Miguel's Reviews > Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

When I opened this book for the first time, I was hoping Daniel Handler planned on continuing writing novels in the neo-noir style. Now I hope he never writes a novel again. Although Why Is This Night is not the monumental failure that some of his other novels have been, all the potential built up throughout the series is utterly squandered. In addition to failing to serve the series as a whole, the novel lacks the satisfying mystery and character development the previous three novels had in abundance. Once a person is three out of four novels into a series, it's a given they'll read the final installment. Handler seems to be well aware of this fact with this haphazard conclusion. Though this novel, too, has a few resonant scenes, overall the emotional arc feels rushed and incomplete, and the novel's final turn is utterly nonsensical. Why is this night different from all other nights? Because I had to read this shitty novel instead of a good one.