NetGalley Review: Ghosted by Amanda Quain

Hey all, Sam here.

If you didn’t know this already, spooky season begins on July 5th…which means this contemporary ghost story that is a modern take on Austen’s Northanger Abbey is perfectly timed.

I’m so ready to get into those fall cozy vibes. Lighting a candle, putting on a crackling fireplace and some mood music, cuddling up on the couch, and drinking some hot tea or hot chocolate.

While I can yes, still have this cozy vibe going on at any time of year really, it always feels nicer when the weather actually cooperates too, and sadly July is not fall weather…that doesn’t actually seem to happen much until we get to like September/October.

Anyway, today’s review is for an upcoming release. Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for granting me access to this read early. It is important to note that this book will be released (in the US) on July 25th.

All right, let’s jump into the review.

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.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

I do enjoy a good modern interpretation of a classic story. It’s actually been a few years since I’ve read my Jane Austen books, so this definitely made me want to either read through all the books, or at the very least watch a film/mini-series for each one.

I did like all the little connections and easter eggs that connected this book with not just the book it is an update of, but also other popular reads of the time. I loved the references to The Mysteries of Udolpho.

Obviously there are some changes that need to be made to turn this British classic from the 1800s into a modern US tale, and having Northanger Abbey be a private boarding school. Udolpho becomes a college our main character is applying to.

Obviously there are some differences to characters, some get slight changes to name, some get cut out or only mentioned in passing.

I liked that this still kept some of the spooky vibes, even updating the story so that ghost hunting is a main element of the tale. It was actually a pretty fun take on the story.

But don’t think that just because it has spooky ghost hunting vibes that the story is all fun and games. Hattie and Kit, and even some of the secondary characters like Izzy and Priya and Freddie and Liam, they all have other issues and concerns going on. Broken families, grief, friendship growing pains, adjusting to new stages of life, preparing to finish high school and head off to college…it all felt so big and life-altering.

I mean, I know that I graduated from high school back in 2006, so it has been a number of years since I was in that position, but it felt real and relatable enough.

I loved Hattie’s relationship with her brother Liam. Her friendships didn’t feel all that deep or real, and I suppose that was for a reason. It really did seem like she connected with Kit faster and more easily and deeply than she did with Izzy and Priya.

I did want a little more ghost hunting though. But that’s just because I do enjoy a good ghost hunting stakeout.

But what I’m curious about is the fact that on Goodreads, this book is listed as Northanger Abbey #1. So either we’re getting other Jane Austen modern adaptations but set at this boarding school or we’re going to follow other students and their time and experiences at the school. I don’t know. Or perhaps neither theory is right and it’s listed as the first in a series by mistake. Because this author did a Pride & Prejudice modern update that actually follows Darcy’s sister Georgiana as she tries to recover from scandal the previous year and she thinks that secretly working to get Fitz Darcy together with Lizzie Bennett will help keep him distracted from being a helicopter-sibling to her. It’s also listed as the first in a series, with no indication on Goodreads that there will be another book.

Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.