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  • Charmed Life

  • The Chrestomanci Series
  • By: Diana Wynne Jones
  • Narrated by: Tom Baker
  • Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (93 ratings)
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Charmed Life cover art

Charmed Life

By: Diana Wynne Jones
Narrated by: Tom Baker
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Summary

Everybody says that Gwendolyn Chant is a gifted witch with astonishing powers, so it suits her enormously when she is taken to live in Chrestomanci Castle. Her brother Eric (better known as Cat) is not so keen, for he has no talent for magic at all.However, life with the great enchanter is not what either of them expects and sparks begin to fly!Winner of the Guardian Award.

©2012 Diane Wynne Jones (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

What listeners say about Charmed Life

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Annoying that this version is abridged

A lot of the story is missing and there are annoying musical interludes instead. There doesn’t seem to be a way to buy the full version- something about US rights. Hopefully the publishers will resolve soon.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love it

A beautifully written story of magicians and magic. Intended for older children and old ladies who always believed in magic

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not the best in the series

I love this series of books - but Charmed Life is bottom of my list, I’m afraid. The abridgement is pretty good and the performance from the legendary Tom Baker really enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

I read this book years ago and enjoyed hearing it again. The music playing over the story was annoying.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Why abridged?

This book is phenomenal, and was read very well, except I was sad that we did not receive the full story, since it was unfortunately abridged.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Shame

This is a great children’s book. It is though spoiled by its abridging and ridiculous musical interludes.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

From My Favourite Childhood Author

A very Enchanting Read :) went through this pretty quickly as the story was so very exciting.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A pleasant listen for any age

Very enjoyable. Would much prefer it unabridged for the full Diana Wynne Jones charm. Tom Baker is a very good, engaging reader, although I had imagined a smoother Chrestomanci voice, but very well done in any case.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

captivating

enjoyed this story, starts slow but it soon gets interesting, fun, magical when unexpected twists

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Story, well read

Where does Charmed Life rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

top half

What other book might you compare Charmed Life to, and why?

Elidor - a well woven plot

What about Tom Baker’s performance did you like?

Good variety of voicesYes

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I enjoy Diane Wynn Jones writing; coupled with Tom Baker's Narration it is a winner.

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