The Wrong Girl (The 1st Freak House Trilogy)

I do love a good tale of mystery and supernature; and this book didn't disappoint on either of these ends. It's so delightful that I'm going on to book number two.

Two girls have been sequestered their entire lives in the attic of the mansion of an Earl, both now being age 18. One girl is Violet, the daughter of the Earl, and the other girl is Hannah, an orphan, who shares her life with Violet. Hannah suffers from narcolepsy and has been told Violet is a fire starter. That under certain conditions, Violet’s fingertips heat up and become flames. Hannah accepts this as there is evidence in the attic that there was as small fire there once. The girls are attended by a governess and three good tutors, but otherwise the girls are restricted to this attic and never see anyone else and no one sees them. Neither the Earl nor his wife visit their daughter. It is like they are so ashamed of having a daughter being a fire starter. Sometimes the girls are allowed on supervised walks in the estate gardens. The girls have adjusted to their lives, just accepting their fate. Hannah is fortunate because in England in those days orphans could end up in work houses as slave labor, you might say, or fend as best they can for themselves, homeless, and on the streets. One day Hannah is kidnapped right out of the Earl’s garden, only, the kidnappers think that she is Violet. Hannah is very protective of Violet and decides to play along until she figures out what these people want with Vi. Her two kidnappers are young cousins, Jack and Sylvia Langley. Jack is a fire starter like Violet. And apparently, they kidnap her to “save” her from her life as a prisoner and teach her to control her fire starting tendencies. Hannah is taken to and now lives in a huge mansion owned by an Uncle August. August seems to have a more sinister purpose but promises Hannah/Vi if she lives quietly with them until Christmas, cooperating with Jack as he works to help her learn to control her fire starter tendencies, that she will be released after that. To further complicate matters, Hannah/Vi is starting to develop feelings for Jack, and has learned that Jack thinks she is a fire starter like him. But in Jack’s case, his fire starting doesn’t burst out unless he is very angry, so he tries to control his anger. He and Hannah/Vi experiment to determine what causes Hannah/Vi to combust. One day Jack and Hannah/Vi in a fit of passion clutch each other and both combust. They realize that they cannot touch each without a problem.As the story progresses, Hannah reveals who she really is, and many secrets are revealed about both Hannah and Violet and who Hannah/Vi really is. For me this story was really a page turner, not so much from actions, but from the paranormal events and revelations as they pour forth.I couldn’t put this story down once I started and I do recommend it to those readers who enjoy a little Gothic, a little paranormal, mystery and romance.I was given a free copy of this story for an honest review.

Although this was a good book, I probably won't be continuing the series. This is mostly due to the pacing of the story and the way in which the author chose to tell it... literally. Too much conversation for my taste. Way, way too much conversation. The first several chapters were excellent, and I had high hopes that the rest of the book would be equally action-filled and compelling. Well... action-filled, no. Compelling? If you don't mind characters verbally discussing mysteries, meeting upon meeting with strangers who help them solve the puzzles, sure.I find it interesting that many readers critique the beginning of the book, because I honestly consider it to be the best part. The "big secret" was predictable (I guessed early on) and by the time I reached the middle of the book, well, there wasn't much left to be discovered. Don't get me wrong - there are multiple sub-plots - but there are also multiple hints, and most are glaringly obvious. Nevertheless, I kept reading to see if I was right, so points to the author in that respect.This book does seem to lag about 3/4 of the way through, like many books do. More conversation, verbal pondering, and the like. The finale... again, predictable. You can probably guess the circumstances of danger by simply reading the summary. And yes, for all the spoken Q&A, there are still many unanswered questions when the book ends. I don't care to wade through more dialogue in book two, but I may reread the first few chapters of this book, as they are intriguing and witty. Wit does appear throughout the book, so that was nice. I dearly wish the author hadn't resorted to seemingly-endless explanatory chatter about the origins of everything and everyone, however.All of that said, I don't regret downloading the book or reading it, and I probably would have paid $2.99 for it. Happily. It was a good book. Even though I won't be continuing this series, I may check out other series by the same author. Perhaps some of those have more action in them.

I have to admit to being slightly disappointed by this book - it paled in comparison to the first of the Ministry Of Curiosities series. Somehow, I think I may have expected far more from it than was reasonable.The premise would be sound if we hadn't already gathered that the Wrong Girl was really the Right Girl almost as soon as she is kidnapped - it just take Harriet a while to catch on. There is some attempt at building tension, especially later in the tale when they go to visit the One-Armed Man and realise that not all is what it seems. Sadly, it just all felt a little bit telegraphed and there were no real shocks or surprises.The setting is very good and has the feel of an authentic Victorian Melodrama, if a somewhat romanticised one. The characters are all pretty much likeable and you do find yourself being sucked in to their world quite easily. Not as all-consuming as The Last Necromancer but getting there.It sets up the second in the series quite well with a new-ish character joining them all at Freak House and I have to admit that I am interested in finding out what happens next but I will definitely have to take this series book by book as I do feel it may all become a little repetitive.Solid YA Fantasy that translates well in to older audiences.

I read this book over a couple of days. Felt like it would be a heavy read rather than a light read. A different type of subject with twists and turns. More mysterious with answers not quite straightforward. Have enjoyed it and will continue with the set as I would like to know the outcome. Characterizations are interesting as well as the subject of natural fire starters is investigated. Well worth a read.

While this book is pretty clearly written for the Young Adult market ( and I'm anything but), I have to say that I enjoyed it very much indeed, and will go on to buy the next book in the series. Hannah has spend the last 15 of her 18 years secured in the attic floor of a country mansion, acting as companion to the daughter of the house, who has the gift/curse of fire, and whose attacks cause Hannah to suffer fits of catalepsy. Then one day, Hannah is kidnapped by the young, handsome gardener, who has mistaken her for her also-red-headed mistress. There are constant twists and turns in this tale, involving the aristocracy; London street children; one-armed baddies - or are they; a wheelchair-bound mad scientist - or is he; a snobbish niece whose thoughts revolve around propriety and shopping; and a mute (probably) gentleman's gentleman, and a host of others, causing so many possible solutions as each new problem is encountered and each fresh piece of information is revealed.While I would heartily recommend this book to others, please be aware that there are a number of spelling and grammatical errors. The book deserves some better editing and proof-reading to live up to the quality of the plot. There's the all-too-common inability to determine whether it should be 'I' or 'Me', 'may' or 'might', and a couple of really interesting phrases: 'eyes...blue to go with her hair'; 'as the house rolled past the window'! Finally, is the Australian spelling of a product so closely associated with the country really 'woolen', which appears at least eight times in the opening chapter?

The book started out wellIt's was suitably atmospheric with the dour governess the mysterious Gardner later on the wheelchair bound mad scientist type and his silent sidekick bollard ( had me thinking of frankenstine and the mad scientist)Jack and the well meaning but slightly snobbish Sophie and HannahI have to say that Hannah is a very complete character we can see into her and her motivations and her character doesn't vary except she seemed totally blasé about the outside world ( which seems strange since she hasn't been outside ever)The book is to my mind incomplete a book at the end if it should answer some questions instead if creating even moreBy the end if the book we don't knowWho is Hannah SmithWhat is happening between her and jackHow does violet and Tate fit into the storyReally is answers none of them and infact I hesitate to even call it a romance ... It's a gothic tale which reads like Part1 and some more parts to follow

Enjoyable read... It was a free read book one!....I was in between reads and thought why not.... (loved CJ Archers Glass and Steele Series) Nice Characters, story line caught my interest.... On to book 2