I really wanted to love this because it is so very much a book for me. I mean, ghosts and Jane Austen? Love it. I think my problem lies in the fact that Hattie annoyed me to no end. I didn’t like being in her head. So even though I loved the setting and adored Kit, I was never fully invested, leaving it at a solid three. But I will say that I think it is worth the read because it was a fun little ghost book and the love interest made it worth it.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of this book! I loved the first Jane Austen retelling by Amanda Quain, and I loved this one too!

I love Northanger Abbey, and I think it is a really under appreciated Jane Austen novel. I'm so happy Amanda Quain put her own spin on that classic novel, bent gender roles, and gave us a modern tale that kept me flipping the pages until late in the night.

I feel like she captured the original heroine's spirit in this book, and I also think the story is bent to hit on contemporary topics really well. Things like gender roles, dysfunctional family issues, and grief are all touched upon, and I think these are sometimes hard to do well in a YA novel...but Amanda does them well with ease!

This is not an exact copy of the original Northanger Abbey, which I appreciated. Amanda took liberties with the story, gave some characters redemption arcs that were absent in the original, but overall, I think this is a really good YA retelling/reimagining. I'm definitely an Amanda Quain fan!

Rating: 4⭐️

Hattie is a senior at Northanger Abbey, a boarding school where her mother is the headmistress. Northanger is allegedly haunted by ghosts and attracts all sorts of paranormal-loving people, much to Hattie's chagrin. Hattie's family fractured after her father's death a few years ago--her mother buried herself in work, her older sister Freddie dropped out of college and is aimless, and her younger brother has withdrawn from any form of a social life. As if that wasn't enough, it's the start of her senior year and she needs to get into her dream college's pre-law program, all while maintaining her perfect image on campus. Then her mother asks her to be a student ambassador to Kit Morland, a new student at Northanger. Kit is a ghost enthusiast, so much so that he's there on a scholarship from a ghost-hunting organization. The problem? Hattie isn't a believer. She can't be. If ghosts are real, then why didn't her dad, who passed away a few years ago, ever come back?

Ghosted was a fun read. The family problems and setting were the strongest elements. However, there were some pacing issues. At times the story dragged and was repetitive, especially the parts about Kit and ghosts. The dialogue also felt extreme and clunky at times.

Gender switched Jane Austen AU? And ghosts? I was in from the start! A fun and light read that will appeal across age groups and a good reflection on the forms grief can take.

Thank you to Macmillian, Amanda, and Netgalley for this ebook arc.

5/5 stars. (I was not expecting this based on the cover, so don't judge the book by it's cover, judge it by this review).

Description: Hattie lives on the Northanger Abbey campus, the school she goes to and her mom runs. She's spent her whole life there trying to fit in, keep her family together after the loss of their dad, and stay on the track her mother expects of her. However, when her mother makes Hattie the student ambassador to Kit Moreland, the first student sent to Northanger Abbey by a paranormal society, Hattie is forced to face the ghosts not only on campus, but in her past. She doesn't do this alone though: her two best friends and family are caught in the middle of her transformation, but will everyone be stronger on the other side, or fall to the grief that's been plaguing them for years?

The great aspects:
- I did love all the characters (this is very YA and I know some folks don't like the YA characters that are a bit annoying with their flaws, so if you don't like that, you don't like this book)
- I appreciated how grief was handled in this book.
- I liked the depth in relationships explored: there was romantic relationships explored, family relationships, and friendships all addressed
- The ghost stories thrown in kept me on my toes and added a unique aspect to the book!
- This was an extremely quick read, I read it in a day and could not put it down.

Overall: If you like YA at all, this is probably the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute but forgettable YA romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.

A new take on Northanger Abbey with a touch of X-files and a fun gender swap! Hattie Tilney doesn’t believe in ghosts and is tired of how many ghost hunters there are around her school, it doesn’t help that her high school is allegedly one of America’s most haunted high school’s, Northanger Abbey. All Hattie wants to do is graduate school and get on with her plan, especially with impressing her headmistress mother who seems to only care about her work, on top of that Hattie has to take care of her withdrawn younger brother Liam and her older sister Freddie who spiraled out of control after dropping out of college. What Hattie doesn’t have time for is the new student that has transferred to Northanger on a ghost hunter scholarship, the ever smiling and ghost loving Kit Morland. The more time Kit and Hattie spend together the more Hattie is beginning to realize that she has to face her dislike of ghosts and why she really stopped believing in them. The more time she spends with Kit the more she doesn’t have to pretend with him, she can be herself, something she has not done in a long time... but being herself means facing everyone else in her life and the carefully curated version of herself that she has given them. This was such a sweet and fun take on the classic story and I really enjoyed the way the book deals with grief and mourning. The romance between Kit and Hattie was sweet because it emphasizes how much of good friends they are and how they both help each other.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book was about a broken family, understandably so, after the tragedy of losing a father.
It was so beautifully written, and very emotive. I enjoyed how the author tackled the subjects of ghosts, neither confirming nor denying their existence. Hopefully that's not a spoiler, but I feel that this story is bigger than that.

This book hits the word ghosted on so many levels. You of course have the ghost hunting aspect of this story, but you also have the absent mother who is morning the lose of her husband, a family who doesn’t quite know where they fit in with their mother’s career, and of course Hattie who doesn’t want to participate in anything ghost related now that her dad is gone. So, you have real ghosts, the ghost of a missing parent, and the ghosting of one’s own family. I am going to overall say that this book is down right haunting. All jokes aside I think that Amanda does a really lovely job looking at and connecting all of these different experiences and making it into one cohesive story. I don’t know that I love the romance aspect of this book, as I feel like it was trying to be the main story, but with all the other emotional aspects going on it kind of faded to second place. If you’re looking for a straight love story this may not be the book you are looking for. However, it is a good book. There is a lot going on, but it is all tied together and I am very glad that Hattie is able to work through some of the issues she was dealing with.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Hattie and her father had a joy for looking up ghost stories for Northanger High School when they found out her mom would be the head of the school. The story telling was one of the things Hattie loved doing with her father. Until her father died quickly. She lost her love and ambition, and turned to be the perfect daughter for her mother. Then Kit comes along and changes everything. Kit slowly gets her to believe in herself, and get back to doing what she loves and believing in herself. This book is a cute, and easy read.

Very pleasurable read. I will be purchasing a copy of this book and the first in the series for my teen niece.

Grief and love can be two very difficult topics to breach with teens. Quain does a remarkable job bringing both together.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.

Rating: 2.5
I thought that everything about this book was just average, at best. Maybe if I had read Northanger Abbey, I would have had stronger feelings about it.

Ghosted is a young adult romance where the only ghosts guaranteed are the ones that are personal. Hattie Tilney gave upon ghosts when her dad died. She’s sick of the ghost hunters at Northanger Abbey and is just trying to stroll through senior year and achieve the dream her mother wants for her. Everything is going according to her plan until her mother assigns her to be the ambassador to the new kid. Kit Morland is the first recipient of a scholarship funded by a ghost hunting group. A school assignment has Hattie and Kit hunting ghosts and falling for each other. Slowly Kit uncovers the layers of Hattie to reveal the real hurt girl beneath and her real dreams. The characters tug at the heart strings and the story is full of healing for sweet, fun romantic jaunt through America’s most haunted high school. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Review: Amanda Quain's debut novel, ACCOMPLISHED, made my favorite books post the year I read it. So I went into this book with high expectations. Were they met? Absolutely! This was another fantastic book from this author. It was messy, and happy, and sad, and I think, in the end, hopeful. I loved Hattie as a main character, and reading about her growing throughout the story was wonderful. My heart broke for her at multiple points during the book, but getting to see her journey was great. I thought all the side characters were well written, from Kit, to her family, and her friend group. And I loved the ending! Overall, I would highly recommend this YA book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Let me start off by saying this was ADORABLE! Did I want more spooky, yes. Did I understand that this was touching on two different meanings of "ghosts".. yes. Hattie has to confront not only the supernatural but the ghosts of her past in order to move forward. This book was heartfelt and showed many different sides of grief. I will 100% read more Amanda Quain in the future! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC of this novel. Northanger Abbey is one of the Austen novels I am aware of but have not read. I did enjoy this as a gender flipped version that does not require you to know anything about the original but will reward you if you do. Hattie was a typical YA protagonist who needs to learn about herself and face her issues who confronts them with the help of a man but that is the genre. The writing was well done and I enjoyed my time with the Tinley family. 4 stars.

Thank you to Macmillan publishers, for the opportunity to read an arc of 'Ghosted'.

When I first started reading the book, it took me a couple of chapters to get into the flow of the writing. But, once I did everything was golden.

I enjoyed this story. I think it's a great YA book. But, anyone would enjoy it. It has some good lessons in there as well. Like learning to be true to yourself, even if that's not what others expect of you. It deals with deep issues, like the loss of a parent, and how to live your life after that. It deals with friendships and family dynamics. And overall, it was a good read.

I liked how Hattie and Kit bonded, especially over something that she was trying to sever ties with, even though she really wanted to hold on to it.

Cute, funny, deep. Good!

*There is one bit of dialogue that I really liked, and I want to share it, but I don't know if I can since the book is not out yet. So, to be continued.

Ghosted is marketed as a retelling of Jane Austen’s novel, Northanger Abbey, but I found it to be more “loosely inspired by” than a faithful retelling. The plot doesn’t follow the original novel and it’s only through certain character dynamics that the classic novel can be seen.

Beyond the adaptation though, Ghosted is a fun story about family, friendship, first love, grief, and… ghosts. It has all the elements of a good YA contemporary with a little extra fun for Jane Austen fans thrown in. Because I was focused on the retelling aspect, it took me a little bit to get into the story and care about the characters. (Sorry, Hattie is no Henry Tilney, one of Austen’s best heroes, though Kit was a pretty good depiction of Catherine.) I was too distracted trying to figure out which character was the equivalent of the originals and how this played into the overall plot.

But in the end, Ghosted is a cute story with great messages about grief and forgiveness.

A cute, quaint read. Perfect for fall! The storyline was easy to get into and the characters were all so relatable!

I really liked this book! Loved the wittiness & banter, awesome character development & story. The author really gets you into the book & wanting to know what happens next. Definitely will read more from this author.