The Hostile Hospital by Daniel Handler - Book Review

In The Hostile Hospital, we get to see our first glimpse of the Baudelaires as escapees. They have decided to take matters into their own hands, search for clues leading to the VFD headquarters, and ultimately find a new home and a guardian that can take care of them.

However, the unfortunate children arrive at a half-built hospital where they meet their second unofficial guardian Hal. While all of their previous guardians were flawed in some way or another, Hal becomes a sort of moral compass for the Baudelaires. 

The story begins with them going to a general store, where they try to contact someone from The City to tell them of their whereabouts, as they are now being hunted down by the authorities because everyone thinks that they are murderers.

When the shopkeeper and the delivery man recognize them, they spot a van that has the VFD letters written on the outside, so they hitch a ride in that van, hoping to find clues about the mysterious VFD that nobody’s willing to tell them about. They embark on a terrifying adventure that is fraught with all sorts of danger.

The undercurrent of horror reaches its highest peak in The Hostile Hospital, what with the unauthorized surgeries undergoing, and Count Olaf not making a presence save for his voice over the loudspeaker.

Yet, because his henchmen are searching every inch of the half-constructed hospital for the children, they find themselves in a horrific situation. For the first time, they forced to follow the methods of Count Olaf and use trickery and disguise.

Suddenly, the lines of good and evil become blurry as the Baudelaires don’t know what to make of themselves after what they have done.

This is one of the biggest conflicts in the series and is probably one of the most mature themes in the books; however, anyone reading this will certainly enjoy reading about the threat a hospital exudes, the threat of count Olaf, and the identity conflict of the Baudelaires themselves.