I will start by saying that I am so happy they are finally making Northanger Abbey retellings. It’s one of Jane Austen‘s best works, and I feel like no one appreciates it!

Ghosted takes place at a school called Northanger Abbey where Hattie Tiley’s mother is the headmistress, and Hattie feels lost and passionless as she looks at what her future is going to be after the loss of her father. When Kit Morland shows up at school, everything changes. Suddenly ghosthunting is back in her life and memories of her father come creeping back in.

The gender reversal of the characters was a fun switch from the original. Kit keeps the same naive, fun persona as Catherine that Hattie counters with her more reserved, stoic demeanor. I will say that I didn't find either character as charming as Catherine and Henry, and I also didn't feel that much chemistry between them. Henry Tilney is one of my favorite literary love interests bc that man oozes charmisma and the banter is just too good. Hard to match that!

I appreciated the integration of darker themes of grief and how each of the family remembers copes with it differently. There was also some decent representation lgbtq+ characters. Overall, it was an okay read but didn’t hit home the way I wanted it to.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Goodreads review is in link. Thank you for the book!

I really enjoyed this book since I like to watch paranormal stuff where people try to find ghosts, but like the main character, I don't exactly believe in ghosts either. This book reminded me of Ghostbusters which is one of my favorite movies. The main character was also relatable and the characters were well written. There are some spelling and grammatical errors but that was in the email.

Shock of the century, I do not like this book. I don’t know how you could possibly make Northanger Abbey boring, but that’s exactly what was achieved here.

I really wanted to love this one, but Hattie was boring and a pushover and a poor genderbent representation of the man, the myth, the muslin understanding legend that is Henry Tilney.

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

Book Title: Ghosted
Author: Amanda Quain
Series: A Northanger Abbey Novel
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press- Wednesday Books
Genre: YA/Teen, Romance
Pub Date: July 25, 2023
My Rating: 4.4 Stars!

Hattie Tilney daughter of the headmistress is a senior at America’s most (allegedly) haunted high school, Northanger Abbey. But ever since her paranormal-loving dad passed away from cancer, she stopped believing in ghosts and has moved on.

Hattie has been assigned ambassador to a new transfer student Kit Morland,
Kit is on scholarship to Northanger and is in hopes of doing some ghost-hunting.

Hattie and Kit are partnered for a project to investigate the legends around the school’s ghosts and paranormal activity. Kit turns out to be more than a class partner but someone who sees what Hattie is going through.

I know I am not the target audience for this story but as a High School Guidance Counselor I love to read YA stories. It pleases me that I can recommend a book as well as know what they are reading.
I have been somewhat discourage in reading so many books in this genre as they seem to be formula driven. Love this story as it not formula driven. True Ghostbuster Kim Morland is adorable and hunting for ghosts from our past added fun to this story but it is so real.
I saw on the news this evening that a Yale professor who taught a successful college class on happiness has written a curriculum that can be taught to teen on happiness.
Students are under so much stress they have difficult identifying what makes them happy. When you add the death of sometime loved and missed is extremely difficult for any age.

There is a lot going on in this story - I have no doubt that this story will be enjoyable for all ages.

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press ~ Wednesday Books for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 25, 2023

I want to thank Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the arc of this ebook.

Synopsis: "Ghosted" is a gender-swapped, high school retelling of Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey". Hattie Tilney has built a carefully constructed persona for herself to survive high school at Northanger Abbey where her mom is the headmistress and ghost stories lurk around every corner. Hattie has been hiding away parts of herself since freshman year and now in the fall of her senior year, all she has to do is submit her Udolpho application and wait to hear all her hard barriers (and hard work) have paid off. However, her carefully constructed world comes crashing down when she meets transfer student Kit Morland. Kit's enthusiasm for life and ghost stories forces Hattie to re-evaluate everything and maybe what she has constructed won't be enough anymore.

Thoughts:

This was such a cute retelling of "Northanger Abbey". Given the construction of the original novel, I imagine that it was really hard to figure out a way to update the story to a modern setting and I think that Quain did a great job.

I loved all of the little hints to the original novel throughout the book like Udolpho being the University that Hattie is applying to and the ghost story aspects of the school. Kit's enthrallment with everything ghost-related and Hattie's begrudging appreciation really reminded me of the dynamics between Mr. Tilney and Catherine Morland. I also really appreciated how much of a mean girl that Izzie Thorpe was throughout the novel. The updated ways in which the character was portrayed throughout the book really kept the aspects of what we love to hate about Isabell Thorpe.

Quain also did an excellent job of highlighting the struggles of a high school senior applying for college. Hattie's struggles really brought me back to how it felt when I was in that position and layering those struggles with Hattie's grief made the story richer and Hattie even more endearing.

Liam was also a great character and I loved when he was on the page. His bromance with Kit was a great subsection of the story and I would not have been mad if there were scenes with just the two of them discussing video games or ghosts. Although, Liam was a favourite of mine I have to say that he was the only member of the Tilney family besides Hattie that I liked. In the original version of the story the elder Mr. Tilney and Captain Tilney are not on the page very much which might explain why Dr. Tilney and Freddie seemed a little less fleshed out than the other characters. In the end, I felt pretty ambiguous about Freddie as a character due to her interactions with Hattie toward the end of the novel. Also, even factoring in Dr. Tilney's revelations I did not find her to be redeemed at the end of the story. I think because Quain did such a good job of making me love Hattie, I was not as quick to forgive.

Izzie also wasn't redeemed for me at the end of the story and I have to say that I was a little frustrated that she got the intervention she did in saving her friendship with Hattie and that her goals were met unimpeded while Hattie faced all of the struggles.

Priya was an interesting character and I wish that more time had been spent on her and Hattie as friends. I'm not entirely sure who Priya was within the context of the original novel if anyone, but the way that she acted throughout the book and especially at the end made me believe that she and Hattie were actually friends who could sustain a relationship outside of high school, while I did not get that feeling from Hattie and Izzie.

Kit was a great love interest. He was funny and supportive and I was rooting for him and Hattie from the beginning. Quain did a great job of bringing the tension between the two characters from the original novel into the story while making it more modern. I'm not entirely sure why Kit could not have been the same age as Hattie in the book, but I'll just have to hope that it's so we can get a second novel that follows them both to college.

If you are a Jane Austen fan and/or a YA romance fan this book will warm your heart and I highly recommend it.

Jane Austen retelling of Northanger Abbey! Perfect YA for fall or anytime you're in the mood for something spooky but not scary.

Hattie is a senior at a haunted high school and is matched with Kit for a project on their town's history. Hattie has recently given up ghost hunting as a hobby due to the grief over losing her father. Kit encourages her to believe in something. They go around visiting places in the town looking for ghost stories.

Hattie’s friendship with Kit helps pull her out of her grief, and helps her move on but at the same time still remembering the past. I

I loved the mom, sister and brother as dysfunctional family members and the roles they played.

I really liked this book! I liked the aspect of the paranormal side and the banter between Kit and Hattie just had my heart. This is a very slow burn book, but it’s worth the read! A great YA book.

Kit Morland is a transfer who is sponsored by the National Society of Paranormal Investigators and Dr. Tinley (Hattie’s mom) pairs up Kit with Hattie as his ambassador because of all the paranormal stuff she used to do with her dad. But Hattie doesn’t believe so it’s an interesting duo.

It talks about finding yourself and how you don’t have to be alone when finding yourself because there’s always someone who wants to help you as much as you want to help yourself. It also talks about a lot of other things, i.e how we all handle grief differently, etc.

I don’t know about you, but when guys refer to girls by their last name, it just gives me butterflies and I don’t even know why. But Kit calling Hattie Tinley, my heart 😩

Thank you to NetGalley/St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was a great fan of Amanda Quain's previous book Accomplished and when I saw a Northanger Abbey based retelling I had to request it!

I'm so glad I did.

This is contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, where the protagonists are students at the haunted school of the same name. Kit and Hattie are brought together by Hattie's mom, the headmistress of the school. Together they find friendship, love, healing, and also find themselves along the way.

The characters are three-dimensional and interesting, the writing powerful and witty, the first person POV engaging and immediate. Hattie is such a relatable character, with her perfectionism, insecurities, self-judgement. Kit is endearing–funny and kind, a good person and a good friend. This book tackles personal issues as well as how grief shapes us, affects us, affects our relationships and interactions.

Overall a wonderfully creative and fresh retelling, in Quain's witty and brilliant style.

my thanks to net galley and the publisher for this digital ARC

GHOSTED by Amanda Quain is a delightful Young Adult romance that offers a contemporary retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. The novel is set in the haunted halls of Northanger Abbey, a school known for its ghostly presence in the United States. Henrietta "Hattie" Tilney is a senior student at the school who just wants to make it through the year and get into Udolpho University. But when her mother, the headmistress of the school, asks her to be a school ambassador for Kit Moreland, a ghost hunter, everything changes.

Hattie and Kit's paths cross, and together they embark on a journey of self-discovery, friendship, and love. With Kit's help, Hattie begins to face her fears and the emotional trauma of losing her father. The novel is a testament to the power of love, friendship, and the healing that can come from facing our fears and embracing change.
What sets GHOSTED apart is its well-developed characters, witty writing style, and a heartwarming story that will keep you hooked from start to finish. Kit Moreland is a character that readers will adore – he is kind, funny, loyal, and all-around a good person with pure intentions. Meanwhile, Hattie Tilney is a character that many readers will relate to – her struggle with perfectionism is a theme that is all too common in today's society.

In conclusion, GHOSTED is a touching, entertaining, and witty Young Adult retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. It is a must-read for fans of YA romance and for anyone who loves a good ghost story. I highly recommend this book, and I'm sure that you won't be disappointed!

This is a story about finding yourself and love. The love of family, friends, and romantic partners.

The setting of a haunted high school highlights the characters growth. Hattie learns from the ghost of her past through the acceptance of her new friend Kit and their ghost hunting adventures.

This is my honest review. I received this ARC courtesy of the author and the publisher.

3.5 stars. Hattie Tilney doesn't believe in ghosts. She used to: they were her father's passion, and so they were her passion as well. But grief changes things, and over the past three years Hattie has molded herself into someone who not only doesn't believe in ghosts but has actively sought out as normal and conventional a life as possible. Her high school's campus is a hotbed for ghost hunters, though, and when Kit Morland enrolls in her school—on a scholarship funded by the National Paranormal Society of Investigators, no less—it's harder than ever to pretend that everything is normal.

"Ghosted" is inspired by "Northanger Abbey", and while part of me wishes I'd reread "Northanger Abbey" before tackling this (it's not one of Austen's works that I know particularly well!), there's no need to be conversant in Austen to read this. As with Quain's "Accomplished," "Ghosted" cheerfully sidesteps the desire to retell a story that's been retold many times before—though, admittedly, I've seen many more retellings of "Pride and Prejudice" than of "Northanger Abbey"—in favor of taking the original as inspiration and then running with it. It's been one of my favorite things about Quain's books, because I've read enough Austen retellings to know that a lot of the exact details of her books don't translate well to the modern day, and I prefer versions that get creative with it.

Hattie hasn't let herself show much personality over the past three years, preferring to blend in as quietly as possible...but that doesn't mean she (and, crucially, the author) doesn't have a sense of humor. It's mostly snarky asides to the reader—"in case you were wondering, the proper term for a group of paranormal enthusiasts was 'an annoyance'" (loc. 63*)—but given that the book carries some fairly heavy themes of grief and feelings of abandonment, the levity made for some nice balance.

The one thing I wanted more of: more ghost hunting! There's a bit of it, but oh man. At one point (staying vague to avoid spoilers) a character mentions a ghost-hunting podcast, and there's another point involving a chain saw when Hattie thinks that "if one of the campus tour groups spotted us now, we'd spawn an entirely new Northanger legend" (loc. 2736), and given that "Northanger Abbey" was a bit of a spoof itself ("Ghosted" is much less satirical), I can't tell you how entertained I'd be to see something that took one of those things and, you know, ran with it.

Recommended for readers of Austen retellings and light ghost stories—I'll happily keep reading Quain's retellings.

*I read an advance copy, so quotes and location numbers may not be final.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.

GHOSTED by Amanda Quain is a Young Adult romance retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. This was a fun, heartwarming, and touching story that I really enjoyed.

The novel is set at Northanger Abbey, the most haunted school in the US. Henrietta "Hattie" Tilney just wants to get through senior year and enroll at Udolpho, the university she's almost guaranteed to get into. Everything is going according to plan until her mother, the stern Headmistress of Northanger Abbey, asks Hattie to be a school ambassador for Kit Moreland, a ghost hunter. The problem is, Hattie gave up ghost hunting after her father died (it was their shared hobby) and doesn't believe in ghosts. Will Kit be able to change Hattie's mind about ghosts as well as lower Hattie's carefully crafted mask projecting the image of a perfect student? You'll have to read to find out.

What I loved most about this book:
- friends to lovers, a trope that I don't read as much as I should
- Kit Moreland. I wish I knew someone like this when I was a teen. He's kind, funny, loyal, and all around a good person with pure intentions
- the novel addresses the fallout of the death of a parent in an honest and heartfelt way. Everyone in Hattie's family is affected in different ways and it was so moving to read about the emotional journey for each of Hattie's family members, and Hattie herself
- The perfectionism of Hattie Tilney. As a recovering perfectionist myself, I found her highly relatable.
- Tons more! Seriously, I loved this book.

What didn't work:
- Can't think of a thing, which is why this is a five. Bravo!

GHOSTED is a touching, entertaining, and witty YA retelling of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I highly recommend it. Run, don't walk, to pre-order this excellent novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC of this book for my honest feedback.

I really enjoyed this book and thought the story was amazing. I enjoyed Hattie and Kit's relationship and thought that it was told very well. I thought the retelling was pretty awesome too, and enjoyed the paranormal aspects of the book. Hattie came a long way in the story and I was so happy with how it ended and what she accomplished with the help of her family and Kit. I recommend reading this book if you are looking for a cute story with a happy ending!

I love a good retelling. This was a wonderfully paced quick read that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I loved how Hattie and Kit were so opposite in their thinking yet complimented each other so well. The extra layer of grief and having to grow up so fast gave me a soft spot for Hattie. This is definitely a read in one sitting type of book!

Hattie Tilney enters her senior year at Northanger Abbey determined to be perfect in order to make her mother (the cold, rigid Headmistress of the school) proud. Perfect college, perfect career path, perfect future. What she doesn’t need in her life are ghosts and ghost enthusiast Kit Morland. Hattie gave up her belief in ghosts and love of ghost hunting three years ago after her dad died. But she and Kip have been paired up for a journalism class project-investigative the possibility of ghosts and the extremely haunted Northanger Abbey. Now Hattie is starting to believe again, which just might rip apart her perfectly ordered life.

Ghosted is a fun gender bent retelling of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. Amanda Quain perfectly captures all the messy thoughts and feelings that teenagers experience, especially after suffering the loss of a parent. Hattie is prickly, icy and desperately trying to hold herself together for her frustrating, emotionally absent mother and the rest of her fractured family. Kit proves himself a wonderful antidote for Hattie’s stiffness. He’s sweet, quirky and comfortable with himself. It was very satisfying reading about Hattie’s journey as she begins to understand that she doesn’t need to be perfect to be loved.

"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. "

^^Yes. Yes to all of that.

One of my favorite Jane Austen novels and heroes is Northanger Abbey/Henry Tilney. There's something about that golden retriever man that I loved so much when I read NA for the first time. SO this book definitely hit the mark for me.

It took me like 15% through this to really get into it, but it think I was also in a reading slump because once I was in I was hooked.

I honestly think Hattie's mother (comparable to Henry's shitass father in NA) was comparably worse throughout the majority of this book. She's so cold and haltable and although you learn it's because she's still grieving her husband's death, COME ON. You have 3 children who are also grieving and you straight up ignore them for 3 years? No way.

I love that this is a genderbent retelling. Kit is still as golden retrievery as Henry though. Although you can still see the inspiration behind both characters from Katherine and Henry to Hattie and Kit, respectively. I loved watching the relationship blossom between these two.

I kind of appreciate Izzy's (aka Isabella's) redemption arc in this compared to her horibleness in NA, but honestly it's still kind of hard to say she deserves it. Hattie talks about how transactional their relationship is the whole book so it's very hard to see Izzy's side of things. She was very quick to forgive also which seemed rushed. Overall not a favorite character in either story so I didn't dwell on that too much.

Hattie's story was so sad, but well developed. I didn't cry, but she almost had me! You get a taste of the beginning of her grief identification and recovery and I think it's done well.

Overall, really liked this and will absolutely be reading Amanda's other Austen retellings!

Thanks to the publisher and author for an eARC via NetGalley.

Did Not Finish.

I’m so thankful for the opportunity I had to read this, but I’m not the biggest fan of ghost/paranormal stories

there are a few things that i would love to discuss, but overall, this book has been one of my favorites from this year. ghosted is a new take on northanger abbey (which is embarrassingly still something on my tbr) but i thoroughly enjoyed it.

characters! sometimes in ya characters can be … a little quirky. but hattie and her friends were manageable, and i really enjoyed reading how they interacted with one another. i’m also impressed with how quain made the main character, hattie, and her family multifaceted. it was well done, and i didn’t hate reading hattie’s narration- i was rooting for her the entire time to find her voice. something that’s relatable to me and i’m sure many other readers will be able to relate to hattie.
the setting was my second favorite part of this novel. i was reading this during january (even though it was in the 80s this week) but it made me feel like i was in the middle of a cozy autumn in the northeast. this book doesn’t come out until july 25 but i highly recommend it if you want to have an atmospheric read for the fall.
overall, i was totally surprised by this book and i really hope amanda quain comes out with more!

I requested this to preview it for a book club that I run at school with my students and I think that they would love this!! I would like it pair it with Northanger Abbey for them to get a full experience.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc ebook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I very much enjoyed "Ghosted" by Amanda Quain. Quick, funny, and mysteriously romantic read. Would re-read.