I find myself utterly perplexed as I consider Shannon Hale’s Midnight in Austenland. I really have no idea how to write a review for this book. No idea. There are just so many things wrong with it that I don’t even know where to begin. I mean I could start with how the author seems so astounded by her own cleverness that she feels she must include every (supposedly) witty line, even if its totally awkward and out of place in the narrative. I could also start with how the main character so little More...

I picked up this ARC because I like Shannon Hale. I think she writes intelligent, funny young adult books, and was curious how she would deal with the concept of disappointed and jaded women escaping to "Austenland". I expected it to be funny and incredulous. Instead, it was painfully sincere. It was very cliched, and had little nuance. In fact, the writing was so simplistic I assumed it was geared toward a teen audience (not to imply that teen writing is simplistic)--that is, until the mention More...

I know that there are quite a few books out there that draw off of Austen’s books but really this is one of the better ones if not the best one I’ve read.

Charlotte is our heroine. She is a nice mother (and okay divorce) who is having a hard time adjusting to single life. Should she forget about dating or should she give all her friends a chance to set her up. Well how about option three? Take a vacation in England at a Regency staged Pembrook Park (Austenland). Be enchanted by a hunky guy. Ditch More...

Took about half way through to get into it, but loved it after that. I did find one teensy error in the book. I love it when I find an error that the editor did not. This one was a change of eye color. Perhaps the character had colored contacts. Ha ha.

This was one of those books that you reread in fast motion after you first finish reading it...just to re-swoon...and there was much more to swoon over than in the first Austenland. I love Shannon Hale. She's an amazing author.

2.5 it was ok

So . . . where do I begin? Occasionally I take a jaunt into chick lit when I just need and easy read, I'd rather read than watch a movie and every girl needs a romcom now and then.

First of all I'd like to say that I think Shannon Hale and I would be friends in real lives-ies if I ever were fortunate to know her. I do think she's funny. I truly adore The Goose Girl with a love of a thousand loves. One thing I notice is how (esp in her adult fiction: ie Actor/Housewife) I think she p More...

The first thing that stands out about Midnight in Austenland is the writing. Shannon’s vocabulary choices give it a Jane Austen feel, but it flows so well and is a joy to read. Midnight in Austenland is not really a sequel. The main character is different, the tone is different, but some of the minor characters are the same and, of course, the setting is the same. Midnight in Austenland is loosely based on Northanger Abbey, one of the few Jane Austen books that I haven’t read. (If I had known th More...

I. Have finally. Gotten this. I. Am So. Excited. I. Cannot. Stop. Talking like this.
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After I finished this, I could not stop smiling. I carried the book around under my arm for a while; I pulled it out to grin at the cover; I talked endlessly about how good it was while I cooked dinner. (My distraction probably accounted for how unfortunate the chicken was.) After Austenland, I was sure this one couldn't be half as good, because A. is so, so go More...

Check out my full review of this novel here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7E0Qv...

It goes without saying that I really love Shannon Hale's novels. They blow my mind and take me to a happy, content place inside myself with every new story she produces.

Midnight in Austenland was incredible. It has been a very long time since I felt the need to sit down and devour a novel with no stops. I couldn't stop reading from page one and literally sat on my couch reading until the last page. It's refreshi More...

Another enjoyable book in the Austenland setting. Which still sounds too cool and I wish it were real.

I loved seeing the characters that did carry over from the first one, and I LOVED how one of them had their situation resolved at the end. Very clever.

I liked the new main character even though she did seem exceptionally blind to the defects of her ex for most of their marriage.

I was minorly disturbed that I'm apparently the same age as the main character. Sure, she had her kids young, but the t More...

One of my goodreads friends said this about Midnight in Austenland: "Shannon Hale writes books about things that women fantasize about happening--like in a movie." If you keep that in mind, this book is quite fun.

Shannon Hale is clever and funny and I like her writing style immensely. The plot of this book is fairly ridiculous. Towards the end, I had to completely suspend disbelief (she didn't call the police, really?) but stayed up WAY to late to finish, so that says something about the readab More...

I got this out of the library at the same time as 'Austenland' and I guess the first book had enough going for it for me to try out the second. I shouldn't have bothered. At first, the protagonist is sympathetic and you understand her desire to completely escape her broken marriage by diving into fantasyland. Ugh! But then she become ridiculous and embarrassing and I couldn't relate to her at all.
There are a couple of mysteries that unfold in this book. The main character mentions that before s More...

What makes a book good? Rich characters, suspenseful mystery, clever humor, romance, unpredictable plot twists, skillful intertwining of two different time periods, skillful intertwining of two different plot lines, unique ideas, etc...

Certainly it is a little too demanding to expect an author to deliver on all points. But a story can still be enjoyed overlooking a few of the author's weaknesses. However, this author failed miserably on every single one. I honestly cannot think of one single asp More...

As is began this book, I was expecting something very similar to the first Austenland book, which I highly enjoyed. But I was worried about how Ms. Hale would do when it came to revisiting this world, while still managing to keep it fresh.
Turns out I had absolutely nothing to be worried about in the slightest.
Our heroine in this book, Charlotte, is much different than our previous main character in the last book. She is the mother of two children, whose husband divorced her after he decided to h More...

Loved this followup to Austenland. A fun read with a strong female main character, and a bit of romance.
Charlotte is recently divorced and struggling with how to move her life forward. After an argument with her 13-year-old daughter, she digs out a list she made when she was that age about life goals. One of the easy ones still unachieved on the list is to read Jane Austen, so she does and she loves the world created within Austen's books. Wanting a holiday for herself when her ex has the two ki More...

I liked it. The narrative style was very amusing.

It was a bit confusing because it's almost a story-within-a-story, with three distinct, but slightly overlapping, plots. Actually, now that I've finished reading it, I can fully appreciate the intertwined story lines and their effect on the reader. They mirror Charlotte's own feelings. As Charlotte struggles to overcome her reservations and immerse herself in the regency era, yet is prevented from doing so by her insecurities, the reader is drawn More...

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2...

Charlotte is a great character. She's witty - though she fears she isn't - she's brave - though she thinks she isn't - and she's independent - though she thinks she isn't. She starts out very un-self-aware, swallowed up by a life lived by following wherever the current took her, as the opening lines of the book suggest. But through her adventures in Austenland, her investigation into the murder and her eventual romance pro More...

Audience: Adult (but clean enough that anyone could read it)
Genre: Romance
Length: 277 pages

The Rating: ***** (LOVED it)

The Good: Well, of course, everything. It's witty, fantastic, clean romance with still enough spice to get your heart pumping and maybe a few swoons. I loved how the characters, their arcs, and the plot was so different from AUSTENLAND. I adored the hero. (That's I can say there ...) And it kept surprising me! Not many romance books do that for me. I can usually guess -- and tha More...

It's a universal truth that nothing spoils a postlunch game of croquet like suspecting the other players of murder.

In this stand-alone novel, a successful 30-something divorcee, Charlotte decides to treat herself to a much needed vacation -- at Austenland, an estate in England where everyone dons Regency era clothing and playacts as if they are in an Austen novel. While there, she tries to distract herself from her personal issues by allowing herself to be taken in by the setting, by her design More...

For as long as I can remember I have always been an Austen fan, yet I have not really fully read her classic books but I think I am in love with the idea of Austen and the world she represented in her novel. I have read almost every single rendition of her classics from Austenland to Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict to Jane Austen Book Club in which I have also seen the film. When I read that Shannon Hale had released a new book in her Austenland series , I just knew I had to read it so I fir More...

Wow this book was not at all what I expected from the companion to Austenland. I loved this book, but for entirely different reasons than the first book in this series. In the first book, the focus was on the love story of the main character, and followed how she traveled to Austenland and fell in love with one of the men. This time Charlotte is a little different than our last heroine. Charlotte is bold, a little too smart for her own good, and getting over a major heartbreak.

I really liked Ch More...

While not exactly as good as Austenland, this novel pretty good in it's own right.
It was nice to see a few of the original characters back from the first novel, and I was VERY happy to see that they woman in charge of hiring male actors, found some others to replace those not coming back from the first one.
I didn't think having a murder mystery was really all that necessary, but I guess Hale couldn't possibly have rewritten the same novel all over again, without incurring the wrath of even more More...

Midnight in Austenland has gothic elements and some of the characters mimic Jane Austen's people. Gothic elements include the weather reflecting the mood, the Abby ruins, a ghost, Mr. Mallery has Byronic hero characteristics and a mystery that the pure heroine, Charlotte needs to resolve. Even though there are many Gothic elements, Midnight in Austenland does not have the foreboding nature of the true Gothic novel, rather it is light and it seems these elements are used a bit more tongue in chee More...

Oy. This book was terrible.

I hate saying that because I'm sure that Shannon Hale is a nice person. In fact, I'm sure she is! She came to one of my classes at BYU once and seemed very nice and fun and genuine. Her YA books are awesome and I think she is very imaginative. But! I do not know what she is trying to do with her adult fiction. This book is grating. It is not fun or cute and the heroine is absolutely ridiculous (and not in a funny or amusing way).

I think one of the problems is that Hale More...

Once again, I seem to be in the minority. And I realize, once again, that I'm a pretty independent thinker. (And on a side note, I'd like to add that just because a person loves something - whether it be writing, or art, or sewing, or anything creative, doesn't automatically mean they are good at it, or excel at it. Even with practice.)

Ms. Hale certainly seems like a nice person with a wonderful family and an apparently fairy tale life. Good for her.

Understanding that someone's opinion of a nov More...

Fresh off of a disappointment dive into the land of Austen, courtesy of P.D. James, I decided to give this book a go. I read The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale a few years ago, and loved it. When I saw that she had crossed over into adult fiction, and had included Austen in her work, I was pretty excited. Unlike P.D. James, Hale delivered.

Charlotte is fresh out of a nasty divorce due to her husband's infedlity. Shaken, Charlotte finds solace in Austen's books and the courtship and chivalry surround More...

I rated this 3 stars because the description suited my thoughts as I finished perfectly - it was okay.
As a caveat, let me say that I am NOT a fan of Jane Austen. I only got through the first half of Pride and Predjudice because I was waiting for the punchline - and then I realized there wasn't going to be a punchline, and struggled to finish it. That said, I found the idea of an adult amusement park based on Jane Austen novels to be pretty- well, amusing - so I thought I would give this book a More...

Let me start out by saying that I think Shannon Hale is a talented and creative writer. I loved most of her young adult books that I have read. In my opinion, that is her talent. Those novels are imaginative, creative, fun, full of fantasy. Something I'd recommend to friends and pass on. Her adult fiction however has been a total letdown for me. they seem to always center around depressing characters in bad marriages who only find themselves again through the most unrealistic and bizarre story p More...

Three and a half stars - a fun romp that kept me laughing. Charlotte Kinder, a divorced mother and successful businesswoman, decides to reward herself with a vacation in England - an immersion in a real life Jane Austen costume drama. Charlotte is nice - so nice that she never suspected her former husband of cheating on her or having ulterior motives when he asked her to put his name on all her bank accounts and business. She constantly flagellates herself with this - how could she be so stupid More...

This book surprised me on multiple levels. We return to Austenland with a rich divorcee who is trying to get over her ex while dealing with teenage kids. Rather than finding herself in Pride and Prejudice, she has stumbled into a much more Gothic feeling Northanger Abbey world, complete with a murder mystery.

I loved the mystery that our protagonist takes it upon herself to solve. Lots of clues, lots of dead ends, action, and some really good twists. I love mystery novels, and I think that is one More...

Charlotte is a nice, sensible woman who is completely blindsided when her husband divorces her to marry the woman he's been having an affair with. After a suitable time, her well-meaning friends coerce her into several disastrous blind dates. Alone one weekend, hiding from those friends and their dangling men, she takes up a Jane Austen novel to read, and another, and another.

The ex and his new wife have a summer's holiday with the children. Alone again, Charlotte decides to take a vacation. She More...