Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries, #2)

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Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries #2)

by Jenni James (Goodreads Author)

3.76 of 5 stars 3.76 · rating details · 835 ratings · 196 reviews

The Russo family and Seattle, Washington, are no match for Claire Hart and her savvy knowledge of all things vampire-related. Thanks to her obsession with the Twilight series, if there is anyone who would know a vampire when she saw one, it's Claire. And she's positive totally hot Tony Russo is a vampire - she just has to prove it!

In this modern retelling of Jane Austen's...more

Paperback, 254 pages

Published January 15th 2012 by Walnut Springs/Inkberry Press

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Jun 09, 2010 Laurel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, young-adult-novel, austen-sequel, paranormal

Janeites will not find much Abbey in this Northanger, but Twilight fans will be delighted

What qualifies a story as a retelling of a Jane Austen novel? Reverent adherence to Austen’s plot line? Faithful interpretation of characterization? Emulation of her prose style? I asked myself these questions several times while reading Jenni James’ new novel Northanger Alibi, the first book in her Austen Diaries series of contemporary counterparts to Austen’s six classic novels. At what point does an Auste...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Elisa rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

So far... Not impressed. Being in Claire's head makes me feel like a pre-teen, not sixteen like she's supposed to be( and I actually am). I don't mind Claire so much as I dislike the writing. Jenni tells readers what's happening instead of showing us. And there are random parts that just don't make sense in the context or that should've been edited out. I've never actually read northanger abbey so I don't know how well this sticks to the original but I can't help but think that this book doesn't...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 Regina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read the first draft and can't wait to read the final copy of the book! This is a book about a girl named Clair who is totally obsessed with the Twilight series. She even thinks that two guys she met are a vampire and werewolf. The author does an excellent job of how a teenage girl feels, with all the ups and downs of emotions, when it comes to boys, dating, parents, siblings, and life. I would recommend this book to everyone! It will keep you reading and wanting to find out how it ends!

4 likes · like · see review

Mar 03, 2012 Heidi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-book-challenge, ya-12-19, series, spin-off, lds-authors, fiction, chick-lit, fluff

Another light, fun, silly, and clean sequel. I preferred the first one because I liked Chloe and didn't mind being in her head. I also didn't mind getting to know Taylor. In this book, I did not like being in Claire's head. Then again, who would have wanted to be in Catherine Morland's head? Ug--the idea. A modern-day Catherine has to be worse! Especially when this one is obsessed with "Twilight." Double ug--and pain! But that just shows how well James wrote the character--and how gratefully she...more Another light, fun, silly, and clean sequel. I preferred the first one because I liked Chloe and didn't mind being in her head. I also didn't mind getting to know Taylor. In this book, I did not like being in Claire's head. Then again, who would have wanted to be in Catherine Morland's head? Ug--the idea. A modern-day Catherine has to be worse! Especially when this one is obsessed with "Twilight." Double ug--and pain! But that just shows how well James wrote the character--and how gratefully she wasn't exactly like Chloe. You could tell they were two different people. Still, she felt more like a 14-year old (which is how old she should have been 2 years after the previous book) than 16 1/2. I was that bad at 14, but I hope I wasn't so awful at 16. Of course, if she wasn't 16, then she couldn't have been able to date. And thankfully, like Catherine, she grew up quite a bit by the end.

I probably would have enjoyed getting to know Tony--the Tilney character--if there weren't the Edward "similarities." Again, well done to James for tying the two together! But I was never impressed with Edward, and Tilney is my favorite Austen hero. So putting the two together was just complete oxymoron for me. But Tony as a character all his own was enjoyable. Plus we got to see him in a more positive light (thinking POV, of course) for longer than we did Taylor. Happily I still disliked the male antagonist, whether seeing him as John Thorpe or Jacob Black he was repulsive, annoying, and frustrating either way. Maybe more kissing on his part than I was comfortable with, but how else would you make the bad-but-not-too-bad John into a modern bad-but-not-too-bad boy?

Fun story. I liked finding out the secrets. I liked seeing the clever adaptation of Northanger Abbey. You don't see too many attempts at that. I liked "being in" a city I've actually been to--4 times! I wasn't always impressed with Cassidy. I still got quite annoyed with so many italics!! And I'm not a fan of finding true love as a teen, but that's a personal issue. The book and the series so far are still worth recommending. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 21, 2012 Inspired Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Northanger Alibi is a quick, fun, light-hearted read I would recommend to Twilight fans and lovers of clean tween/teen fiction. It is an enjoyable, silly escape of a book. I found my self chuckling and rolling my eyes at Claire's antics. Northanger Alibi isn't my favorite of Jane Austen's novels but Jenni did a great job writing a modern day parallel that will hopefully turn some Twilight loving teens and adults into Jane Austen lovers.

The best thing about this series is that I can recommend the...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Erica rated it 1 of 5 stars

I know this is intended to be a parody of both Twilight and Northanger Abbey. I haven't read that first one and only part of the second one thanks to my poorly stocked local library. Maybe it's good as a homage. I don't know. But this book cannot stand on its own feet.
So many things don't make sense. When Claire first meets Jaden, he mistakes her for someone named Sadie and kissed her on the spot. So, Sadie's gonna show up, right? She'll bash Claire's face in? Or at least yell at Jaden?
Nope. T...more

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Dec 26, 2012 AICCA rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-best

It's 1:13 am!!! AM! I'm still awake just to finish this book! It's just like Chasing Nikki all over again! hahaha! Anyways, I LOVED it! At first, I was planning on moving on to another book but I though, I should keep going, see if it's good. And it really was!! Gosh, what a romantic book. Claire, a twilight addict. She gets the opportunity to go to Washington, Seattle and that's where Edward Cullen lives!! She starts to feel like she is Bella. Meeting Tony, who she secretly thought was a vampir...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Xinyi Aw rated it 5 of 5 stars

this book is awesome! Got me laughing out loud almost in every part of the book and that's not a good thing cause I was literally glued to my bed once I started this book and laughing like mad in the middle of the night. Kind of creepy huh . when I read the thoughts of our main protagonist Claire...first meeting with tony and thinking he was a vampire.. And next Jaden who coincidentally has the surname black. XD I'm not really good at writing reviews so pardon my poor English and writing. ~ Tony...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Book Angel Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics-carnival

CLASSICS CARNIVAL - REVIEW BY RAIMY

Northanger Alibi is based on the wonderful Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, it’s one of Jenni James’ Jane Austen Diaries and to be honest, I think it’s a great twist on the original! Northanger Abbey is my favourite Austen novel so for me to say that Northanger Alibi is worth a read is really something!

In the original Catherine is obsessed with The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, in this modern day retelling Claire is obsessed with Twilight. I should hav...more CLASSICS CARNIVAL - REVIEW BY RAIMY

Northanger Alibi is based on the wonderful Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, it’s one of Jenni James’ Jane Austen Diaries and to be honest, I think it’s a great twist on the original! Northanger Abbey is my favourite Austen novel so for me to say that Northanger Alibi is worth a read is really something!

In the original Catherine is obsessed with The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, in this modern day retelling Claire is obsessed with Twilight. I should have been wary about this because I really don’t like Twilight but it makes to book work so much better and I really enjoyed Claire’s attitude towards everything and how silly it all seemed; because that’s exactly how it is in Northanger Abbey! The modern day obsession and setting worked really well and even though there’s no awesome gothic house for Claire to run around in like there is in the original I would say it might just push modern day teens to want to read the original.

I have heard people complain about the way that Northanger Alibi reads… quite a lot of other readers thought that the events were ‘told’ rather than viewed and this is something I picked up on as well. However; the series is called The Jane Austen Diaries, and I felt that the way it was told matched the way a diary would be written… even though the book wasn’t in a typical diary format, it still read like one.

The characters were really good and fit into the original characters quite well. I can remember thinking that Catherine in Northanger Abbey was a bit silly and naïve and Claire matches that, though she’s also strong willed like Catherine. I loved Nora and Tony and their relationship was very real, like a true brother and sister. Tony himself was really interesting and I liked the way the story panned out about him. The Hadley’s were very minor, as were the adult Russo’s and Cassidy, Claire’s sister, was in the book a lot less than I expected her to be. The only character I didn’t like was Jaden but he was meant to be like that, and that fits in with the original book too, however I thought it would have been quite easy to get rid of him in the book and that Claire probably led him on a bit too much. I wanted to scream whenever Jaden was on the pages and I thought that Claire was so stupid for telling him some things or for even talking to him at all!

The story was so good and so well brought forward to modern day. Clare knows there’s something about Tony that he can’t tell her but still falls for him quite hard. She’s convinced he’s a vampire and that’s what it is he keeps telling her but that’s not it at all. I had a few ideas about what it was and I really liked how it was revealed and the way the story progressed and I really think that a lot of teens will love it!

All in all Northanger Alibi was a great modern twist on Northanger Abbey. I wasn’t in love with the bok but I enjoyed it for what it is and mainly because I know a lot of teens will probably love it. It was a quick, easy and entertaining read and I think it is a must for many school libraries and bookstores! (less)

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Jun 03, 2012 Cathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Okay, I'm a sucker for Jane Austen and anything remotely about it I'm intrigued and usually persuaded to jump into. I read Pride and Popularity which is the authors first book. I really liked it and was so excited to jump into this next in the series (although as a side note you'd be just fine if you hadn't read the first one first). This really had me excited since it is an homage to the Twilight series, which say what you will but I liked a lot. This book was really funny. Now, I'm not 16 anym...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Marlyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, young-adult, austen-spin-offs, chick-lit

Sixteen-year-old Claire Hart is a huge fan of the Twilight books, and as a result has always wanted to go to Washington State. She's so thrilled when friends of her parents invite her to spend the summer with them in Seattle that she doesn't even mind when her mother insists that her older sister Cassidy is included.

Claire is so obsessed with Twilight that she's certain there are actually vampires and werewolves in abundance in Washington. When they meet the Halloways' Seattle friends the Russos...more

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Feb 29, 2012 TuRtLeFaEiRe marked it as to-read

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh you most definitely have to pick me please. I have been waiting for a year to find out what this book is about! I love it when authors put their own spin on other classic novels! I am about to read 'Pride and Popularity' and winning a copy of this would be like icing on the Darcy's wedding cake!
Love this author she is the greatest. Read about her in the newspaper and was glad I did, because this is how I found out about Northanger Alibi.
Please Please Please pick this Austenite!

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 28, 2012 Kathryn Cooper rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another great book in The Jane Austen Diaries! Just reading the summary made me laugh. A book about a girl who loves the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer and gets to go to Washington where she thinks she finds a real vampire sounded hilarious. Yes, it was super fun to read and very funny. I was laughing out loud.

Claire is the younger sister of Chloe from Pride and Popularity. This book takes place a few years later. We didn't get to know Claire very well in the first book so it was fun to lear...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 16, 2012 Amy (Books, College, and Other Random Things) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, reviewed

Claire Anderson loves Twilight and is psyched when her mom’s friend, Darlene, wants to take her to Washington with her. Her parents are hesitant, but agree when Darlene says that Cassidy, Claire's older sister, can come along. When they arrive in Washington, they meet Nora Anthony ‘Tony’ Russo, children that are around Claire's age.

At first, Claire thinks they are very odd. First they talk funny, and during dinner Tony seems to know what Claire is going to say before she says it. There’s only on...more

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May 15, 2013 Nadia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-time-pass

More like a re-telling of Twilight, aha!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Twilight, it's that series that made me interested in this genre and all...minus Bella, so when Claire stated her undoubted affection of Bella saying "She's the best female character ever written", I knew we were going to face difficulties liking each other.

The book is pretty funny and interesting, if you are still in your teens I guess, because I couldn't relate to it that well, because obviously I've outgrown myself.

The one ch...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, own

This is a cute book. It's an easy and entertaining read. The moral of the story is awesome and definitely something that all Twilight-obsessed people need to learn. The main character in this book is Twilight-obsessed (not just a fan), which actually didn't bother me. I thought it was funny the way everything related to that book. The only thing I didn't like about the main character was that she was supposed to be 16 years old, but I couldn't imagine her being 16 no matter how hard I tried. For...more

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May 03, 2010 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs

While I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped, Northanger Alibi was incredibly adorable and delightfully entertaining.

Claire Hart is an exact replica of the standard crazy and young Twilight fan; gullible, obsessed and in love with the idea of vampires and werewolves actually being real. I’ve met real girls like this, as most of you probably have as well, but Jenni James brings it to life in Claire, making her humorous and real at the same time. Needless to say, I was never bored with this stor...more

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May 23, 2012 Arang rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-contemporary-light-read

Giving a 3-3.5 rating

It's a fast read book. I like the first book better. The story is cute and silly at times but I thought it went a little bit fast, maybe kinda underdeveloped as well as the romance it's rushed I think. Same as the characters, I dunno but was not really connecting with each of them especially the protagonist, Claire.. She seems innocent sometimes then shifts to flirty then to annoying. Tony.. Hmmm I'm not getting the rockstar vibe from him, he seems like a boy next door type...more

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Feb 13, 2012 E.A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: humorous, fiction, young-adult

I purchased this book at LTUE because I went to a panel Jenni James was on. Her personality was so bubbly and contagious that I had to get the book. I was not disappointed. This is a modern telling of NORTHANGER ABBEY. For those of you that don't know, NORTHANGER ABBEY, by Jane Austen is about a woman who is obsessed with gothic romance novels. She believes she is living in one. In this story the main character is obsessed with TWILIGHT so much so that she thinks she meets a vampire while in Was...more

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May 16, 2012 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading Jenni James' Pride and Popularity, I was excited to read Northanger Alibi. I came to realize that a big reason why I enjoyed the first book in The Jane Austen Diaries series is that I had read it right after a somewhat disappointing YA, and it was a cute story that was CLEAN, so it was especially refreshing.

Northanger Alibi's main character is 16, and she is . . . silly. She has barely started dating, and guys are falling at her feet. She has an unhealthy obsession with Twilight, a...more

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May 12, 2012 Englishrose rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a fabulous second installment of the series and a wonderfully enjoyable book. The author does a wonderful job creating likable modern versions of classic characters. I'll admit to never having read the original, but it was still good and with a quick wikipedia summary I was able to catch most of the plot and character correlations. Claire is wonderfully funny and silly. Tony is sweet and almost larger than life. And I must say, comparing Stephanie Meyer to Ann Radcliffe is simply genius...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lds-fiction, youth-fiction

Youth fiction. The whole modern day retelling of a Jane Austen novel caught me. Then I spent the first quarter of the book heartily annoyed with the main character and her Twilight obsession. Had to take a step back, so to speak, and remind myself of the plot of Northanger Abbey (which is the only Jane Austen I don't own for a reason). THEN the main character of this book made perfect sense, and I had to tip my hat to the author for interpreting Northanger Abbey into modern society as she had. W...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Joan{missing the vampire bunny slippers!} rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks-i-have

I don't know why I am reading this! Claire is kind of shallow and silly, but I want to finish it anyway... It must be a phase... :P
___________________________________________________________________________________________________

This chick had some serious issues! :P
I mean ok I like Vampire Academy, but I don't go around thinking every guy I meet is a Moroi, a Strigoi or a Dampir... And my perfect vacation are definitely not in Montana! No offense. :)
So Claire is a Twilight fan. Well, that's th...more

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Aug 19, 2012 Nina Ardianti rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jane-austen-retelling, light-reading, young-adult

3.25 or 3.5 stars

I've never read Northanger Abbey, so I read this without any judgement or comparison to the real one.
As much as I enjoyed Chloe and Taylor's relationship in Pride & Popularity, I couldn't have so much excitement as I read this one.

All because I think Claire is too immature and I hate Jaden and I think Tony is kind of rare species that you can't find in the real life and I hate the ending which is so easy.

Looking forward to read Persuaded

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Sep 23, 2012 Alicia rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was a fun rewrite of Northanger Abbey. It was hilarious at first to read about Claire's obsession with Twilight and her insistence that vampires were real--very true to the spirit of the original Northanger Abbey--but the original reason Jane Austen wrote the book (to make fun of gothic novels) seemed to get lost by the end. Maybe Jenni James was being tactful and didn't want to be rude to Stephanie Meyer, but I thought that the book was lacking for not emphasizing the absurdity of the Twil...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

I think out of the three novels in this series, so far this would have to be my favorite one. Claire Hart has a major obsession with the Twilight series, so much so that she's thrilled that she gets to spend the summer in Seattle where she's convinced that Tony Russo is secretly Edward Cullen (a la vampire) because of his mysteriousness that surrounds him. However, there's no such thing as vampires or werewolves as much as Claire wants to believe so what exactly is Tony hiding from her? This nov...more

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Mar 17, 2013 Mackenzie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm officially a fan of Jenni James. I loved this series, The Austen Diaries. It completely recaptured the innocent romance of Austen's novels but in a more contemporary manner. I will definitely be looking forward to the next two novels being release. One bit of advice for future readers though: I suggest reading them in chronological order rather than order of release. Pride and Popularity, Persuaded, Emmalee, Mansfield Ranch, Northanger Alibi, Sense and Sensational.

I gave this book 4 stars wh...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Rosie Monson rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.6

Man, this is a keeper :D :D

The first in the series wasn't my favorite. I had heard that this was the author's "best" though, so I read it. There was still the taste of the author's style but I definitely thoroughly enjoyed it.

It did surprise me, the whole thing about twilight in it. I'm not a fan of the book but I am a fan of characters who believe in things like vampires and werewolves despite the fact that they are a "teenager". (I mean seriously: it's kinda insulting, people thinking that...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Amber rated it 3 of 5 stars

So first of all, I have to say for an adult reading this it gets 2 stars, having a teenager read it I think it should get 4 stars since this is DEFINITELY a teenage book. I'm a big fan of young adult books, but this one was definitely "young", VERY teenager. Which is great for young girls. I would highly recommend it for young girls, like 12-14. It's extremely on the cheesy side, but super clean too. Any mom would be comfortable with their teenage daughter reading it.

Moral content: There is just...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love any books relating to Jane Austen/her stories/characters, etc. I actually REALLY thought this was a funny story. It's a take-off of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Instead of the main character being influenced by her gothic novel the girl in this book is influenced by Twilight and things the heartthrob she meets is a vampire like Edward Cullen. :) It's very cute/fast read and the only reason I gave it 3 stars is because the entire narration is in teen-language ... like "oh my gosh he is...more

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About Jenni James

CLEAN ROMANCE FOR TEENS:

*The Jane Austen Diaries*
Pride & Popularity (Aug 2011)
Persuaded (Aug. 2012)
Emmalee (Jan 2013)
Mansfield Ranch (Dec 2013)
Northanger Alibi (Feb. 2012)
Sensible & Sensational

*Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection*
Beauty and the Beast
Sleeping Beauty
Rumplestiltskin
Cinderella
Hansel and Gretel
Jack and the Beanstalk
Snow White
The Frog Prince
Twelve Dancing Princesses
Rapunzel...more

More about Jenni James...

Books by Jenni James

Pride & Popularity (The Jane Austen Diaries, #1)

Beauty and the Beast (Faerie Tale Collection, #1)

Sleeping Beauty (Faerie Tale Collection, #2)

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Quotes from Northanger Alibi

“I didn't have a heart until I meet you.
That smile is killin me too.
I can't look away.
Can I always stay?
I can't look away.
I need to stay.
I didn't have a heart until I meet you.” — 9 people liked it

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Northanger Alibi (The Jane Austen Diaries #2)

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