Amanda Quain is an author that people will have to keep their eyes on!
Her books capture the audience from the very beginning and keep them hanging on till the last page!

Hattie Tilney used to be fascinated by ghosts and the paranormal. It was a fascination she shared with her father, who was very excited when his wife/Hattie's mother received the job as headmistress at Northanger Abbey, the former convent turned into private school that was reportedly haunted, and which was the setting for a blockbuster paranormal movie. However, Hattie's father died (cancer) before the family made the move. It was early in her freshman year that she decided to leave ghosts/paranormal behind and to be the perfect daughter her mother wanted, especially as her older sister, Freddie, had issues, and her younger brother, Liam, was on the spectrum, which created its own set of challenges, especially for the image that Headmistress Tilney wanted to portray. With her best friends, Izzy Thorpe and Priya Acharya, Hattie has made it to senior year, and she has her college plans mapped out -- early decision to Udolpho College.

However, her senior year is turned upside when her mother assigns her as the ambassador for junior transfer Kit Moreland, who is at Northanger Abbey on scholarship from NPSI (the National Paranormal Society of Investigators). Then, to make things worse, Hattie discovers that for the journalism class project she has been partnered with Kit and assigned the topic -- The History of Northanger Abbey's Paranormal Activity -- Is There Truth to the Rumors? The last thing she wants her senior year is to be forced to deal with the paranormal/ghosts, and the unresolved issues that provokes, especially with a paranormal enthusiast such as Kit.

Kit's presence will upend Hattie's life. She has worked hard to create her facade -- even her best friends do not really know her. However, Hattie will find an unexpected connection with Kit, and will open up more to him than she ever has to her friends, which will cause a rift in the friendship. She will be forced to confront her feelings towards her father's death, her mother, and her older sister, and will realize how much her father's death broke her siblings and her mother, not just Hattie.

Kit's involvement in Hattie's life will also have a positive impact on Liam, helping him gain more confidence in himself. The Kit-Liam dynamic is one of the best aspects of the story. I also liked the way the author incorporates the characters and aspects of storyline from Austen's "Northanger Abbey." I especially like that Hattie's choice of college is Udolpho College, referencing the great gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe, "The Mysteries of Udolpho."

If you are the type of person who gets emotional from novels, I will warn you that are moments late in the novel that will probably make you tear up.

Absolutely loved. Super fun read for fall or for anyone that likes spooky stuff. The character development within the family was so amazing and heartbreaking.

This book was not e turkey what I was expecting but despite that I still enjoyed it.

This was a cute YA novel with so many different aspects.

First, I am a huge paranormal girly so the ghost my aspect and haunted/ eerie setting made this an ideal read for me.

Next, I really enjoyed the young romance. I like that it was a slow burn and that it was sweet. Perhaps the saving Grace of this book for me was that there were also many other relationships growing besides a romantic one and it truly warmed my heart.

I enjoyed the first half of the book so much and then the last half felt a bit rushed.

I think that I was expecting more ghosts and romance and less self reflection and growth of the FMC. It makes total sense for the YA audience but I guess I wish it had a little bit more oomph!

I would still recommend to people who like ya slow burn novels.

Thank you to the author and publisher for letting me read this early! I will definitely read more from this author

Finished ✔️ Ghosted by Amanda Quain.
3.5 ⭐️’s
Publish Day: July 25th, 2023
Kindle Unlimited: No.
I wanted to try something new and out of the box when it came to reading a book and this was definitely it. But it just wasn’t for me. 😬 This book is definitely unique in its own way and I’ve learned that this paranormal book just isn’t for me.
Honestly, I can see where others may like this book so I’d recommend it to others.
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Oh, man. That was fantastic. It’s love and loss and guilt and acceptance, and everything beautiful and sorrowful. And though much of the story is tinged with grief, the possibility for joy is everywhere. Belief brings possibilities.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Okay, I want to award this book bonus stars.

Northanger Abbey is my favorite Austen and I was a little apprehensive about how it would be retold because I wasn’t sure how some of the elements would be modernized (like Catherine Moreland staying with the Tilneys). However, the story was clever and not an exact retelling. I really appreciated that it shared some of the elements but overall was inspired by Northanger Abbey. What could have been cheesy and one dimensional was unexpectedly layered. It was witty and sweet and heartbreaking and fun.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and St. Martins Press.

Ghosted is a modern, gender flipped adaptation of Northanger Abbey set at an elite private school. Hattie Tilney has been desperately trying to hold herself (and her family) together for the three years since her father died. She is closed off, driven, and very much in denial about how broken she is. Her mother--the headmistress of Northanger Abbey private school--buries herself in work. Hattie's older sister deals with things by drinking and lashing out, and younger brother Liam has become quiet and closed off. Hattie just wants to keep it all together, get into a top college, and maybe finally make her mother proud of her. Cracks in her perfect plan start to appear when she's assigned to mentor new transfer student Kit Morland, sent to Northanger on a scholarship to learn about the many ghost stories that haunt the campus. Kit is everything that Hattie is not (at least, not anymore) and he just might be enough to break through her shell.

Much like Accomplished, this is a clever Austen retelling with lots of thought given to how the classic story would work when updated to a modern setting. I didn't always like Hattie, but her emotional issues and self-centerdness feel extremely true to the teenage experience (almost painfully at times), and her struggles are dealt with well. At it's core this is a book about grief, and the ways that people handle it. It is also about the stories that we tell to each other, and what those stories can tell us about ourselves.

Amanda Quain has another solid Austen retelling with Ghosted. If you liked Accomplished then this is an obvious choice. If you haven't read that one, then I would suggest this for people who like retellings of classic novels, high school settings, and ghost stories.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and Amanda Quain for the honor of reading this book!

What drew me to request this book was the description of talking about ghost and paranormal activity. After reading more I notice the book was a retelling of a Jane Austin book. I have never read any Jane Austin books before but thought I would give this retelling a try. I love the playful banter between the two main characters Hattie and Kit. You can definitely feel the connection between one another even though you can see them fighting there feelings. This book has death/loss of a parent, human growth, family dynamics, and ghost! I rated this book 3 stars 🌟

Thank you again for this ARC for my honest review.

Amanda Quain’s sophomore novel Ghosted is a perfect mixture of mystery, romance and self-discovery, and shows it’s not just the paranormal that can haunt us.

Hattie Tilney doesn’t believe in ghosts anymore, but they haunt her all the same. Quain manages to maintain a beautiful balance between a sweet slow-burn and heavy grief. Hattie is determined to be the glue of her family and her journey to learning that taking care of others starts with taking care of yourself was so relatable and unapologetic in the way it handled the mess of life. The loss of her dad is felt in every crack in Hattie’s life, from her avoidance of ghosts, to her desperate desire to be perfect, to the way she struggles with her family. But intertwined with all of that is this sweet romance with Kit, who just might be the only person who can get her to believe again.

Quain creates a very robust world, with characters who not only add to Hattie’s story but also have their own journeys as well. From the ghost obsessed, to the non-believers, to the strict mom, to the sibling who feels far away, and to the family we’ve lost - Ghosted has so many levels to it, and delving into each of them was something I really enjoyed. I definitely cried a bit reading this one.

This is the second time that Quian has knocked me off my feet. I have no experience reading Jane Austin, yet both of her re-tellings have been books I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed. I had high expectations for this book after reading her debut album and I am so happy I was not let down. I will highly recommend this book, and can’t wait to see what Quain writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest a review.

3.5 stars

Ghosted is a gender bent retelling of the Jane Austen classic, Northanger Abbey. I’m going to be honest this is not a classic I am very familiar with. Any similarities and differences from the original are unknown to me.

Hattie is a non believer, ever since her dad passed away. Kit the new transfer student, is not only a big believer of ghost but at the school thanks to a ghost hunting scholarship. After being paired together for a journalism project, they are spending almost all their time together.

Can Kit make her a believer again? Can she finally be who she wants to be instead of who someone else thinks she should be? Can she mend her broken relationships?

This was an easy slow burn romance read. It started out pretty slow to begin with and then steadily picked up. I’m however a little disappointed that there was no ghost in the actually book, just stories of the ghosts that supposedly haunt the property. While not might favorite, I enjoyed the book enough.

First of all, I'd like to say a big thank you to Wednesday Books for sending me the ARC!

This book, about a girl dealing with the death of her father, the dismantlement of her family in their own grief, and her staunch determination to be the family glue, all situated within the backdrop of a gothic abbey-turned-private school, is an amazing, complex, unafraid Young Adult Novel.

I read a lot of Young Adult because of how unapologetic they are about dealing with messy emotions, going deep, evoking emotion, and staring the hard issues in the face. This book is certainly no exception. This young girl is navigating friendship, romance, a broken family structure, a rigid set of expectations, and grief. Quain digs deep. The metaphor of ghosts in the novel, and dealing with the ghosts of the past, the histories that make us who we are, the stories that need to be told, as well as the cruelty of being ghosted by her mother, ghosting her best friends, and doing a research paper on paranormal activity at her school make this book incredibly intriguing. All of this is happening while our young heroine is dealing with the reality her ghost hunting dead father has never visited her in the afterlife, and all of the belief and love of ghost hunting she had has been turned into disbelief, and locking away who she really is. This brings up very real, very hard, very visceral reactions from the readers (me, I mean me). I cried guys. The conflicts in the book are all character driven and embedded in question of who the characters wants to be, the misconceptions of their own relationships in their lives, and who the people are around them actually are.

I expected a cute and campy ghost hunting book. I got so so much more. I would recommend this book to every young adult I know. I will be gifting my school library this book for all the kiddos to read.

Nothing groundbreaking, but a fun read, especially if you’re familiar with Northanger Abbey and will get the references!

I loved Accomplished by Amanda Quain, her first Jane Austen retelling. While I enjoyed Ghosted, it didn't captivate me as much as Accomplished. In this Northanger Abbey retelling, Jane Austen's story is reimagined as a Gothic boarding school filled with supposed ghosts that attract a large cult following of ghost hunters. For the main character, Hattie, these ghost stories are nothing but a nuisance. But for Kit? They are everything. When the two are paired together for a class project, they must overcome their differences and may just discover they share more in common than previously believed. I enjoyed this book, however, the first half felt really slow and did not pick up until almost 100 pages in. All in all, it was still an enjoyable read and a great retelling for Jane Austen fans.

📖Review: Ghosted by Amanda Quain

A coming-of-age story that demonstrates the difficulty of sitting with grief and the power of exorcising personal ghosts.

Henrietta (Hattie) Tilney is the perfect daughter, the perfect student, and the perfect friend. Ever since her dad died, she has tried to be perfect, to wear a facade to protect her heart and please her mother, the head of Northanger Abbey School. Northanger is known for its hauntings, due to historical legend and a very popular film. Hattie no longer believes in the unknown or paranormal, not since her dad passed and took that part of her with him. Everything is going perfectly toward graduation until a new student, Kit Morland, is paired with her for a school project, and he is determined to find a ghost. As Kit begins to see through Hattie's mask, they both uncover ghosts, but not the ones they were expecting.

This book was an interesting retelling of Northanger Abbey. I really liked Kit Morland, his positivity and perspective were a breath of fresh air in the stifling prep school. Hattie’s persona created to hold herself together was relatable, despite being very sad. In the end, the theme of grief and confronting ghosts was explored with gentle precision through this unique retelling.

If you love:
📖Jane Austen retellings,
🪞Coming-of-age stories,
☀️Grumpy-Sunshine trope,
🕗Second Chances,
👻Ghost stories,
Be sure to check out Ghosted in stores on July 25 or preorder today.

Thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the copy of this ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

A gender-bent contemporary retelling of the Jane Austen classic, Northanger Abbey.
I love this focus on one of Jane Austen's less talked about works. I loved the slow burn and this felt like a very true to the original source while still breathing it a new life. Ghosted was a well-blended story of the paranormal, romance, family dynamics, finding yourself and of course the retelling of Northanger Abbey. It touches on the many different ways that we deal with grief, and that more than anything you need your village to keep you going.

Ghosted has a fun Northanger Abbey meets the YA X-Files vibe, with Hattie Tilney and Kit Moreland as the gender-swapped main couple from Austen’s novel. It ended up feeling more Austen-inspired than like a slavish recreation, with an updated setting and compelling side characters. I especially appreciated the nuanced portrayal of Hattie’s relationships with her friends and siblings; Amanda Quain clearly remembers the ups, downs and confusion of being a teen. Very enjoyable and I will look for future releases from this author!
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

was slow-paced for me, took forever to read, might have been more exciting if there were actually ghosts, having only seen the northanger abbey movies was expecting more charming charisma for Tilney, Kit was cute, pictured him more looking like Lockwood because Lockwood and Co is my current thing, did appreciate the relationship growth attempts at the end, the college rush is always so annoying to me like what would be wrong with not immediately going to college if you don't even know what you want

This book was such a breath of fresh air. The way that the characters process their grief and grow both individually and together was wonderful. I felt as though Hattie would not have waited so long to tell Kit about her father but I think that part was still very well done and emotional. It was a cute story and I really enjoyed it!

3.25

A pretty cute, and weirdly not too far-fetched feeling book, though it did sometimes feel a bit lackluster. I just felt like the plot could use a bit more oomph; even though some serious-ish topics are touched upon, this was still a pretty light read.

The story was slow to begin and a bit rushed towards the end, and also way more character driven than I was expecting. The characters, while not always likable, are all pretty well developed (other than Pri sadly). Hattie was a believably middling protagonist, and Kit & Liam are 1000% why I stayed on for the ride even when I hit moments where I was less invested.

I would have liked more fleshed out relationships between Hattie & Priya and Hattie & Freddie though, especially since this book took a more emotive approach as opposed to really diving into the paranormalcy plot side of things.

But overall I think this was on par with what you'd expect from a light, quirky YA Austen retelling & it'll make for a fun seasonal read.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books & NetGalley for the ARC!