I could see the plot twist approaching from a great distance. However, Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, said something along the lines of “a series of unfortunate circumstances.” This statement made the read worthwhile for me.

It was as if Handler was deliberately leading us down a certain path, only to surprise us with a sudden turn. The anticipation of the twist added an element of excitement to the story.

Even though I had an inkling of what might happen, Handler's unique writing style and his use of the phrase “a series of unfortunate circumstances” kept me engaged.

It made me wonder what other unexpected events would occur and how the characters would deal with them.

Overall, despite seeing the plot twist coming, the read was still enjoyable due to Handler's clever storytelling and his ability to create a sense of mystery and intrigue.

I truly adored the writing of this book to such an extent that I didn't even mind the fact that I had guessed the major revelation a third of the way through the story.

This shows just how much love I have for this particular piece of literature. The author's skill in crafting the narrative was so engaging that it didn't matter if I had an inkling of what was to come.

The way the words flowed, the vivid descriptions, and the well-developed characters all contributed to my deep appreciation.

Even though I had predicted the big reveal, I was still eager to see how the author would unfold the rest of the plot and tie up all the loose ends.

It was a testament to the power of good writing that I could enjoy the book so thoroughly, regardless of my early prediction.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a well-written story, even if they think they might be able to guess the ending.

Due to the unreliable narrator, this book ended up leaving me with a lot of questions and few answers.

The story unfolded in a rather perplexing manner. The narrator's account seemed to be clouded by personal biases, memories that might not be entirely accurate, or perhaps even deliberate attempts to mislead.

As I delved deeper into the narrative, I found myself constantly second-guessing what I was reading. Every event, every character's action, and every piece of dialogue became suspect.

I was left wondering if the true nature of the story would ever be revealed. The lack of clear and definitive answers added an air of mystery and frustration to my reading experience.

Despite this, there was something about the book that kept me engaged. Maybe it was the challenge of trying to untangle the web of uncertainties spun by the unreliable narrator. Or perhaps it was the hope that, in the end, all would be made clear and I would finally have the answers I so desperately sought.

Overall, the unreliable narrator made this book a unique and thought-provoking read, but it also left me with a sense of dissatisfaction and a longing for more clarity.

I think that comparing the story of "The Basic Eight" to "The Bling Ring" meets "The Beat Generation" (more specifically, the murder of David Kammerer) is as accurate a comparison as I can give.

I picked up this book solely because it was written by Daniel Handler, and I had no idea at all what it was about. Reading the back of the book, it seemed more like a Meg Cabot-teenage-high-school-experience than I would prefer, but I was also consciously aware it was Daniel Handler, so I didn't expect to be disappointed... much.

And I wasn't! Well, not really. I slugged through the first half of the book painfully, and things only started to get interesting and I could decipher where the story was heading during the second half of the book. I don't understand, however, Flannery's relationships with her friends and especially Adam, especially since her narration in her diary is so unreliable (sometimes she's flirty with Adam? sometimes Adam wants to hit her?). But what do I know about American high school teenage relationships?

The foreshadowing, though. Oh my god. It kept me going on and on for more despite the morbidity - and in the form of TV liveshow psychoanalyses at that. I have to admit, though, that the ending was a bit disappointing. The [spoiler] part about Natasha [/spoiler] caught me completely by surprise. I didn't see it coming at all, but it all makes sense. (However, there were some parts when I read back where Natasha conversed with other members of the Basic Eight, but then again Flannery's narration is known to be super unreliable.) But the entire ordeal about [spoiler] (is it really a spoiler though? ok kinda is) Flannery killing Adam [/spoiler] was not addressed enough (if at all). Like, what actually happened? Was the night at the party when Flannery's narration was completely turned upside down by absinthe to be taken seriously at all? In that case, did Adam really do what he did? Did he really say what he said? Was he even there? I feel the entire party night was just Flannery tripping around by herself and no one actually did or said the things she wrote in her diary. So then why did she kill Adam? Why is it one moment Adam is fingering Flannery and then the next he wants to hit her? What is going on?

Now I'm going to scout backwards for mentions of Natasha.

Hmm..

I truly adored this book for the initial 260 pages. It was engaging and held my attention firmly. However, then it began to meander, which was highly frustrating. The reason being that those final 100 pages contained nearly all the action and the ultimate big twist.

Spoilers are ahead, specifically regarding that significant twist.

I have a penchant for reverse whodunnits (or whydunnits? or howdunnits?). This book aligns with that sub-genre, similar to The Secret History, one of my all-time favorites. But it fails to capture the best aspect of a great reverse mystery: the aftermath.

If you've read this book (and if you haven't, stop reading this review and go read it yourself before I start spoiling), you'll understand that it's impossible not to compare it to Donna Tartt's The Secret History. In TSH, Tartt spends considerable time introducing and developing her characters, making us grow attached to them. Then, she shatters their lives one by one as they deal with the aftermath of murdering a fellow classmate (which is not a spoiler as it's revealed on the first page of the novel).

In The Basic Eight, our narrator, Flannery Culp (more on her later), takes her time chronicling the first semester of her senior year day by day. Suddenly, she murders her crush, Adam State, and then the book is over. Handler hastily introduces a twist – an imaginary friend? Oh my! Then a clinical epilogue written by a fictitious psychiatrist wraps it all up, barely tying up all the loose ends.

To be fair to both Flan and Handler, the novel is presented as Flan's journal, which she's editing from prison. So, the day-by-day nature of the narrative is justified. However, the extremely rushed and simultaneously meandering ending cannot be excused by this structure. It's lazy (or perhaps novice, as I believe this was Handler's debut) writing.

I desired to witness the Basic Eight falling apart as they dealt with Flan's confession to the murder and the media storm that ensued, which Flan mentions throughout the story. I wanted to see Flan grappling with (SPOILERS FOR THE BIG REVEAL) the realization that her friend and confidante Natasha is merely a figment of her imagination. I craved the trial. I longed for Flan's incarceration. Overall, I yearned for more character development, which leads me to my most significant criticism of The Basic Eight: I believe Handler was juggling too many characters.

Flan, Natasha, Lily, V__, Kate, Douglas, Gabriel, Adam, Flora. Of these nine characters, only Flan and Natasha feel developed. Adam is introduced as a sweet guy but devolves into a major douche with little rhyme or reason. In his final moments before his death, he was being an absolute asshole, and I was thoroughly confused because this wasn't the Adam I was initially introduced to. The development that should have taken us from Point A (nice Adam) to Point B (dick Adam) didn't occur, and you can't blame that on Flan being an unreliable narrator. It's a crutch for poor writing.

Lily and Douglas fade into the background after it's revealed that Douglas is gay. V__ is more prominently featured at the end of the novel as she hosts the party where Adam is killed, but other than being rich and wearing pearls, we know almost nothing about her as a person. Those last three words are what's most lacking in these characters. We don't know them as individuals. Even if we're seeing them through the whatever-colored tinted glasses of Flannery Culp's journal, she still viewed them as people, and so should we. They're all very one-dimensional. Maybe Kate is more developed than I'm giving her credit for, but there are simply too many characters and too little development for me to fully remember.

Returning to Flan, our narrator, I will give Handler credit for creating a character who was entirely pretentious, self-centered, and, by all accounts, extremely obnoxious, yet still making me enjoy reading her narration. I'm not entirely sure how he accomplished that, but my guess is that it had something to do with the fact that she didn't get away with the murder, so she couldn't be as smug as she perhaps intended to be.

All that being said, I would still rate this book 4 stars because I truly couldn't put it down. I did have to struggle through the ending, but I was still relatively engaged, and I anticipate that I'll be thinking about it for a few more days. Therefore, I would recommend picking it up. It's intelligent in its execution, the writing is good, the tone is appropriately unnerving, and the story is enjoyable.

Yes, there are some plot holes in this book.

Yes, perhaps it's a little on the long side.

But still, what an amazing creative achievement it is for one of his first books.

Handler, whom I've previously known as Snicket, writes in a very "cool" way.

For lack of a better word, it's a unique and engaging style.

This particular work is a less refined example of that style that we have come to know and love.

It shows the author's early talent and potential, even with its flaws.

The story has its own charm and manages to draw the reader in, despite the minor issues.

It makes us look forward to seeing how Handler will develop and improve his writing in future works.

Overall, it's a remarkable debut that leaves a lasting impression.

I am unable to rate this book as it presents a conundrum. Stylistically, it is highly regarded by me. However, its flaws seem to be more of an ethical nature rather than stylistic. Thus, I am at a loss as to how to balance the two to assign a single rating. I cannot give it a high rating on ethical grounds, yet I also cannot give it a low rating because the writing is actually quite good. So, instead, I will simply discuss it.

The Basic Eight, to me, was like a combination of Heathers and The Secret History. However, my friend Michelle has compared it to "The Bling Ring meets the Beat Generation (specifically the murder of David Kamerer)", which I think also holds true. On one hand, you can see these comparisons as representing a group of vain, attractive, witty teenagers who look down on the rest of society and decide to pursue their own pleasures and test their own limits, both academically, athletically, and socially. Add in a significant amount of alcohol and a touch of murder. What's your damage?

Stories like these are my guilty pleasure because they are so bad and wrong (I will discuss this later). But, I am human too, and I am a teenager (although my time as one is running out, lol). I want to be reckless, full of myself, and still be young and look great while doing so. I thought Daniel Handler did a good job of capturing the self-destructive vanity of The Basic Eight and the hysteria of high school. He is attentive to detail, and his plot is tight. I also admire the metaphors he created, many of which were evocative and precise. My copy of the book is approximately 380 pages long, almost 400, but the story only spans the first two months of their senior year. You wouldn't think much could happen in two months, but one drama after another unfolds, and I was completely hooked. I think a large part of what made it so compelling was Flan's constant allusions to the impending murder. She leads you through all these relatively trivial dramas - people getting together, people breaking up, people crying over breakups, people pining for someone else, etc. - yet all the while, you know there is murder on the horizon, and you just want to figure out how such a huge leap was made. (Also, I should note that *most* of the drama The B8 goes through is rather trivial. The exception is the thing with Carr. I hope he died. May he never find peace.)

Anyway, that's one way to look at it. On the other hand, you can view these comparisons - Heathers, The Secret History, The Bling Ring, the Beats - as a group of white middle-class American teenagers who should probably read the news more often to burst their self-contained bubbles. The writing became so racist, homophobic, and misogynistic throughout that I just gritted my teeth and pushed through, lol. And the writing of the rape scene was awful. I have to mention that scene because it is so important. If someone is reading this and considering reading the book, I just have to mention that there is a scene where someone is raped, and it is awful, gritty, and made me put the book out of sight after I was done. It was truly awful. I don't know if he should have included that scene. I don't think he should have. It was so bad that I couldn't read it; I just skimmed the whole thing. Like, for all its stylistic merits, I don't know if I could ever like or recommend a book that had that scene in it.

Ultimately, it was a fairly enjoyable reading experience, but I doubt I will ever pick it up again because there are just some parts that I cannot bear to read again, lol. /end

DNF.

I really made a great effort to like this book. Especially after I had read the outstanding "The Secret History" novel and made comparisons. However, this one was completely different.

It was extremely boring and not well-structured at all. It was more like a basic stream of consciousness that someone randomly wrote down.

The story seemed to lack a clear direction and the characters were not well-developed. There was no real depth or complexity to engage the reader.

Despite my initial attempt to give it a chance, I just couldn't get into it. It failed to capture my interest and hold my attention.

Maybe it's just not my cup of tea, but I was really disappointed considering my high expectations.

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DNF.

I truly desired to have a liking for this book. It has been on my To-Be-Read (TBR) list for an incredibly long time, all thanks to the Dark Academia Tumblr community.

However, this book was unfortunately filled with an abundance of unnecessary internalized fatphobia. It really dampened my enthusiasm and I simply am not in the mood to continue reading it.

Moreover, even though I have reached 30% of the book, the story still hasn't managed to become interesting. It seems to be lacking that certain spark or hook that would draw me in and make me eager to find out what happens next.

It's quite disappointing as I had such high hopes for this book based on its reputation and the anticipation it had built up within the Dark Academia sphere. But alas, it just wasn't meant to be for me.

The Basic Eight is truly a remarkable book. The author, Daniel Handler, takes a bold approach by not striving to make the main character, Flannery Culp, especially likable.

Flannery has her moments of sympathy, yet she stands out as an unusual main character. She isn't written to be repugnant either. Instead, she is simply herself. In fact, she could be described by her own unique adjective: Flannery: (fla-ne-ree) being oneself without pretense.

As I delved into The Basic Eight, it dawned on me that if I were to encounter Flannery in my school or town, I probably wouldn't want to spend all my time with her. This discovery delighted me because in most books, especially those targeted at teenagers and young adults, the main character or a significant influence on the main character is highly likable. For example, Peeta from The Hunger Games is a very likeable character, while Sammy from Before I Fall is a difficult one.

However, Flannery Culp is entirely her own being. She is always true to herself, which is part of what makes the book so enjoyable. Written in a journal-style prose, Flannery's story, told as she edits her diary after the events involving the Basic Eight, is a complex, jumbled, and messy mix of confusion and delight.

The dark humor of Lemony Snicket (Handler's pen name for the Series of Unfortunate Events) pervades the book, and I found myself laughing at things that weren't funny in the literal sense.

I highly recommend this book, but with a few caveats. It is a psychological comedic-drama. Flannery is very irrational, and there is a significant amount of substance abuse and sexuality in the book. While I didn't find these elements overly overwhelming, I must admit there is a lot of it. I read several other reviews, some of which claimed the book was "disturbing" due to its insight into the irrationality of my generation's minds. However, I would argue that it doesn't accurately represent everyone's reactions, although Flannery's feelings are undoubtedly valid.

http://littlereadwritinghood.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/the-basic-eight-by-daniel-handler/
(follow the above link to Little Read Writing Hood and like the blog for many more reviews to come!)