The Wrong Girl

By: C. J. Archer

Narrated by: Lucy Rayner

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's Summary

It's customary for Gothic romance novels to include a mysterious girl locked in the attic. Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn't that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl's daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she's lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping.

Taken by handsome Jack Langley to a place known as Freak House, she finds herself under the same roof as a mad scientist, his niece, a mute servant, and Jack, a fire starter with a mysterious past. They assure Hannah she is not a prisoner and that they want to help her. The problem is, they think she's the earl's daughter. What will they do when they discover they took the wrong girl?

©2013 C. J. Archer (P)2017 Tantor

Good story but...

Be prepared for the females to have SUCH SHRILL VOICES! I had to turn it off twice just because she was giving me a headache!

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Read Instead

I don't want to be mean, but the narrator made this book feel like a punishment. The voices she tried to use were so annoying it was like nails on a chalkboard. It made me cringe. The story itself did not seem to have much of a plot. The concept sounded funny and caught my attention, but it never lived up to my hopes. Sorry, I think I'm going to return this one.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

Too much talking and not enough resolution

Based on this book, I removed other CJ Archer books from my wishlist. A pretty cover and a good name for any book, doesn't quite make it worth the time lost listening to a story poorly told. Almost the entire book was conversations between the main character and other people - and almost none of those conversations came to a resolution. The story goes no where and starts in one place (with the girl who starts fires) to completely somewhere else (the guy who stole the papers - which is focused on entirely too much). This was really my first audible book that I didn't care for at all.

As for the performance of the reader, while very talented, the voice she gave to Jack was odd and off mark if you ask me. He sounded like an old arrogant man. Other than that, she's obviously very talented.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Screeching and singing at the same time!

I could not get past the narrator's tone! If she wasn't screeching, she was sing-songing at the most inappropriate times. It was so random and just terrible.
I couldn't finish this book because of the narrator, so I can't comment on the story, but I assume it's as good as all of CJ Archer's other books! Sadly, as long as this narrator is reading, I'll never listen.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

A pleasant surprise

Would you listen to The Wrong Girl again? Why?

Yes, i have just bought the second book in the series

What did you like best about this story?

The twist and turn to the story, I like the way it is positioned in the past and the innocence and properness of that era. Refreshing from all corset buster in the super natural genre recently

What about Lucy Rayner’s performance did you like?

She really makes the characters come to life. Will look for more of her work

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

I have just finished listening to Glass and Steele series, anticipating book 4.
I looked for more work from the Author. Whilst I did not enjoy this series as much as glass and steele it is still a great series

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love the strong female characters

I love the strong female characters that CJ Archer writes, along with the intrigue, supernatural and romance. She gets it just right. While this one seemed a bit slower than the Ministry of Curiosities series, it was still engaging and kept me turning the metaphorical page.
The narrator was not nearly as good as Shiromi Arserio though. She depicts the ladies with too shrill a voice for audiobooks (literally had to turn the volume down while listening because it hurt my head) and her overly proper accent didn’t seem to fit the main character. Nothing that can’t be endured for an excellent story though.
Overall, I would recommend this book, but if you’re just starting CJ Archer, start with the Ministry of Curiosities series.

I just can’t stand the narrator

I love this author and though I’m sure the actual story is one I would like I can’t get through the narration. I’ll have to read this one on my own.

Fun, if a little unfulfilling

The story is a good intriguing mystery, just don’t expect any resolution. No joke, no secrets are revealed you know nothing about any characters real origins. So go into this knowing you have 3 or more books before it all get revealed. And not to jump on the bad narration band wagon but, every single woman was narrated like a petulant child in piercing tones.

Narrator almost ruined it.

This is my third CJ Archer series to read and I love her books. However the shrill high pitched voice and sing song rhythm of the narrator hurt my ears and was highly annoying. If it had been the first of her books for me I probably would not have continued. I enjoyed the familiar plot and how well the author brings you into the era of the setting. There was even a nice surprise at the end that reminded me of a previous series of hers. Will definitely read book 2.

A Slow Burn?

This is the first C.J. Archer novel I've listened to in audiobook form. I read the Ministry of Curiosities series on my kindle and thoroughly loved it. I loved this particular story less. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it felt sluggish. The writing wasn't compelling, but it was engaging enough to keep me listening.

Actually, as I was listening, it reminded me somewhat of bygone gothic stories, such as The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins. I suppose this could be taken as a compliment, but the problem is that I guess my expectations for contemporary tales are higher. Though the old ones are commendable for being well-crafted and eloquent, they often also feel weighty, stiff, and plodding. I tend to prefer contemporary stories precisely because they are typically faster-paced, driven by action and nimble, clever dialogue.

So, the story was interesting, but sluggish. As to the characters, in terms of gaining my unconditional devotion, they rate about 7/10 overall, with the female protagonist having a few 9/10 moments. At this point, I am invested enough in the characters, and intrigued enough by the plot, that I will probably go on to the second book, but I sincerely hope the second book offers more...just MORE!

One of my biggest complaints about this audiobook is the narrator. She is actually a rather adept storyteller, and I rather like the sound of her voice, when she is speaking as narrator; however, some of her characterizations were annoying. What is worse is that the two worst character voices happen to be that of the two main characters. Her "Hannah" voice occasionally borders on shrill. I don't understand this, because, not only does it not suit the character, but why couldn't the narrator have simply given the protagonist the narrator's own voice? But, the absolute worst voice is the one she gives Jack. It is absurdly deep, gruff, and overly ostentatious. I understand the narrator perhaps intended to reflect his efforts at sounding refined, given that his social class was an issue, but it really came across more as pompous, and altogether unsuited to his character.

I shall hope that perhaps the narrator eases up on these irritating effects in Book 2.

Good story if you can ignore naration

Good story but the different voices were too much. Too shrill! Ok if you can ignore

Awful narration!

I found the narrator of this story dreadful. It was so bad I got the kindle book as the story was good and I wanted to know what happened. The voices were so inappropriate for the characters.