I wonder if it's because of the re-read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first time. It still is a great book, better than most children book but it managed to annoy me. Most of all how Funke kept on belabouring the fact that they love books. It's entertaining for the first few chapters but then the description how Mo always stroke the book before opening it started getting on my nerve. The thing is I don't think I noticed it as I was reading it the first time some years ago. I could only remember the darkness of the story, how desperate everything feels, how you can't even rely on your parents to save you, because in reality parents could be helpless too. This was why I really liked the book, it's showing you that awful things can happen even if you have your loving parents by your side (Enid Blyton's adventures always happen when the children are away from the responsible adults, Baudelaire's children know that they can't rely on adults but deep in their heart they believed had their parents still with them everything would be different) It must have been a really scary thought for children, hence the dark aura surrounding this whole book. But now I found small details nag at me and erased bits of darkness making some spots just bleak. I suppose some books can't hold repeated reading like Titanic can't be watch more than twice before making you sick.