The Grim Grotto

2004, first edition, from HarperCollins
Lemony Snicket
Illustrated by Brett Helquist
A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the Eleventh: The Grim Grotto
Original price $11.99, purchase price $4.80
Worn hardcover
C+

This entry introduces a perhaps temporary love interest for Klaus (Fiona, who in her triangular glasses looks suspiciously like Petra in the Helquist-illustrated Chasing Vermeer [2005] by Blue Balliett).  Also, it has a discussion that I suspect is a parody of Sirius Black saying the world isn't divided into good people and Death Eaters, in this case comparing them to mixed salads.  And it has Sunny saying "procto" to mean "the other end."  But it also has three running jokes that, while perhaps meant to be annoying, are nonetheless annoying: Olaf's new evil laugh, Fiona's stepfather's overuse of the word "Aye," and the narrator's long-winded discussion of the water cycle.  So we've got the weakest book in the series so far, with two more books for Snicket to bounce back in.