A truly bizarre and mysterious tale that takes you through the day in which he had poison for breakfast. Filled with complete and utter weirdness of wonder in true Lemony Snicket fashion. Although I have to say I am now fully put off eggs from his writing on connecting boiling an egg to the unknowingness of death, I was thoroughly enraptured by this genuinely unusual and brilliantly written narrative.
My broken heart will always love 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' the most; but if you are a true Lemony Snicket fan like myself, or simply looking for a book that it not a book but a totally bewildering mystery that takes you on a philosophical journey of.....to be honest I still do not know what, even having read the book three times now.....then look no further.

What a book.

My best advice? Take this slow and give it your full attention. This isn't a book to half read with the TV on or someone talking to you. I'm not sure it's even a novel; certainly, things happen, but the actual plot is more an excuse for Snicket to muse about various things that cross his mind as the morning passes. (Yes, I'm calling him Snicket because that's how all the characters address him. I know it's not his real name. Although by now, isn't Lemony Snicket just as recognisable as Daniel Handler?)

I recognised some of the philosophical stuff, but none of the books or films mentioned, which makes me feel like a pretty bad bookseller to be honest. I was pleased to see that they're all listed at the back - I'll be looking them up pretty quickly!

The tone was exactly like Snicket - check out this quote here;
I have always admired any store that sells only one thing, because it promises delight, the way a person who spends eight years learning how to make cake will probably make you a good cake, but a person who spends eight years as an aviator and a tailor and a math tutor and a trainer of bears in the circus will probably kill you in a plane he is flying very badly while wearing a shirt that doesn’t fit and fighting off an illbehaved bear, all the while insisting that seven times six is harmonica.

Such a Snicket thing to write! I laughed several times while I was reading. However, I did not laugh at Snicket's Roald Dahl moment, quoted below, because I was too busy trying to figure out how anyone can write something so beautiful;
We must try, all of us, a lot of the time, our best, and we must keep trying. We do not understand anything but we should try our best to understand each other. We should swim and walk in parks, thinking. We should watch movies and think about what might happen. We should buy food and think about where it comes from, and we should listen to music and wonder what it means. We should have conversations, real and imaginary, with translators handy so that everybody might understand everything we say. We may feel native to where we are, or feel displaced, or both, the way someone going on a journey is also a stranger in town, but nevertheless we should keep reading. We must read mysterious literature, and be as bewildered by it as we are by the world, and we should write down our ideas, turning our stories, as if by magic, into literature.

Just amazing. I'm so glad I read this, and I will be coming back to it over and over again.

NOTE: This book is listed as an adult book. There's nothing unsuitable for teens, but pick your teen carefully, because this is a very cerebral book that needs to be approached in a certain frame of mind. But please do try it; it's just wonderful.

I have to be completely honest and say that I haven't picked up a Lemony Snicket book since I first read them back when I was younger. However, reading this has reminded me why A Series of Unfortunate Events was such a stand out for so many, and why writing doesn't need to be overly complex or extravagant to make a point.

This book is a tale of Snicket discovering a note that informs him that he has eaten poison for breakfast. On making this discovery, Snicket finds himself searching for the answer on how this has happened. He wanders from his home, encountering a fascinating range of characters and pondering his own memories and the big questions in life (chicken and the egg, being just one example). It is a book that challenges and makes you consider your own stance on things and how the world should be understood. I found it moving, funny and powerful as an adult and can only imagine that younger readers will gain so much from this story.

Interesting, engaging and bewildering, this was a really enjoyable read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and OneWorld for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Read by my 10 year old daughter, who is a die hard fan of the Series of Unfortunate Events. She enjoyed it and felt that it was a very interesting mystery, although not as good as the Unfortunate Events.

This is quite different in structure to the previous Lemony Snicket books, as it read like a stream of consciousness story as the narrator relates his poisoning and subsequent happenings. Still packed with the brilliant witty writing and humour we have come to expect from this author and I enjoyed it very much.

For more than twenty years, Lemony Snicket has led millions of young readers through a mysterious world of bewildering questions and unfortunate events.

It is a story about poison, and poems, and bread, and honey, and Sanskrit, and imaginary conversations, and ideals, and morals, and happiness, and the perfect breakfast. There are countless nuggets of wisdom and hundreds of charming, funny, or ridiculous quotes. It's not hard to imagine this book on one's shelf, with a broken spine and pages that fall out, with highlights and notes in the margins. Poison for Breakfast is the kind of book to be read now and again, to be returned to, to laugh over and cry over, to hug it to your chest, and maybe, on occasion, throw it across the room.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

'Bewildering' is possibly the most frequently used word in this book, and 'bewildering' is really my review summed up. Sorry, but I found the style to be rambling and confusing, and I don't know how a much younger reader would deal with it.

I did finish this, but only because it was so short.

I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and One World Publications.

I love the ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ so it was a no brainer to read this one!

Unfortunately this book wasn’t as good as his previous ones. I did enjoy it but I feel as though it just wasn’t for me.

This quite a quirky book but it’s also quite a slow read. However, that is down to the writing style. I feel like if you’ve not read any of his books before, you’d struggle with the writing style.

It’s written with Snicket as the narrator. He writes as if he is talking to a child, explaining all the complex words to make it easier to understand what is happening. Yes he could use simpler words, but that’s the beauty of his writing style.

If you’ve not read one of his books before, I’d recommend starting with “A Series of Unfortunate Events” to get to grips with how he writes before moving on to his other standalone books.

'You had poison for breakfast'... you'd expect this line to lead into some sort of thriller or mystery, but instead Poison for Breakfast is a deep, meditative philosophy about life, death, and literature (the big three). It's entrancing and captivating and makes you think deeply about the world around you, but it's not necessarily what you'd expect from the way it's being positioned. Highly recommended, but make sure you know what you're picking up!

Thank you One World Publications and NetGalley for the e-arc of Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Poison for Breakfast was not what I expected, at all. In fact I’m not sure what I expected, not having actually read anything by the author previously. Did I expect the author’s surprising, maundering, bewildering journey as he searched to discover his poisoner after he discovers a note telling him he ate poison for breakfast?

No,,I really didn’t, but what I got was a journey that took me on a winding, diverting, circuitous road through the author’s mind as he sought to discover who poisoned his breakfast - for him, the perfect breakfast.

I haven’t read a book like this before. Lemony Snicket’s wit and wholly unique tone shine through as the author narrates his wholly unique investigation. This book steps outside the arena of entertainment, to present an introduction to philosophy, life, history, literature and even mortality, that engages and intrigues.

This is a book that stays in your head, definitely one to read again, to ponder and reflect upon. Not what I expected, but a little gem that I will definitely visit again.

Although I’m sure this is written in classic Snicket style…thats why I couldn’t get to grips with it. I found it hard to follow as Snicket is constantly going off on wild trains of thought. I didn’t read the series of unfortunate events as a child so when I saw this was being sold as for adults as well I thought I’d give it ago. I just didn’t like it.

Very Carrollian - part story, part autobiography. A very clever and engaging read for readers who appreciate being taken on a winding path rather than a clear narrative. Very enjoyable.

I received this book from Netgalley/publisher in exchange of an honest review.

This is going to be short review, one only to come on Goodreads as it will be very short. This was a wonderful bewildering, surprising, mysterious, fantastical, what is happening right now because what are we doing now, 1001% Lemony Snicket book. It is a stream of conscious and I can honestly (truly) tell you that it took me 3 days because it was so confuddling and so much. I just had to take breaks while reading. This is by no means a bad thing. My head is just a bit overloaded at the moment and cannot take a lot. Normally I wouldn't have liked a stream of conscious kind of book, but with Lemony Snicket it worked out. It felt like coming home. It felt like he was talking to me. Explaining things, words and other things. Being philosophical. Of course, the book is also about poison and all the yummy food Snicket had for breakfast. Be prepared for a ride of your life (meaning that you better strap up) I had tons of fun reading this book. I will definitely be adding it to my Lemony Snicket collection (which here means my Unfortunate Event books (various editions) and all the other books Mr. Snicket has penned down).
This book may not be for everyone, but it is definitely a book for all the fans of Lemony Snicket.

Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket is anything but expected, detailing the author's bewildering journey from a poisonous breakfast to a long list of potential poisoners.

True to Lemony Snicket's trademark tone, Poison for Breakfast is witty, funny, and clever, offering something new and innovative that is unlike anything else on the literary market. An unreliable narrator makes the story ever the more interesting and unique.

But Lemony's cautionary tale of poisonous breakfasts (mind the eggs, won't you?) is far from being only comedic. Rather, Poison for Breakfast offers a beginner's look at complex topics like mortality, philosophy, and meaning.

As you journey past locations and ideas, you'll soon find that a poisonous breakfast might be brought about by any number of important and not-so-important people, ideas, and events. Perhaps a poisonous breakfast is impossible to trace. Perhaps it isn't even poisonous at all.

Fans of Lemony Snicket's other books will love this not-quite-a-memoir. If you're looking for an inventive story to add to your TBR, this one might be the right choice for you!

So, confession time: I have never read a Lemony Snicket book prior to this one. I’ve seen the Netflix adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events though (and very good it is too), but that’s my lot. So really, I have no idea if Poison for Breakfast is a ‘normal’ LS book or not. But it wasn’t quite what I expected.
For a start – not a lot really happened. For all the excitement of receiving a note saying, ‘you’ve had poison for breakfast’, Lemony does a lot of expostulating, and not a lot of actual doing. It felt a bit stream-of-consciousness, with random jumps from one topic to another with only the barest links to tie them together, which I personally felt was quite disorienting to read.
The book is supposed to be quite philosophical, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. That said, it was funny, and by the time I’d finished it I had plenty of highlighted phrases and passages, many of which had made me laugh, so it wasn’t all bad. I just found it quite chaotic to read, and not my cup of tea.

I am astounded.

I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw I had been approved to read an ARC of Lemony Snicket’s new book, and my high expectations were certainly met. I haven’t read any of his works since I was a child with his delightfully bizarre A Series of Unfortunate Events, but falling back into his meandering narrative was somehow soothing and enthralling all at once.

The novel is definitely a side-step from his previous work, and perhaps not quite what most readers might be expecting when they first see Snicket’s name on the cover, but I think any readers who previously appreciated his witty, sardonic tone, or my new readers who appreciate philosophy, will equally enjoy this book.

Something about Snicket’s narrative and the way her perceives the world is baffling and eye-opening at the same time, and though I can imagine he may be one of those ‘marmite’ authors, this volume was a delight and a privilege. Thank you very much to NetGalley and OneWorld Publications!

Lemony Snicket is one of those Marmite authors – one, in my experience at least, whose books you either get and enjoy, or don’t get and they leave you cold. It is quite a few years ago now that I read the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, which tell the story of the Baudelaire siblings for whom life is one dreadful misfortune after another. Like many others, I really enjoyed the black humour and surreal nature of the stories, as have some of the children I have taught, but I know that for some individuals, they simply don’t understand the appeal.

This isn’t necessarily down to the children at whom they are aimed – having spoken to lots of parents and carers over the years, I know some of them still sadly believe that children should only read those fluffy books I so dislike, where everything is guaranteed to end happily ever after and nothing horrible ever happens to their characters, and – as they sometimes have the final say – their offspring very often only get to read books like those.

For fans of the Baudelaires’ adventures though, this title is a new story, very much in the same vein, and one that is as bizarre and as dark at times as you would expect. With Mr Snicket as its narrator, the book tells the true story of what unfolded after he found a note telling him that he had had poison for breakfast. While for most of us, this might cause an enormous panic and an urgent call to the emergency services, or we might dismiss it as a joke in very dubious taste, Snicket sets about trying to establish just what it is that has poisoned him and sets off to investigate.

As he travels from one source of his breakfast essentials to another, we journey alongside him, learning the rules for writing stories and sharing in the tales he is told or tells as he tries to pinpoint what exactly it is that has been tampered with in the hopes of being able to save his own life. Will he be in time to solve the mystery, or will this true story have a truly unfortunate ending?

I guess all writers have a particular style, and Snicket’s is very different from anyone else’s. Throughout the story, he regularly explains to the reader exactly what he means by what he says in an almost rambling way that will be instantly recognisable if you have read his other books, and which appealed greatly to my dry sense of humour. Together with these asides, he sometimes refers to other writers’ work – many upper KS2 teachers will be familiar with poem The Highwayman, for example – which he weaves in and out so that his comments effortlessly becomes part of the narrative. You do not need to be familiar with any of the texts mentioned, however, to enjoy the story.

I do think though, that you might need to be a fan of the author to fully enjoy this – it’s not a book that I would recommend to many of my current Year 5 class because I just don’t think they’d fully appreciate it. For that reason, I would suggest this is more of a KS3 book where more readers are likely to have read A Series of Unfortunate Events, or are mature enough to enjoy the story for the great read that it is, and understand it fully.

Enormous thanks must go to publisher Rock the Boat and Net Galley for my advance read, ahead of publication of the hardback on September 2nd. 4 out of 5 stars.

Despite Lemony Snicket's best-known books going by the name A Series Of Unfortunate Events, the events were never the appeal for me; it was the voice I loved, the wry definitions and lugubrious asides. That's even more pronounced here, where the plot is only the merest of fig-leaves. Sure, Snicket has received a note telling him he had poison for breakfast, and is now wandering the town trying to work out which component of the meal is to blame (Doctor Who fans will have their suspicions), and ideally find an antidote. But hey, we're all in that boat nowadays, without even the mystery (it was the greenhouse gases) or any credible chance of a cure, so that's very dog bites man. No, the interest lies in his thoughts on topics such as philosophy ("Nowadays philosophers are hardly ever tortured, because most people ignore them completely") or how any writer worth his salt will be very wary of the word 'incomparable'; in classics like 'a word which here means', still present and correct if sometimes subverted; in the oblique summaries of books and films, or advice on eggs. Curiously, despite initially thinking Patrick Warburton was far too brawny to embody the role, I now find myself reading Snicket absolutely in his voice.

(Netgalley ARC)

Solid 3.75 stars

I had not read a Lemony Snicket book for quite a while, (since A Series of Unfortunate Events when I was maybe 8 (??), which I loved) so it was quite an odd yet nostalgic feeling reading his writing once again! His writing style certainly is unique and rather enjoyable too, he never fails to make me laugh. I particularly liked the section within this book on eggs - one of my favourite foods.

Although this book is quite short, it took me a while to get through, for some reason, which I think made me enjoy it less. So, if it wasn't for me, my mood reading and current slow reading, I think I would have enjoyed it a little more and rated it higher. Overall, it was a lovely read though. Would strongly recommend for middle grade readers and anyone who enjoyed Mr Snicket's books when they were younger!

As always, big thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for providing a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Piffle – a word which here means "meandering nonsense getting nowhere fast in the least interesting way possible". DNF @ 25% - symbols which mean, oh shut up.