Changeling

A Novel of Sorcery and Society

By: Molly Harper

Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi

Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

If 14-year-old Cassandra Reed makes it through her first day at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies without anyone discovering her secret, maybe, just maybe, she’ll let herself believe that she really does belong at Miss Castwell’s. Except Cassandra Reed’s real name is Sarah Smith and up until now, she lived her whole life in the Warren, serving a magical family, the Winters, as all non-magical “Snipes” are bound by magical Guardian law to do. That is, until one day, Sarah accidentally levitates Mrs. Winter’s favorite vase in the parlor....

But Snipes aren’t supposed to have magical powers...and the existence of a magical Snipe threatens the world order dictated during the Guardians’ Restoration years ago. If she wants to keep her family safe and protect her own skin, Sarah must figure out how to fit into posh Guardian society, master her newfound magical powers, and discover the truth about how an ordinary girl can become magical.

©2018 Molly Harper White (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Wonderful!

Really enjoyed this story. As always, Molly Harper brings great character and world development that catches the imagination in new and refreshing ways. I laughed, I cheered, and I appreciated the lessons the characters learned.

Amanda Ronconi did a masterful performance with all of the different accents and each character's voice was distinct and recognizable.

There are a few editing issues that need to be corrected (character half asleep runs into a wall and then in the next paragraph is getting out of bed, etc) but not enough to keep me from enjoying this wonderful story. Highly recommended for preteens and up.

Molly Harper + Amanda Ronconi = perfection

This book is young adult vs what I’m used to with Molly Harper but it’s still really well done and worth it. I listened to the whole thing in one day and loves every minute.

Of Magical Schools and Silver Dragonflies

I generally try not to get into series books. Especially if the rest of the series isn't out yet, but I wanted something magical to get me in the mood for Halloween this year and this is one of the books I chose to do it.

I've never listened to anything else by Molly Harper, so I can't be the one to compare this to her previous works, but I really enjoyed this one. I have such a soft spot for witches and magic, and this book definitely hit all the right buttons for me. Molly Harper really did know how to draw me into the world and the characters.

I really enjoyed the journey and look forward to any other books that come out, when they come out. It's not a series I would obsessively wait for more volumes of, but I wouldn't hesitate to get the next one if it were to come out. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it too!

Not What I expected from Molly Harper

Huge fan of Molly Harper, and while this is a departure from her other series, this misses all the laugh out loud humor that I and so many others have come to love in Molly's books.

This felt very much like an uninspired HP with a female protagonist. The typical twists and plots and lovable quirks Molly writes for her characters are just missing. Even Amanda Ronconi couldn't save this book for me.

I was eagerly anticipating Molly's take on this genre which I love. It's not the genre that got me, or the fact that she's departed from my much loved novels of hers, but simply that the book was completely cliché and lackluster.

Overall? Disappointed.

Other reviewer totally nailed it

I read a review that said this book was a cross between Harry Potter and My Fair Lady- not a truer comparison can be made. If you are okay with that- then you should enjoy it. The premise is actually very interesting, I wish it had been written for adults rather than for middle school age as it really could have been delved into in much greater detail. The writing and plot lines are what could be expected for a children's book (do not expect a Harry Potter comparison there!), I am not sure if kids would be more surprised by the events, but they were predictable. That said, it is a clean, easy to read and enjoy novel for the young that can be appreciated by adults. (I must say I was a bit snobby when I saw the other titles the author had written and had low expectations, but I enjoyed it and would read the next in this series if there is one.)

Harry Potter meets Eliza Dolittle

This book is delightful. Molly Harper's wit is back with an extra dose of whimsy. I hope we'll have many more adventures with this group of characters.

I did have trouble settling into the story because of getting used to the accent. I actually repeated the first five minutes a couple of times to settle in. It's not a book I was able to listen to while doing other things, but it was worth giving it the time and attention.

Refreshing new storyline!

Well Played Molly Harper! I throughly enjoyed this entirely new world and storyline crafting. I can not wait to see where this intriguing rabbit hole leads next. I very much enjoyed that this book is truly YA/teen appropriate without falling into the trap of becoming overly romance driven or too graphic for comfort. Thank you so much for writing a book I can wholeheartedly share with my teen kids.

Harry Potter déjà-vu

Although the story flows well and the narration is really good, this was a rewrite of Harry Potter for a female witch. It seemed to be geared towards Young Adults as well. No character development, no depths, maybe an easy read, but this was NOT worth a credit.

Good but kind of predictable

The initial part was good, even though the world building lacked a bit more of explanation.
But the characters are kinda childish, the main character and her two loyal friends, a mean girl and a romantic interest in a school of magic, and she discovers she's the chosen to some profecy or has powers that no one has ever seen....
Good read for a kid between 8-12, there are parts that are funny, it's just a lot like the rest that's been published.

cute, magical, & a bit of everything

Very good narration. I always sink into British narrator's like a warm cup of tea.
The book presents so much that you want to say is from other magical books, but puts it together in a unique way that it's hard to compare.
I enjoyed it enough that I'm hoping the next one comes out soon.

Terrible British accents!

I love Molly Harper’s books and have really enjoyed Amanda Ronconi’s narration of them in the past but her British accent is by far her weakest so my heart sunk when I started to listen. I enjoyed the story but really had to persevere to listen to it and tune out my cringing at the terrible accents, particularly of the ‘working class’ characters. If I decide to read the rest of the series when it comes out I think I’ll have to do so in print rather than face another 8 hours of wincing...

terrible north english accents

Always enjoy Molly Harper books, easy listening, nice pace and good story lines. normally fine with Amanda Ronconi reading them but her northern english characters are chronicly bad. it is distracting listening the the parents 'talking'. will read the next one not sure i will do the audiobook

American Author Syndrome

The book suffers from having an English Setting and Characters written by an Americn Author

It is full of everyday Americanisms that grate horribly in a supposedly English setting. Sidewalk, candy, pants, vest (the latter two refer to underwear in England, not the trousers and waistcoat the Author intended)

Also, much as Amanda Ronconi is an excellent narrator, it would have been better to give the job of narrating a book set in England, and full of English characters to an actual English narrator rather than expecting an American to fake the accents consistently all the way through.

The story itself is great, and the naration is good too - allowing for the understandable accent slippage, but I felt the need to mark down for the Americanisms and American narrator.

enjoyable but confusing!

The story is engaging and I like the plot but the language is really odd. Why set it in the UK then use American English? It's supposed to be upper class English but there's a lot of 'off of' and 'gotten' etc that really jars. The narrator is a great performer and I've enjoyed other audiobooks she's done but despite a valiant effort at a posh English accent I still hear Harley Merlin coming through and the Scottish is toe curling.

*spoiler * it bothers me enormously that these 14 year olds casually reduce evil teacher to dust without hesitation and with no apparent remorse. Maybe I'm getting old.

Disappointing performance

The story isn't particularly engaging, but it's fine for whiling away a few hours. Sadly, the performance was ruined by terrible accents. This might not be as noticeable for those in other parts of the world, but if you live in the UK or Ireland you might struggle with this audiobook. The accents were not just unbelievable, but they changed from sentence to sentence so it was hard to know if it was the same character talking or not. The use of American English for an English character in the actual book text also impeded the author's attempts to convey the location. Unless you're a die hard Molly Harper fan, I'd recommend giving this a miss.

Thoroughly enjoyable, can't wait for more

A new departure for Molly Harper into a parallel version of 19th Century England where the world is divided into Guardians (magic users) and their non-magic Snipe servants. Also more explicitly Young Adult fiction than her other books, but equally enjoyable by Older Young Adults.

Sarah is a young Snipe girl who turns out to have magical powers. The story of how she manages her transition into the Guardian world, and in particular Miss Castwell's Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies, is highly engaging from start to finish.

The parallels to Hogwarts are obvious, but nicely turned on their heads. The muggles in this story are not the dominant culture but a suppressed underclass. The family which Sarah leaves are for the most part the opposite of the Dursleys - loving, unwilling to lose her and helpless.

Great story, lively and likeable characters and a very intriguing universe for future adventures.

Amanda Ronconi is such a great reader that even her wavering British regional accents for the Snipe characters (which somehow manage to drift between Yorkshire, Northumberland and parts of Scotland) must be forgiven. She narrates the rest in a fairly good BBC accent, which is quite a feat in the circumstances, and fairly soon i was too caught up in the story to worry about it. And maybe in that parallel universe that is precisely how they speak!

promising start to new series (apart from accents)

I really appreciate the narrators effort but 'Northern' english accents slid between Scouse, Welsh, Scottish, irish and a bit of dick van dyke but once Sarah/Cassandra went to school it was much easier to listen to. Good start to a new series.

Brilliant new series

Can’t wait for the next book in this unique and interesting new series ! Any series by molly Harper is on auto buy .. I’m never disappointed !

Good story, accents and Americanisms spoiled it

The story was quite good but the English accents were just awful and I really had to make myself finish listening to the book. The narrator was very expressive and would have been great if she had just left the accents out. It was like every character spoke in just about every British accent variation interchangeably. For a book set in England there were also alot of American phrases that seemed. quite out of place. If you don't mind dreadful accents it's quite a good listen but I wouldn't listen to book 2 on this basis.

It was ok

The book was ok, I can see why people say it’s similar to Harry Potter but it definitely does not have it’s depth, thoughtfulness, humour and brilliance. The dangerous situations failed to make me feel there was any danger to them and there was way too much gossiping, dressing up and stereorypical “girly” behaviour why I really disliked.