Ghosted by Amanda Quain ISBN: 9781250865076
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on July 25, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
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Never Have I Ever meets The X-Files in Amanda Quain's Ghosted, a gender-bent contemporary retelling of the Jane Austen classic, Northanger Abbey.
Hattie Tilney isn’t a believer. Yes, she’s a senior at America’s most (allegedly) haunted high school, Northanger Abbey. But ever since her paranormal-loving dad passed away, she’s hung up her Ghostbusters suit, put away the EMF detectors and thermal cameras, and moved on. She has enough to worry about in the land of the living--like taking care of her younger brother, Liam, while their older sister spirals out and their mother, Northanger’s formidable headmistress, buries herself in her work. If Hattie just works hard enough and keeps that overachiever mask on tight through graduation, maybe her mom will finally notice her.
But the mask starts slipping when Hattie’s assigned to be an ambassador to Kit Morland, a golden retriever of a boy who’s transferred to Northanger on—what else—a ghost-hunting scholarship. The two are partnered up for an investigative project on the school’s paranormal activity, and Hattie quickly strikes a deal: Kit will present whatever ghostly evidence he can find to prove that campus is haunted, and Hattie will prove that it’s not. But as they explore the abandoned tunnels and foggy graveyards of Northanger, Hattie starts to realize that Kit might be the kind of person that makes her want to believe in something—and someone—for the first time.
With her signature wit and slow burn romance, Amanda Quain turns another Austen classic on its head in this sparkling retelling that proves sometimes the ghosts are just a metaphor after all.
*I received an ARC of this (July release) novel via NetGalley, for review purposes.
Characters: 9, Northanger Abbey is one of my favorite Austen tales (I love Henry Tilney, OK?) and so when I saw this gender-swapped retelling, I jumped on it. Henrietta Tilney, the MC, resonated pretty strongly with me (especially with teenage me) and so some of her lines cracked me up partly because they were witty and partly because I remember thinking those things, doing those things, feeling that way, etc. I felt like the internal and external dialogue was age-appropriate, as well (which helped create the ambience of a private high school). The secondary characters are additive- they have personalities, quirks, loves, hates, and their own unique voices. I wish Kit Morland had gotten a little more of a character arc, but he definitely needed to be the model for Henrietta to learn from.
Atmosphere: 8, the setting is a gothic-abbey-turned-private-school in upstate New York, which served to support the ghost hunting aspects (though this is far more about character growth and self-awareness than the supernatural). Campus and the buildings were described but I struggled to picture it because I don’t tend to think of abbeys as having a dozen separate buildings. But maybe they do? There weren’t any moments where the scenery set the atmosphere- that was mostly driven by the internal emotional state of the MC, but effectively. I was immersed in the story, but not in the atmosphere, if that makes sense.
Writing: 9, I will definitely be picking up Quain’s other Austen retellings now. The story is light and fluffy in some ways, resonant in others. It was more on the stark side than the purple side, without the “she knew exactly what he was thinking solely from the shine of the sunlight in his eyes” crap that I hate. The MC might have been a bit more primed to question her beliefs and fears than I expected, but without that we wouldn’t have a story, so I didn’t find it detracting.
Plot: 9, the pacing felt relatively good- nothing dragged, nothing rushed. I thought there could’ve been a little more time and tension applied to a few scenes, especially among Izzy and Priya, just to build things up so I’d care more about that B-plot, as the reader. And although I knew how it would end and a few key moments (because it’s a retelling), I was curious enough about how we’d get there to zip through this. Also, I applaud Quain’s interpretation of scenes from the original that weren’t necessary for plot, but were a cute hat-tip to Austen fans.
Intrigue: 9, this was hard to rate because I only had 48 hours to read this book. If I hadn’t been under that time crunch, I’d probably read it in 3-5 days, though, because it’s a quick, easy, comfortable book. And with me feeling called out by the MC (a lot), I was curious to follow her progression and cheering her on. I didn’t have to struggle to read any part of this.
Logic: 10, I think each character acts within their desires and fears, including ones whose emotional processing happens offscreen (but from the fallout, we can read between the lines). The world was clear and understandable, and I appreciated the realistically messy misinterpretations, conflicting desires, and moral greyness of every character.
Enjoyment: 10, I really did enjoy this story, both on its own merits and as a retelling of a beloved Austen classic.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Beth! My love! You don’t actually have to read the thing in 48 hours! You just have to download it within the 48 hours! I was wondering how the heck you were able to read this and review it so fast bwhahah. Impressive, regardless! AND I am so glad that you loved it, and I am also kicking myself for not grabbing it myself heh. Do you need to like, know the source material? Because I very do not.
OH! Ahahahahahaha I thought they’d yoink it from my Kindle 48 hours after I downloaded it. I don’t know how anything works. 😀
Nope, you do not need to know Northanger Abbey (though if you do, you’ll see the clever nods the author put in). It might be an interesting perspective to have- I wonder if you’d enjoy it as much as I did. If you ever do read it, let me know what you think!