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kittykornerlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This was fun and Val McDermid obviously knows the original Northanger Abbey well. I'm not sure why I don't like this better, maybe Cat was a little too dim for my taste? Maybe it was a little too pop-culture? Maybe a seventeen-year old falling in love with a man in his twenties who's already got a career was kind of icky? I think that's it; I would have liked to see Cat more of the same age with Henry, and having graduated from college with some impractical major like English lit and just sort of drifting instead of having no ambitions for college, even. It was fun to see what McDermid did with the story but I guess I just didn't like a lot of her choices.
eandrews80's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I read this just a few weeks after finishing Austen's original, and found it mostly disappointing. It's almost TOO close a retelling -- the scenes are all exactly the same, with some 21st century updates (the Edinburgh Fringe Festival instead of Bath; SO MUCH SOCIAL MEDIA AND TEXTING). It would have been a lot more interesting to read something that was loosely based on the story; any time you try to match Jane Austen scene for scene, you're going to lose. I also found Henry and Cat's age gap more troubling in a 21st century context.
One thing that's more of a question than a critique: Bella and John are OVER-THE-TOP terrible in this book, and I'm not conversant enough in 19th century prose/tone to know is Dermid decided to ratchet up their awfulness, or if Jane Austen meant them to be The Actual Worst but I didn't catch the tone. (I mean, I knew they were bad, but John in particular is a cartoonish villain in this version.)
One thing that's more of a question than a critique: Bella and John are OVER-THE-TOP terrible in this book, and I'm not conversant enough in 19th century prose/tone to know is Dermid decided to ratchet up their awfulness, or if Jane Austen meant them to be The Actual Worst but I didn't catch the tone. (I mean, I knew they were bad, but John in particular is a cartoonish villain in this version.)
wildemountaintime's review against another edition
medium-paced
1.5
I started this immediately after finishing Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and I wish I could say that's the only version I read. At first this modern adaptation was fun! I liked the change from Bath to Edinburgh and could feel the authors knowledge and enthusiasm for Scotland. That's where the fun stops. I barely could stomach the text speak to power through, the 2010s slang was ROUGH.
plnodwyer's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
medium-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
3.0
carstensena's review against another edition
2.0
I had to give up on this as way too annoying. I couldn't stand the voice of the teen girl. Even the Edinburgh Festival setting failed to hold my interest.
marais90's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
burrowsi1's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
abeth_parker's review against another edition
3.0
It was an entertaining enough book. It followed Jane Austen's novel fairly well, but nothing can compare to the original!