Ghosted by Amanda Quain is a witty and heartfelt retelling of Persuasion with a modern twist. Hattie navigates high school, regrets, and a second chance at love with charm and humor. Packed with relatable characters and emotional depth, it’s a must-read for fans of clever, contemporary romances with a touch of nostalgia.

Ghosted by Amanda Quain didn't disappoint. I loved everything about it. Thank to you NetGalley for the ARC!

Hattie Tilney is a senior at Northanger Abbey. She used to love her dad’s ghost stories and ghost hunting, but since he died, she no longer believes in ghosts. When her mom, headmaster of Northanger Abbey, asks Hattie to guide the new student, Kit Morland, around the school, Hattie agrees to get her mom’s approval. However, Kit is attending the school on a scholarship from a ghost hunting association. Hattie and Kit must work together on an assignment about the ghosts that haunt Northanger Abbey, but while Kit is eager to share their stories, Hattie wants to prove that they don’t exist.

This was a great gender-swapped retelling of Northanger Abbey. Northanger Abbey is told by the perspective of Catherine Morland, who believes in ghosts. I liked that this story is told from the perspective of Hattie, who’s skeptical about ghosts. It gave the story more tension, as she was surrounded by ghost stories and she used to believe in them as a kid.

Ghosted is a great YA ghost story!

Thank you Wednesday Books for providing a digital copy of this book.

After loving Quain’s first book, Accomplished, I knew I had to get my hands on this gender-bent version of Northanger Abbey! Ghosted was fun and entertaining, while covering some heavier topics like grief, loss, and navigating difficult relationships. Quain’s writing improves with each book, and I am looking forward to book two!

Ghosted was pretty cute! it definitely dragged in some parts and some of the scenes felt unnecessary, but I liked the book itself and the chemistry between the two mains was fun if not too fast pace, which is pretty standard for a 17-year-old’s relationship lol I will say, though do not read this book if you’re expecting an actual ghost story. There is a lot of talk about ghosts, but they are not real. A heaping 3 stars for a totally readable. fun book.

This is so much more than I expected. I usually do not read young adult. But this one stole my heart with the great characters.
This story is not only about the creepy Northanger abbey. It is about family dynamics and grief!
I enjoyed this one!

Thank you to Amanda Quain, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an eARC of Ghosted!

Ghosted is a cute high school love story. The book follows Hattie, a senior at Northanger Abbey as she navigates applying to college, falling for the new guys who is super into ghosts, friendship, the loss of her father, and a mom who is the headmaster of the school but can't give her kids the time of day.

While Ghosted covers some serious topics, it does so in a funny and sweet way. Hattie is clearly a very high strung kid who feels like she has the weight of her entire family on her shoulders. I found myself very much relating to her fear of failure and need to fit in. The author did a great job reflecting sibling rivalry/love, too.

I felt like the book was well paced and each scene kept the story moving at a nice pace to hold my interest. There was an even mix of personal drama, love interest drama, and friend drama.

The book was very obviously young adult, so it would appeal best to a younger crowd. It would be great for a middle or high schooler.

With a a cute story line, likeable characters, and fall vibes, I'll rate Ghosted a 3.5/5 stars - rounded up to 4.

I really wanted to love this book because it was a modern-day retelling of Northanger Abbey. I love Jane Austen, and I found it disappointing. I could connect with the characters and it had none of the charm of a Jane Austen novel. Had it been an original and not a Jane Austen retelling, I might have enjoyed this better. However, there are better modern retellings of Northanger Abbey, for example the one done by Sarah Price.

I don‘t know what I was expecting but it wasn’t this. I expected more spooky time for some reason but it‘s also a ya so I get it. And that‘s actually my biggest issue. I‘n not really into ya anymore so I struggled a little bit to get into it.
It‘s absolutely no fault of this book and I would definitely recommend it but can also honestly say, it wasn’t for me

This is a cute retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abby. Although I am not familiar with this book by Austen I just might have to give it a read. Most of the characters are approaching the end of their high school careers and trying to decide on their next paths in life. This ghost hunting adds a bit of fun to this story of friendships, family, love, economic classes, and growing up. I really enjoyed this book it is well written. I recommend it to young adults and adults alike.

I really wanted to like this book. Something, as I was reading, felt incomplete. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I love the source material too much or if I wasn't fully on board with the genderbending - which nothing against it, just sometimes doesn't work for me - but there was something in the plot that didn't sit well. However, I did like the writing and I will probably look up this author in the future for her other works. It just didn't sit well in the end but I would recommend it to others.

This was a surprisingly insightful exploration of grief and finding oneself. High school is always tough, but for Hattie, there is a whole different level of complexity due to the fact that her mother is headmaster and her father passed away. She is navigating her relationship with her parents, friends, a new student with whom she is paired, and her complicated relationship with ghosts. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Kit and Hattie and was engaged by the gothic setting! I recommend this for young adults and even adults who enjoy twists on the classics.

While I have read Northanger Abbey¸ I’ve only read it once and don’t remember it super well.

Once again, Quain modernizes the story and sets it in a New England private school. This time, it’s known as the most haunted school in America. But Hattie hates the whole ghost-hunting thing with a passion (and there’s a reason for that, but I won’t tell you, since it would spoil some things).

You can just imagine her dismay when Dr. Tilney—yes, Hattie calls her headmistress mother that when they’re at school—asks her to mentor Kit, the new student who’s at Northanger on a scholarship from a paranormal investigative group.

Hattie has spent her whole high school career curating her image, choosing friends that would help her fit in, being a perfect credit to her mother’s reputation. But when she doesn’t get into her university of choice, things start to crumble. When she and Kit are assigned as partners on a project about the haunting of Northanger for their journalism class, they are forced to spend time together. Kit’s gentle, sympathetic demeanor and embrace of the unusual start to help Hattie to find parts of her personality that she had hidden away.

Like her previous book, Quain gives us a broken family, missing a deceased father and with a mother who seems cold and aloof, an older sister who is constantly in trouble, and a younger brother who rarely comes out of his room. Although the story is Hattie’s, watching all of her family begin to heal from their loss is really lovely. Although we never see a ghost of the paranormal variety, this family comes to terms with its own variety of ghosts.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Swearing, including the F-word. Underage drinking. Kissing. References to sex. Ostracism. Parental death and distance. Dysfunctional families. Same-gender couples.
Who Might Like This Book:
Those who, like me, enjoy a good Austen retelling. Anyone who likes to see characters grow and develop and find their voice.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2024/07/modern-jane-austen.html

I jumped into this one without reading the description closely enough, so I was a good ways into the story before I realized this is a Northanger Abbey retelling. (Genuinely don't know how I managed to miss that, especially since Quain's debut, which I loved, is also an Austen retelling.) I almost wish I hadn't realized because when I'm reading a retelling there's a part of my brain that really wants to compare it to the original, and I haven't yet read Northnager Abbey. That being said, I think this one stands on it's own pretty well. I was still able to follow and enjoy the story despite being unfamiliar with the source material.

not speaking about this book until st. Martin press speaks up about the demands we are asking for. thank you for the arc but you need to speak uop

I loved this book, and how well the retelling of jane austens original story was handled. I am very excited for her next novel, dashed.

I spent the past.... year and a half trying to come up with the right way to review this book. I would like to thank Rivka for sharing this early after I loved ACCOMPLISHED. Unfortunately, I don't think GHOSTED hit quite as successfully. I did read Ghosted in all of a day or two back in December 2022 when I first received the book. So excited for it, I literally put everything down to read it during the holidays. And while I do think that Quain has a lovely voice that is really engaging and fun to read--this book felt like an identity crisis.

I wanted about 100 more pages and a deeper exploration of the themes Quain was trying to explore.

In Amanda Quain's "Ghosted," a teenager grapples with choosing between conformity and embracing her true identity.

Hattie Tilney finds herself at odds with her desire for a normal senior year when her family relocates to Northanger Abbey boarding school, renowned for its supposed paranormal activity. As her mother takes on the role of headmistress, Hattie just wants to blend in with her friends and focus on college aspirations. However, her plans are derailed when she's paired with Kit Morland, a ghost hunter from the National Paranormal Society of Investigators, for a journalism project investigating the school's ghostly rumors. Reluctantly diving into the world her late father cherished, Hattie agrees to the project with one condition: Kit aims to prove the paranormal claims while she aims to debunk them. But as they delve deeper, Hattie finds herself drawn to Kit, grappling with her feelings amidst her grief and reluctance to embrace her father's passions.

This is an inventive retelling of the Jane Austen classic and Quain deftly portrays the struggles of adolescence, including loss, societal expectations, and familial pressures. While drawing inspiration from the original work, Quain crafts a narrative that stands on its own, offering a fresh perspective with a supernatural twist. Though anchored by the main character's journey, the supporting cast adds diversity to the story, enhancing its richness and depth.

"Fresh and compelling," Quain's novel resonates with readers regardless of their familiarity with the source material, offering a poignant exploration of identity and acceptance.

Ghosted by Amanda Quain is a cute YA romance and retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It’s got some gothic feels (a haunted high school) but is an overall sweet read with great characters who are very relatable for the teen generation. Having never read Northanger Abbey I can’t say how close it is to the classics but if it’s anything like this book I’d be glad to read it! Without a doubt, I recommend this to young adults and even adults if you don’t mind younger characters.

A really nice YA novel filled with boarding school and ghost shenanigans, but also family and growing up challenges. Amanda Quain is doing a great job paying homage to the classics while making them fresh for a new young audience.