Audiobook Review – Wishes and Wellingtons by Julie Berry, Narrated by Jayne Entwistle (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 9 hours and 29 minutes
Publisher: Audible Studios
Release Date: September 25, 2018
ASIN: B07FK424BG
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“Maeve Merritt chafes at the rigid rules at her London boarding school for “Upright Young Ladies.” When punishment forces her to sort through the trash, she finds a sardine tin that houses a foul-tempered djinni with no intention of submitting to a schoolgirl as his master.

Soon an orphan boy from the charitable home next door, a mysterious tall man in ginger whiskers, a disgruntled school worker, and a take-no-prisoners business tycoon are in hot pursuit of Maeve and her magical discovery. It’ll take all of her quick thinking and sass to set matters right. Maeve Merritt is one feisty heroine you won’t soon forget.”

I got this for free from my Audible membership as an Audible Originals monthly pick. This was a cute story and a well done audiobook. I have a number of other books from Julie Berry and she always writes cute middle grade/YA fantasy reads.

The audiobook was very well done and I enjoyed listening to it. I would recommend to those who enjoy audiobooks.

Maeve hates the girl’s school her mother has sent her to. However, the find of a fishy tin with a genie inside makes her life infinitely more interesting, dangerous, and complicated.

There is some interesting magic in here and I really enjoyed the friendship between the characters. The Victorian era London setting was well done. Maeve is a very plucky young woman who has wonderful dreams of adventure and equality for her fellow young ladies.

I would have rated this higher if not for Maeve’s constant awful decision making. Maeve makes one bad decision after another and I was constantly frustrated by her. She has a genie for goodness sakes and she never once uses it in an intelligent way that actually helps to solve her problems.

I actually enjoyed Alice and Tom more than Maeve as characters. I wish Maeve’s character had been a bit more consistent and actually learned from her numerous mistakes.

Overall this was a cute story with a frustrating heroine. While I loved the magic, the friendship, the adventures, and the setting..I was constantly frustrated by Maeve’s string of poor decisions and how she never learned from her mistakes. I would tentatively recommend to those who are looking for a cute story about genies and friendship.