Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: If you're trying to raise literate children - eschew this!

(Which, in this instance, means "pick another writer.") Snicket is clever -- these books are black humor, juvenile-style and, as an adult, I found them amusing. Good literature, however, needs to have some redeeming quality beyond cleverness. Some tension to make the drama "work." I agree with my 9-year-old grandson (an avid reader) who complained, "There's nothing good EVER happens!" The stupidity of the adults is doubtless endearing to at least some children -- but it is not enough on which to construct a world. I confess I do not see why these books are so popular when there is so much excellent children's fiction on the market today.