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fros86's review against another edition
4.0
A compelling read - great for a holiday, whether or not you've read the original.
Although I have read Northanger abbey (the original) a few times, I came to read this as a fresh story and enjoyed it all the more for that. There were clear comparisons with the original, but it was convincingly brought up to date... I read this in just a few days and couldn't put it down; an easy read and a fun adventure story.... I enjoyed it much more than the New version of Emma.
Although I have read Northanger abbey (the original) a few times, I came to read this as a fresh story and enjoyed it all the more for that. There were clear comparisons with the original, but it was convincingly brought up to date... I read this in just a few days and couldn't put it down; an easy read and a fun adventure story.... I enjoyed it much more than the New version of Emma.
michael_beatty249's review against another edition
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
margaret21's review against another edition
3.0
A clever reworking of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Society-watching in Bath is replaced by people-watching at the Edinburgh Festival, distressed gentlefolk by a country vicar's family, social climbers by - well, social climbers, and Hooray Henry (sorry, Hooray John) by Jeremy Clarkson. Gothic authors are replaced by their 21st century equivalents, and all in all, this is an amusing tale which will send me back to re-read the book that started it all off. The real Northanger Abbey
lolo007's review against another edition
2.0
The setting was great but the the situations that the characters found themselves in just didn't make any sense in a modern context. It was all a bit awkward and forced, especially the dialogue.
brompton_sawdon's review against another edition
2.0
Northanger Abbey was originally a 'classic' by Jane Auten. This version by Val McDermid is a retelling in the present day. It's also my first book group read of 2023. Having never read the original, I can't tell you how close it is to the original idea. However, I'm reviewing it as I found this book.
Cat Morland, a young girl from a sheltered life in a village in Devon is brought to Edinburgh Festival by a local couple. Here she finds new friends and experiences. She soon meets the strange Tilney family, whom she suspects of being vampires. A visit to their home Northanger Abbey follows. With no Wi-Fi, this strange world fascinates Cat.
The book starts at a leisurely pace. It feels almost as we're experiencing the world through Cat's young eyes. The atmosphere and description is built up nicely, not rushed (contrast to real life). Cat makes friends with a girl her own age, Bella. It just happens that Bella knows Cat's brother, a coincidence? The book however never seems to get into top gear. I turned page after page expecting something to happen, but it never really does.
There's a lot of humour in the book, the writing is witty at times. Yet I'm left with this feeling that it was a parody on a YA novel meant for teenagers. Maybe it was, but it wasn't a particularly good YA fiction. There was too much teenage angst, but not very well done. It was also a bit of a class thing, endless cake and lashings of coffee, read like a posh Famous Five. It wasn't rooted in reality like a good teenage novel. There was no real subplot to make it interesting. I like YA fiction. I think most of it is the most cutting edge of fiction currently. Yet this book, I know it's aimed at adults, but it read like a cheap YA romance.
Rarely do I come away from a book thinking why I read that, Northanger Abbey is the exception. The book was a little too predictable. I expect I'll find out it's a very clever parody, but for now I'll move on to another book.
Cat Morland, a young girl from a sheltered life in a village in Devon is brought to Edinburgh Festival by a local couple. Here she finds new friends and experiences. She soon meets the strange Tilney family, whom she suspects of being vampires. A visit to their home Northanger Abbey follows. With no Wi-Fi, this strange world fascinates Cat.
The book starts at a leisurely pace. It feels almost as we're experiencing the world through Cat's young eyes. The atmosphere and description is built up nicely, not rushed (contrast to real life). Cat makes friends with a girl her own age, Bella. It just happens that Bella knows Cat's brother, a coincidence? The book however never seems to get into top gear. I turned page after page expecting something to happen, but it never really does.
There's a lot of humour in the book, the writing is witty at times. Yet I'm left with this feeling that it was a parody on a YA novel meant for teenagers. Maybe it was, but it wasn't a particularly good YA fiction. There was too much teenage angst, but not very well done. It was also a bit of a class thing, endless cake and lashings of coffee, read like a posh Famous Five. It wasn't rooted in reality like a good teenage novel. There was no real subplot to make it interesting. I like YA fiction. I think most of it is the most cutting edge of fiction currently. Yet this book, I know it's aimed at adults, but it read like a cheap YA romance.
Rarely do I come away from a book thinking why I read that, Northanger Abbey is the exception. The book was a little too predictable. I expect I'll find out it's a very clever parody, but for now I'll move on to another book.
corvinaq's review against another edition
2.0
:( I did not like this at all. It was the complete opposite of Alexander McCall Smith's wonderful Emma. I didn't even finish it. The tone is all wonky and wrong, and I was 40 pages in and still didn't care about or like any of the characters. The modernisation aspect is very clunky here--way too many detailed descriptions of her FB activity. She posts dress pictures to her sisters. She looks up the guy she just met. She looks up the sister of the guy she just met. She looks up the father of the guy she just met. It's all very realistic but it's awkwardly shoehorned into the rest of the story.
legalois's review against another edition
2.0
I am an avid fan of Jane Austen and Northanger Abbey is one of my favorites. This is the first contemporary rewrite I've read so I speak just from this experience.
To start off, I don't think that Val Mc Dermid knew much about homeschoolers and I did not like the way she portrayed pastors or at least how Catherine's father was portrayed. As someone who was homeschooled and knowing many other homeschoolers, I just don't find Catherine to be a realistic homeschooled child. She's supposed to be sheltered but she doesn't act like it... not saying all homeschoolers are sheltered but in this book she is supposed to be. Unless of course sheltered means not knowing much about cars.
Some of it was done well and I thought an okay job was done to make a modern retelling.
However, I did not like the whole lesbian spin that was thrown in at the end and I'm shocked Henry would fall for that story, especially seeing that it came from John Thorpe. Neither did I like that Henry and Catherine moved in together before they were married. However, since it is a modern retelling I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There was so many more little things that aggravated me here and there but those are the major ones.
All in all it was a meh. I'm rating it two stars not one as it did keep me engaged and I skimmed through it in one day.
To start off, I don't think that Val Mc Dermid knew much about homeschoolers and I did not like the way she portrayed pastors or at least how Catherine's father was portrayed. As someone who was homeschooled and knowing many other homeschoolers, I just don't find Catherine to be a realistic homeschooled child. She's supposed to be sheltered but she doesn't act like it... not saying all homeschoolers are sheltered but in this book she is supposed to be. Unless of course sheltered means not knowing much about cars.
Some of it was done well and I thought an okay job was done to make a modern retelling.
However, I did not like the whole lesbian spin that was thrown in at the end and I'm shocked Henry would fall for that story, especially seeing that it came from John Thorpe. Neither did I like that Henry and Catherine moved in together before they were married. However, since it is a modern retelling I guess I shouldn't be surprised. There was so many more little things that aggravated me here and there but those are the major ones.
All in all it was a meh. I'm rating it two stars not one as it did keep me engaged and I skimmed through it in one day.
alicia1701's review against another edition
4.0
I found it hilarious. It wasn't the best adaptation I have ever read, but it certainly wasn't the worst.
It was fun and light hearted.
It was fun and light hearted.
jayfr's review against another edition
2.0
I tried, I really really tried to enjoy this but I couldn't bear to read more than half way. I've read others in the Austen Project but this one didn't work. The trouble is I can't put my finger on why, there was just something missing. Vague, I know, but it's the truth.
pn_hinton's review against another edition
3.0
I almost gave up on this book after the first chapter, due to the pacing of it. The way the author went about the setting of the stage felt a bit off for me and I didn’t think I would be able to get into it. I try to give books three chapters to get interesting though, so I pushed through and give it a chance. And it did pick up after that rough start.
Some of the characters seemed a bit unbelievable, even for a fiction book especially Cat the main one. I had a hard time believing a seventeen year old actually believed in vampires. Based on her upbringing, I was able to accept her naiveté and predisposition to always see the good in people. But the legitimate belief in all things supernatural was a bit much. Halfway through the book I was over that aspect of it.
I also found the Thorpe family to be completely exaggerated. Both Bella and Johnny were almost too obnoxiousness and selfish to be likeable at all. They were completely self-involved and overbearing and rude to everyone. I was glad when they ceased being in the story. I didn’t care too much what became of them after their true colors showed.
Nonetheless I enjoyed it for the most part once it picked up the pace. All the characters, aside from the Thorpes and the General, were delightful. It was an engaging read up until the last 20 pages. Then too much happened too quick. The only reason for this seemed to be to help the story come to an end. It felt forced as did the rushed resolution of the ‘romance’ between Henry and Cat. This was followed by a phoned in epilogue to serve as a wrap up for them and other characters.
At that point the story rushed to get to a resolution and I hate when books do that. And the epilogue seemed a quick way to tie up loose ends thought to still be there. And it just ended. No real resolution to anything except the asides mentioned there. Maybe the author intended this to serve as a lesson for Cat and the reader that in life sometimes things just happen. Real life is not fiction and vice versa. This seem especially true when you add it to the final line to the novel. But for me, a lot of buildup and a quick resolution is the difference in a four and three-star review for a book. Which is why even though I enjoyed roughly 90% of this book it only receives that amount.
Some of the characters seemed a bit unbelievable, even for a fiction book especially Cat the main one. I had a hard time believing a seventeen year old actually believed in vampires. Based on her upbringing, I was able to accept her naiveté and predisposition to always see the good in people. But the legitimate belief in all things supernatural was a bit much. Halfway through the book I was over that aspect of it.
I also found the Thorpe family to be completely exaggerated. Both Bella and Johnny were almost too obnoxiousness and selfish to be likeable at all. They were completely self-involved and overbearing and rude to everyone. I was glad when they ceased being in the story. I didn’t care too much what became of them after their true colors showed.
Nonetheless I enjoyed it for the most part once it picked up the pace. All the characters, aside from the Thorpes and the General, were delightful. It was an engaging read up until the last 20 pages. Then too much happened too quick. The only reason for this seemed to be to help the story come to an end. It felt forced as did the rushed resolution of the ‘romance’ between Henry and Cat. This was followed by a phoned in epilogue to serve as a wrap up for them and other characters.
At that point the story rushed to get to a resolution and I hate when books do that. And the epilogue seemed a quick way to tie up loose ends thought to still be there. And it just ended. No real resolution to anything except the asides mentioned there. Maybe the author intended this to serve as a lesson for Cat and the reader that in life sometimes things just happen. Real life is not fiction and vice versa. This seem especially true when you add it to the final line to the novel. But for me, a lot of buildup and a quick resolution is the difference in a four and three-star review for a book. Which is why even though I enjoyed roughly 90% of this book it only receives that amount.