD, but as usual, Count Olaf and co. come to the party. He dazzles Esme with his terrible source-less accent and schemes to take over the Baudelaire fortune.

The new, unique setting of this book offers a fresh perspective and steers away a little bit from the tone and atmosphere we know, but it is enjoyable all the same.

We get to see the orphans mature, though the book forgets the laws of physics when it comes to Violet’s inventions. While it does have a cringe-worthy quality to it at some points, it does not deduct from the quality of the book. The purpose of the book was to further the VFD plot by giving clues to readers.

when you think you’ve figured out everything, Handler will shock you with a whole different revelation. The Ersatz Elevator is certainly a page-turner and is a good introduction for the next installment.