Amanda Quain

A Northanger Abbey Novel

Ghosted

Hannah DCamp

Many thanks to the author and to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't consider myself any kind of expert on Jane Austen by any stretch. I am obsessed with the films, and have happily enjoyed what I've read. It's been many years since I last read Northanger Abbey, so my recollection is fuzzy at best. I did use this as an excuse to check out the movie again, which I haven't seen in as many years, and it was delightful as always, but I don't recall it being entirely faithful.

I think comparing this to the original source material ended up being my biggest hurdle. I was expecting the slightly goofy vibes I got from Northanger, the over-the-top characters and mild absurdity. Instead I got something serious and intense and notably genuine. This is obviously not a negative thing - it's typically a very good thing in writing - but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Hattie was my biggest issue. I was expecting the nerdy, cheerful but staid Henry (at least, this is the image of him the movie left imprinted in my brain). Instead I was mostly put off by Hattie's frequent declarations that "so-and-so looked [like they were feeling some emotion], but that couldn't be, because they never felt anything like that."

This felt very at odds given the realism of Ghosted's characters and situations. She was completely cut off from any kind of empathy, and that made it hard to like her for most of the book.

Kit was another sticking point. The only way he was reminiscent to Catherine in my mind (which is to be take with salt, remember) was in his optimistic, imaginative nature. Otherwise I thought him far too self-assured and socially capable to be very convincing.

This was ultimately my issue with all of them - I think as characters they were great, and I think (?) I liked the way the situations were handled. The writing was enticing (Hattie had a nice clear, consistent voice), and the pacing was good. I think I like this better as something more separated from Northanger. Maybe I'm just thinking about it too hard. I do that a lot 😒

I think ultimately the plot was resolved nicely. I wasn't too sure about how quickly she forgave Izzy, but I think that speaks more to my lack of trust than anything else. It was kind of refreshing to see a character try to mend a relationship in spite of their friend's mistakes, instead of just saying they were "toxic" and abandoning them completely.

I might rate this higher on Netgalley, because from a technical standpoint it was good. I'm just grumpy I think 🙃

I didn't like this as much as I expected to. Perhaps it's because I've never read Northanger Abbey, maybe it's because I was expecting more ghost stories? This feels more like a contemporary with a very minor ghost subplot. We don't even see the end result of the project? The whole premise of the book? I think it handled the grief aspect well, but everything else felt quite lacking in my opinion.

Ghosted A Northanger Abbey Novel

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