A review by amelia990
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

4.75

While Pride and Prejudice will always be my "I had a bad day and just need to be happy" escape book, this has become hands down my second favorite of Austen's stories.  I'd been told it was a parody of a gothic novel and that it is about a girl who lets her imagination run away with her.  Neither of those is accurate.  Instead, it's a "modernized" gothic novel for the time period.  The tropes are played straight; they are merely presented with more realism.  While the girl in question doesn't have the life experience to recognize what she's witnessing is
a parent emotionally abusing his children
, she does recognize his behavior as similar to that of the villains she's read about.  And, despite being a realistic (and often comedic) take on gothic romance, it has the proposal every girl dreams of - complete with a hero riding miles on his horse to declare his love.  The end is a bit rushed, which is a bummer, but overall the book is fantastic and I admit to rereading it since finishing it.
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