Audiobook Review: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood,
Narrated by Katherine Kellgren

Published: 23rd February 2010 by HarperCollins
Genre: Mystery / Middle Grade / Historical Fiction
Length: 5 hours and 28 minutes
Format: Audiobook on Overdrive
Source: SYNC

Synopsis: Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon UK* / Amazon US / B&N / TBD*

Review: 

3 / 5 stars

I got my audio book copy of The Mysterious Howling from SYNC's summer event where every week they had two audio books up for free download, so I visited every week and grabbed the ones that took my interest.

As I've never listened to an audio book before I initially struggled getting into it as I couldn't seem to find the right moment to listen, bus journeys were too short, scrolling through tumblr or blog hopping was too distracting and simply sat there listening felt too time wasting. 

Eventually I found the perfect spot to listen to the book, the bath. 

Once I eventually got into the flow of listening, I realised how much I was enjoying Katherine's voice, it was so entertaining and fitted each character perfectly. 

I loved her voice so much it took me a while to realise how little I was actually invested in the story.

I took a gamble with The Mysterious Howling because I was intrigued about why these three children behaved like wild creatures  but knew the genre was not something I'd typically choose, and once I got to know the story behind the children I soon lost interest.

The only reason I'm able to mark this book as finished is thanks to Katherine, her voice held me captive long after I would have given up and handed out a did not finish were I reading it alone.

However, whilst overall I didn't enjoy the book it did have good aspects to it.

I rather enjoyed the development of the three children, their mad antics at the end of year party and I also really like the story I made up to go with the ending.

At the end of the book the children mention that there is someone/thing in the walls of the attic and the man of the house is missing for most of the story, since I have no desire to finish the series I decided to conclude the man is actually a werewolf and this is his reason for wanting to keep the children even though him and his wife seem to show no interest in actually having children.

I wish I could go into more about the story and what happened but due to my lack of interest nothing else seems noteworthy. 
This just wasn't for me, without considering the narrator it'd probably be a 2 star rating.

Maryrose Wood: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Katherine Kellgren: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

*When purchasing through these links, I will receive a small amount, once I have enough saved up I will put it towards a giveaway.