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    Castle Hangnail
    Castle Hangnail
    Castle Hangnail
    Audiobook7 hours

    Castle Hangnail

    Written by Ursula Vernon

    Narrated by Tara Sands

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook



    When Molly shows up on Castle Hangnail's doorstep to fill the vacancy for a wicked witch, the castle's minions are understandably dubious. After all, she is twelve years old, barely five feet tall, and quite polite. (The minions are used to tall, demanding evil sorceresses with razor-sharp cheekbones.) But the castle desperately needs a master or else the Board of Magic will decommission it, leaving all the minions without the home they love. So when Molly assures them that she is quite wicked indeed (So wicked! Really wicked!) and begins completing the tasks required by the Board of Magic for approval, everyone feels hopeful. Unfortunately, it turns out that Molly has quite a few secrets, including the biggest one of all: that she isn't who she says she is.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateApr 21, 2015
    ISBN9781494576165
    Castle Hangnail
    Author

    Ursula Vernon

    URSULA VERNON is a freelance illustrator, artist, and, in her words, a "creator of weird thingies." Nurk is her first book for young readers. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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    Reviews for Castle Hangnail

    4.5/5

    115 ratings17 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 5/5
      I love everything about this book it’s my favorite I listen to it about every day, it’s my favorite audio book ever❤️❤️❤️❤️. I also absolutely LOVE hamster princess SO much❤️
    • 5/5
      It was mysterious and adventures. The book was very creative.
    • 5/5
      Oh, Ursula Vernon, you are a delight to my soul, and a paragon of silliness. Dragon donkey, mid-sized Witch, mole magic and a castle with needy minions and an overgrown garden -- a paradise of potential that does not disappoint. Not since Tiffany Aching have I been so enchanted with a 12 year old witch. Good company, that.
    • 5/5
      Ursula Vernon riffs on Eva Ibbotson. Perfection.
      Unless Castle Hangnail gets a new Master soon, it will be decommissioned. And the minions will have to go. So when young Molly shows up to be the Master candidate, they are cautious but willing to give her an opportunity. Molly loves the castle, loves the minions, and is, in fact, a Wicked Witch-- but her bona fides aren't exactly up to snuff. So, how can she protect and defend the castle, win over the populace, etc, and finish the Tasks to become Master, without getting tangled up in her misdirections?

      I love Molly. I love Molly's neighbors. I love the minions. I love how Vernon has put what are clearly parts of herself into this character, and to the experiences... but I also love how she has taken Eva Ibbotson's inspiration to make a truly entertaining and heartwarming story.
    • 4/5
      ADORABLE. I love the entire cast. If you're in the mood for something sweet and silly and also my favorite (a story about the families we make for ourselves) then you should read this. You should also read it if you like stories with independent girls doing great things. I'm planning to buy it because it was exactly what I needed right now. Yes. Good.
    • 5/5
      I asked Colleen (age 7) if she wanted to say anything about this in a review, and she said "Yes, it was very good, and I want to read a sequel... is there a sequel?!?"

      Fun stuff.
    • 4/5
      I don't read young adult books very often, but this was delightful. A nice read for recovering from a headcold.
    • 4/5
      This is a cute middle grade story about an Evil castle and its crew in need of a leader. When a very young Wicked Witch shows up on the doorstep to claim the castle with her invitation in hand they believed they are saved. The guardian of the castle isn’t so sure but she is getting the job done and doing her tasks that are needed to finalize her title to the castle. Molly isn’t that Wicked but she does a great job in doing her tasks even if she has a secret. I really liked this book and I think at least one of my nieces or nephews will be getting a copy this holiday season.

      Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
    • 4/5
      When letters were dispatched to available wicked witches, wizards, sorcerers, mad scientists, vampires, and beast lords announcing an opening for a a new Master of the Castle at Castle Hangnail, the resident staff did not expect a twelve-year-old girl. Molly has one of the invitation letters, though, and insists she is a genuine wicked witch, and the minions don't want Castle Hangnail to get decommissioned for lack of a master by the Board of Magic, so...

      When Molly starts making good progress on the required tasks to be confirmed as the new master, even the most skeptical of the minions, Major Domo, starts to become hopeful.

      But Molly has some secrets lying in wait to trip them all up. Especially Molly. And when Molly's "old friend" turns up, thinks start to come unraveled.

      This is a really fun tale of a talented and imaginative girl who is determined not to let anything stand in the way of her desire to practice her magic and be the witch that being the wicked twin in her family has made her--without hurting anyone who doesn't deserve it! Or possibly not even those that do deserve it. The plot moves, and I love the characters, especially Molly herself, Cook the Minotaur, and Bugbane the bat. Some of the more peripheral characters are fun, too.

      Some will point out that this is a book intended for younger readers, to which I say, yes, what's your point? It's a lot of fun, and Tara Sands reads it very well and entertainingly.

      Recommended.

      I bought this book.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely loved it! We started it as a family read-aloud, one chapter whenever the five of us were together, but in the end, we kind of gave up on this, as each of the kids had snuck off with it and read it, but I waited until assignments were done, and read the last half dozen chapters in a single sitting. There are so many quest/magic/fairy tale/coming of age tropes shoved into this somewhat gentle story of a 13 y.o. who goes off to claim a magic castle, and then has to prove herself both to the minions of the castle and to herself. Whimsical, funny, beautifully paced, great world building, completely convincing characterisation, generally delightful.Recommended to anyone who likes a bit of light-heartedness with with Evil Sorceresses, Wicked Witches, and Unionised Minions.
    • 5/5
      This is among the best books I've read in quite a while, and it is unquestionably the funniest book I've read in quite a while.Castle Hangnail is an evil castle populated by six minions who are without a Master of the Castle. If they don't find a master soon, the Department of Magic will decommission the castle, and the minions will be homeless and out of work. So the castle guardian resorts to sending out invitations to find an Evil Sorceress, Wicked Witch, Vampire, or at least a Mad Scientist who can possess the castle and whom the minions can serve. The only person to answer the invitations is Molly, who claims to be a Wicked Witch. The guardian is immediately suspicious though. To start with, she is only 12 years old, and she is also disturbingly polite and cheerful.Plot wise, the books is more or less divided into two parts. The first part involves Molly taking possession of the castle, and the second part involves a truly Evil Sorceress coming to try to take possession away from Molly.Ursula Vernon has a way with words that is reminiscent of Lemony Snickett, with lines like, "Majordomo looked at the postcard and narrowed his eyes at the double exclamation points. He did not feel that punctuation was a thing to be squandered." The story is funny partly by its nature, but her witty writing takes it from amusing to hilarious.It is also a sweet and gentle story. It is heartwarming and uplifting. Not what one might expect from a Halloweeny-looking book, but I often found myself smiling just from how good it made me feel. And on top of those things, the plot is clever and well paced.Each of the "evil minions" is completely lovable in his or her own way. Cook, the minataur who is so averse to the letter Q that she has removed that section from every dictionary and encyclopedia in the castle; her son Angus, who assists local farmers with their work; Pins, a sort of stuffed creature who is forever dedicated to his hypochondriac talking goldfish; Serenissima, a beautiful woman made of steam; Lord Arthur, an enchanted suit of armor who is particularly sentimental; and Majordomo, the castle guardian, who seems to be a cross between Igor and Frankenstein's monster. And no one could help but love Molly.
    • 5/5
      Oh, lovely. It is a YA (MG?) book, with a 12-year-old protagonist, rather simple language, and somewhat simplified moral dilemmas (she needs someone to smite, and finds someone no one likes who completely deserves it easily to hand). On the other hand, it explores questions of loyalty, lying, abuse masquerading as friendship, and both using limited abilities to achieve more than is obvious and dealing with the discovery that your abilities are greater than you thought. All that aside - I LOVE Molly, and the Majordomo, and Pins, and Cook, and Edward and Angus and Serenissima and the goldfish, and the moles and bats, and even the donkey. The post-climax bit is amusing, and sets up for more story - I really hope it happens. Aside from wishing to see more of these characters, it's a fascinating world, according to the little hints we get - magic is known but not really accepted (regarded somewhere between déclassé and imaginary), which leads to all kinds of little twists as bureaucracy deals with and manages to avoid accepting magic. Oh, and I really want to know what the Complicated Metal Thing does! Now I need to find more Ursula Vernon (and T. Kingfisher) to read.
    • 4/5
      Castle Hangnail is at risk of being decommissioned, if its minions can't find a new Evil (or at least Wicked) Master to rule it.

      But the minions don't get quite what they expect when the new Master turns out to be a twelve-year-old girl who is only mostly a wicked witch...


      This would have been five stars but I can't get over the fact that the Witch's boots are supposed to be steel-toed boots with purple laces all the way up but the illustrations all show platform boots with lots of buckles and no laces, and the boots are super-important to the story. And I could maybe get over that, even though my grudge against illustrations that don't match the text is ancient and well-tended, but the author did the illustrations too! How do you miss that?

      Anyway other than that it's a really great book and everyone should read it.
    • 3/5
      When little twelve-year-old Molly arrives at Castle Hangnail to fill the vacancy for a wicked witch, the minions who dwell there have no choice but to give her the job, and at first it seems she'll be able to keep the castle open, but Molly has quite a few secrets that could cause trouble.
    • 5/5
      The death of Terry Pratchett left a chasm of loss in the heart of fantasy lovers, one that will never be completely closed by those who love Sam Vimes, Sally, Cheery, Nobby, and the myriad other endearing characters who populate Ankh-Morpork, Discworld’s largest city.Castle Hangnail has come along at the perfect time. It cannot and will not relieve the sense of loss, but it offers a middle-grade fantasy that hits a delightful inventiveness high filled with wit and humor. The story itself is simple: A twelve-year-old girl runs away from home to become the castle’s Mistress—the post having fallen vacant after the last Mistress zapped a television repairman and decided she was a rosebush—and must complete a series of magical tasks to prove her worthiness . . . and to prevent the Board of Magic from decommissioning the castle, thus throwing all the minions out of work. What’s the story? On one level, this is the story of a young witch determined to become the mistress of a tatty castle, who finds she has a list of magical tasks to be accomplished. Molly is not the usual storybook heroine: She’s short and pudgy, with fuzzy brown hair and strong opinions, one of which is she is determined to be a wicked witch, but not evil, which is good since she has an irrepressible kind streak. She wrestles with grown-up problems: Being recognized as competent despite her unexpected appearance, lack of qualifications, and her inner doubts. An abusive friendship from her past adds to her challenges and introduces a theme that doesn’t get as much attention as it probably deserves: Friendships in which one party makes the other weak and powerless. Molly’s kindness and innate courage, however, ensure all comes out well for everyone concerned, and while the ending struck me as not only improbable—which is saying a lot in a fantasy—but rushed, it also allows readers Happy Ever Adventuring promise for Molly and the loyal minions of Castle Hangnail.Those familiar with Vernon’s Dragonbreath series or her short fairytale, Nurk, will recognize the wry humor, although Hangnail affords the author greater and more glorious scope. First, there’s Majordomo, the castle’s guardian and a lisp-less Pratchettian Igor, as fond of cats as he is of his fellow Castle minions, an affection rivaled only by his determination to keep Castle Hangnail from being decommissioned. In this he is aided by his fellow minions, all of whom are more amusing and lovable than those yellow blobs in the movies. There is sentimental, stalwart, and invisible Lord Edward, who occupies a magical suit of armor and offers polite, if ineffectual, protection. In the kitchen is a minotaur cook with an iffy grasp on English and a hatred of the letter Q. Pins is a walking, talking pincushion and talented tailor, inseparable from her best friend, a hypochondriac goldfish who lives in a small bowl. Best of all is Serenissima, daughter of a djinn and a shopkeeper with some mermaid ancestry, a creature of steam who is handy for cleaning the carpets and drapes, creating a sauna, and—oh, so clever—who spends her free time in a teakettle “writing epic poetry about boilers.”Adding to the fun, Clockwork Bees buzz around the gardens and the basement, while talking bats sleep in the high tower.In what I choose to interpret as nods to Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching books, Molly stomps about in boots—“very serious boots . . . [that] looked as if they could kick a hole in a stone wall and have fun doing it”—although Majordomo occasionally worries they might not be sufficiently Wicked boots for the castle’s mistress. In fact, I will utter what Pratchett purists may consider heresy: Castle Hangnail is funnier than the Aching books and (blessedly) less obsessed with examining the dreary illogic of human failings. Indeed, I found the second and third books (A Hat Fully of Sky and I Shall Wear Midnight) to be reading slogs, too intent on forcing character development and almost devoid of the deft wit of many (but not all) of Pratchett’s other works. Molly is as thoughtful as Aching, but much kinder, less enigmatic, and altogether more fun.Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      Really fun with lovely illustrations! The minions are a little scary looking at first but they quickly win you over ;). This would be a great book for parents to read with their kids since there are jokes for us older kids too!
    • 4/5
      Fun middle grade fantasy, very reminiscent of Eva Ibbotson. The pictures add a lot.