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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
Okay, so every so often I like to read books that are either free or heavily discounted and that happen to be by unknown or debuting authors. I've found several of my new "unknown" authors by doing this.
So, this happened to be one of the freebies I found available through my iBooks.
To begin with, this is a gothic tale about a girl [now young woman,] who had been locked in an attack with an Earl's daughter, who seemingly has an ability to start fires, while Hannah Smith [our MC,] has a disorder - she's a narcoleptic.
Eventually she is abducted by Jack, the new gardener at the house and believed to be Lady Violet, the Earl's daughter. She's then brought to Freak House, or it's actual name is Frakingham Manor. There she meets the mad doctor, a sweet girl, a mute footman, and an onslaught of other characters. She is promised that all will be alright, that they only want to help her with her powers - what powers?!
As the story goes on you begin to question what is actually going on [or if you're like me, you kind of guess the story because when you've read so many books it's hard to surprise us, right?] there is a twist in the story, we find out some interesting things and altogether it's a fairly easy, quick read and interesting.
I'm not going to gush about this story, but I do believe it's worth a 3 stars. I think it could have been better if the background stories had been embellished on but maybe that is to come since this is a series? It's written well, I just wish there had been more depth to it.
So, this happened to be one of the freebies I found available through my iBooks.
To begin with, this is a gothic tale about a girl [now young woman,] who had been locked in an attack with an Earl's daughter, who seemingly has an ability to start fires, while Hannah Smith [our MC,] has a disorder - she's a narcoleptic.
Eventually she is abducted by Jack, the new gardener at the house and believed to be Lady Violet, the Earl's daughter. She's then brought to Freak House, or it's actual name is Frakingham Manor. There she meets the mad doctor, a sweet girl, a mute footman, and an onslaught of other characters. She is promised that all will be alright, that they only want to help her with her powers - what powers?!
As the story goes on you begin to question what is actually going on [or if you're like me, you kind of guess the story because when you've read so many books it's hard to surprise us, right?] there is a twist in the story, we find out some interesting things and altogether it's a fairly easy, quick read and interesting.
I'm not going to gush about this story, but I do believe it's worth a 3 stars. I think it could have been better if the background stories had been embellished on but maybe that is to come since this is a series? It's written well, I just wish there had been more depth to it.
They just scratched the surface of the firestarting, the romance, and answers about the past I suppose. I just wish the book had been a little meatier. For as much as I read, not a whole lot happened. Also, there were a lot of ideas being thrown around in the form of dialogue, but not a lot of procession of events. I admit I am being somewhat critical, it was incredibly creative, and pretty well done, but this is the arena for criticism.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.75 stars. I would have given it four, but the narrator killed it for me. Her men's voices were painful.
The book was very predictable and it took me a while to start liking Hannah. She seemed a little too oblivious. The story was long to read too. I gave it an extra star simply because the book started to become more interesting at the end.
I was bored by the first chapter. Impractical scenario with Handsome man and flighty faint prone woman. Couldnt make myself get passed it and decided not to force the issue.
2-2.5 stars.
Interesting, but missing something, could not care about the characters, too many questions (more often than not unimportant to me) and quite predictable.
Interesting, but missing something, could not care about the characters, too many questions (more often than not unimportant to me) and quite predictable.
Spoiler
What turned me off of this book was how quickly Hannah goes along with her second kidnapping.
There are some really messed up things happening in this book that don't seem to be treated as if they are a big deal.
Book: The Wrong Girl (The 1st Freak House Trilogy #1) by C. J. Archer (@authorcjarcher)
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Gothic Thriller
Age: 14+
Quote: “I’d had enough of being told what to do and how to conduct myself. Enough of being told to accept my condition and situation, that I ought to consider myself lucky. I wasn’t lucky. I was a prisoner.”
My Thoughts: I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy. Seriously. I stumbled upon this book by chance and now I’m completely obsessed with how C. J. Archer writes—can’t wait to dive into all of her other stories!
The Wrong Girl is a Gothic romance novel in which the protagonist is the mysterious girl kept out of sight in the attic. Hannah Smith is the narcoleptic companion of Lady Violet, the earl’s odd daughter with a strange affliction of her own. The two girls have spent most of their lives locked away, with only each other’s company and the limited view of the gardens from their small attic window to keep them sane. But when Hannah is kidnapped by the mysterious new gardener and taken to a place known as Freak House, she finds courage within her she didn’t know she possessed. Because the inhabitants of Freak House, which include Jack (her kidnapper, and a powerful fire starter with a shady past), a mad scientist, his somber niece and a mute servant, all believe that Hannah is Lady Violet, the earl’s daughter with a dangerous gift. In order to protect her friend and investigate her new captor’s true motives, Hannah must keep up the charade as long as possible. Because there’s no telling what the residents of Freak House will do when they discover they took the wrong girl. If you like stories that feature the underdog, want a mystery involving mistaken identity, dark pasts, and Gothic allure, THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!
#whynotreadwithalex #thewronggirl #cjarcher #freakhouse #freakhousetrilogy #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books #reading #getcaughtreading #thriller #gothic #gothicstyle #gothicnovel #paranormal #mystery #kidnapped #feminist #feministbooks #feminism #victorianhouse #attic #girlintheattic #freebooks #applebooks #kindleunlimited #youngadult #fiction
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Gothic Thriller
Age: 14+
Quote: “I’d had enough of being told what to do and how to conduct myself. Enough of being told to accept my condition and situation, that I ought to consider myself lucky. I wasn’t lucky. I was a prisoner.”
My Thoughts: I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fantasy. Seriously. I stumbled upon this book by chance and now I’m completely obsessed with how C. J. Archer writes—can’t wait to dive into all of her other stories!
The Wrong Girl is a Gothic romance novel in which the protagonist is the mysterious girl kept out of sight in the attic. Hannah Smith is the narcoleptic companion of Lady Violet, the earl’s odd daughter with a strange affliction of her own. The two girls have spent most of their lives locked away, with only each other’s company and the limited view of the gardens from their small attic window to keep them sane. But when Hannah is kidnapped by the mysterious new gardener and taken to a place known as Freak House, she finds courage within her she didn’t know she possessed. Because the inhabitants of Freak House, which include Jack (her kidnapper, and a powerful fire starter with a shady past), a mad scientist, his somber niece and a mute servant, all believe that Hannah is Lady Violet, the earl’s daughter with a dangerous gift. In order to protect her friend and investigate her new captor’s true motives, Hannah must keep up the charade as long as possible. Because there’s no telling what the residents of Freak House will do when they discover they took the wrong girl. If you like stories that feature the underdog, want a mystery involving mistaken identity, dark pasts, and Gothic allure, THEN THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!
#whynotreadwithalex #thewronggirl #cjarcher #freakhouse #freakhousetrilogy #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books #reading #getcaughtreading #thriller #gothic #gothicstyle #gothicnovel #paranormal #mystery #kidnapped #feminist #feministbooks #feminism #victorianhouse #attic #girlintheattic #freebooks #applebooks #kindleunlimited #youngadult #fiction
I don’t remember how I first came across this book. It was a probably a freebie, tbh.
All I know is the cover was nice enough to give it a shot. Now I hate it, it’s so inaccurate! Hannah is nothing like that physically, pretty sure the dress isn’t right and the gloves aren’t either. She never wears them. And there really isn’t any point to having someone else on the cover.
Rating: It’s alright.
It’s not original and it’s really obvious where things are going most of the time.
Hannah lagging behind and being slow about it all does not help. Like towards the end of the book and she FINALLY thinks “there’s something more to this cure they created”. No fucking shit, girl. That was obvious the moment they wouldn’t fucking talk about and that ya’ll have no idea what it is. If it’s so revolutionary, people would have heard of it. How many “cures” could they have out at a time?
And that’s just the last in a long line of similar instances. The first of which is the very set-up for the story: that her narcolepsy sets off her friends fire power. That doesn’t make any sense. And even if that was true, wouldn’t they get rid of Hannah? Or at least try to unless Violet turned too volatile without her? That would certainly keep the girls in line.
This problem plagues the book and drags it down. The “shocking” revelations dropped on the oblivious doesn’t do anything since I was itching to get somewhere new, somewhere worthwhile. I was waiting at the finish line waiting for them to catch up. My first response to the ending was “Well fucking duh!”
Even though it brought more action eventually and a climax, the story didn’t really go anywhere. The characters may know more than they did before but I just received confirmation of everything I knew from the get-go. Without something compelling, there’s no point in going forward.
Everything else is just “not bad”. Except the Instalove. Ugh. Hannah swings so much on Jack and it’s all due to their “connection”. They’re drawn to each other. That’s all folks!
I was able to put it down and go without issue. TBH, it was hard picking it back up after I set it down the first time. It became easier as things finally started ramping up. But then again, I was stuck at work with it so it’s not like I had much choice lol.
All I know is the cover was nice enough to give it a shot. Now I hate it, it’s so inaccurate! Hannah is nothing like that physically, pretty sure the dress isn’t right and the gloves aren’t either. She never wears them. And there really isn’t any point to having someone else on the cover.
Rating: It’s alright.
It’s not original and it’s really obvious where things are going most of the time.
Hannah lagging behind and being slow about it all does not help. Like towards the end of the book and she FINALLY thinks “there’s something more to this cure they created”. No fucking shit, girl. That was obvious the moment they wouldn’t fucking talk about and that ya’ll have no idea what it is. If it’s so revolutionary, people would have heard of it. How many “cures” could they have out at a time?
And that’s just the last in a long line of similar instances. The first of which is the very set-up for the story: that her narcolepsy sets off her friends fire power. That doesn’t make any sense. And even if that was true, wouldn’t they get rid of Hannah? Or at least try to unless Violet turned too volatile without her? That would certainly keep the girls in line.
This problem plagues the book and drags it down. The “shocking” revelations dropped on the oblivious doesn’t do anything since I was itching to get somewhere new, somewhere worthwhile. I was waiting at the finish line waiting for them to catch up. My first response to the ending was “Well fucking duh!”
Even though it brought more action eventually and a climax, the story didn’t really go anywhere. The characters may know more than they did before but I just received confirmation of everything I knew from the get-go. Without something compelling, there’s no point in going forward.
Everything else is just “not bad”. Except the Instalove. Ugh. Hannah swings so much on Jack and it’s all due to their “connection”. They’re drawn to each other. That’s all folks!
I was able to put it down and go without issue. TBH, it was hard picking it back up after I set it down the first time. It became easier as things finally started ramping up. But then again, I was stuck at work with it so it’s not like I had much choice lol.
2.5 stars.
This book moved at a nice pace. Very interesting concept but I found the characters a bit stilted. The world building was also a little average.
Hannah's character was a bit confusing - one minute fairly strong (& overly knowledgeable considering her past) and other times so weak and naive. I just couldn't relate to her. The strength of this book is in the mystery - that was the only reason I finished it.
This book moved at a nice pace. Very interesting concept but I found the characters a bit stilted. The world building was also a little average.
Hannah's character was a bit confusing - one minute fairly strong (& overly knowledgeable considering her past) and other times so weak and naive. I just couldn't relate to her. The strength of this book is in the mystery - that was the only reason I finished it.