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labarrec's review
1.0
Oh I think there’s been a mistake. This collection of drivel isn’t a ‘book’ it’s actually the atrocious Twilight/Austen crossover fanfiction that NO ONE asked for.
(Although the author very well might be a vampire because the conversations in this book would never take place between those who’ve actually spoken to other humans this century).
(Although the author very well might be a vampire because the conversations in this book would never take place between those who’ve actually spoken to other humans this century).
onespaceymother's review
3.0
This is my first book of "The Austen Project" and given my love for fantasy, satire, and mystery Northanger Abbey seemed like the appropriate place to start. I enjoyed this, truly, but it often suffered "adult trying to talk like a teenager" and referenced Facebook too often. Also, similarly to the original, it feels like a lot of build to nothing. Obviously that is part of the story, Catherine realizes that life is not fiction, but frankly it is boring as a means of literary escapism.
alida_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bushraboblai's review
4.0
This book did justice to the original. It captured the beauty of the original whilst tweaking it in places to give it it's own modern charm. I loved how General Tilney was represented, how Johnny Thorpe's rudeness wasn't missed and how Bella Thorpe's fickleness wasn't left out. I really liked how Cat and Ellie become closer friends in comparison to the original pair, who were amicable at best. A truly DELIGHTFUL read.
aethelgifu's review against another edition
3.0
This was a jolly romp set in Edinburgh during the Festival and in an Abbotsford-type house in the Borders. It's part of 'The Austen Project' - 're-tellings' of Austen's six finished novels by established contemporary writers. Now I'm still not sure why we need this, when Austen is so good, and after failing to finish Joanna Trollope's cringeworthy, beyond bad, 'version' of 'Sense and Sensibility' I wasn't sure about this one....but Val McDermid is Scottish, it's set in places I know and I picked it up for nothing in the library so it was worth a whirl.
McDermid's twist on Northanger Abbey is a well written, well constructed but light and frothy whirl through Austen's major plot points: girl meets boy, girl meets wrong boy, girl meets friend, girl meets wrong friend, girl has head turned by Gothic fiction which leads her to make disastrous assumptions and then they [mostly] all live happily ever after.
There were the occasional jarring elements - the 'yoof speak' didn't read like McDermid was convinced by it, and he was also constrained by the lack of social media in the 18th C which led to crucial plot points in Austen but didn't ring true for 21st C Scotland. No mobile phone mast on my land? Ever heard of a CPO? Ex-soldier working for the MoD who switches his wifi off for 'security'? hmmmm.
McDermid gets round the Gothic novels element by making her Catherine a fan of paranormal YA novels, especially 'Twilight'. And instead of a Bluebeard fantasy at Northanger, McDermid's Catherine comes to believe she's fallen into a nest of Cullen type vamps. I can't work out if the 'Twilight' thing is McDermid being lazy and using it as an easily understood teenage girl obsession or if she's skewering Meyer's use of Bella Swan as a 'Mary Sue'.
McDermid's twist on Northanger Abbey is a well written, well constructed but light and frothy whirl through Austen's major plot points: girl meets boy, girl meets wrong boy, girl meets friend, girl meets wrong friend, girl has head turned by Gothic fiction which leads her to make disastrous assumptions and then they [mostly] all live happily ever after.
There were the occasional jarring elements - the 'yoof speak' didn't read like McDermid was convinced by it, and he was also constrained by the lack of social media in the 18th C which led to crucial plot points in Austen but didn't ring true for 21st C Scotland. No mobile phone mast on my land? Ever heard of a CPO? Ex-soldier working for the MoD who switches his wifi off for 'security'? hmmmm.
McDermid gets round the Gothic novels element by making her Catherine a fan of paranormal YA novels, especially 'Twilight'. And instead of a Bluebeard fantasy at Northanger, McDermid's Catherine comes to believe she's fallen into a nest of Cullen type vamps. I can't work out if the 'Twilight' thing is McDermid being lazy and using it as an easily understood teenage girl obsession or if she's skewering Meyer's use of Bella Swan as a 'Mary Sue'.
k_telgren's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.5
nicki_in_nz's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than the other Jane Austen Project books I've read. I really love the original Northanger Abbey and moving the story to Edinburgh and the Borders works perfectly, as does Cat's vampire obsession. A bit of a weird twist at the end, but otherwise a very fun read.
linneaeldblomelg's review
2.0
Of all the Jane Austen books, Northanger Abbey is my least favourite. Of the four books in the Austen project, this one is also the worst. I think the only good one so far is the P&P one. Anyway, I thought it was kind of boring and the characters were even more uninteresting without Jane Austen to make them fun. I listened to it with the speed on the highest mode almost. don't read it!
thetamari's review
3.0
I think any reader would approach the Austen Project adaptations as something that's a bit of fun. Clearly, no one is really going to out-do what Jane Austen originally did, rather, the contemporary authors are going to pay homage to the beloved classics, work in a bit of their own style, and explore some similarities and differences between the eras of Regency characters and their updated counterparts. I was excited to read this book as soon as I saw that Northanger Abbey was moving up into Scotland and the Edinburgh Festival was subbing in for Bath. I have to confess, my knowledge of NA comes entirely from watching a recent TV adaptation and references to NA in other books like the Jane Austen Book Club. Which might be just as well, because maybe I wasn't as invested in McDermid's treatment of the original material.
This book is quite readable, but not without its issues. The author's grasp of modern teen language was pretty embarrassing and often unrealistic. In some cases, she's using the text-speak to make the point that certain characters are insufferably dim (Bella Thorpe, with her attachment to "totes"), but generally with her modern Cat Morland, I think she just doesn't get it. Modern Cat is still 17, and as an explanation for her naïveté of character which drives the story, McDermid has made her home-schooled. Cat is still attached to her phone and social media though, which plays an important role in showing the social interaction at the heart of Austen comedy. This gets pretty tiring though, as the characters are always mentioning "Facebook and Twitter" (in that order) in a way that doesn't seem entirely natural. It's as if the author thought of social media and using textspeak as being a really novel and funny way of updating the material, but it just makes her stand out as someone who doesn't especially understand that generation or zeitgeist. McDermid does use the Twilight series as this version's Mysteries of Udolpho, which I think translates rather well.
Another issue was not changing the characters' ages, while having them still be so invested in marriage. Teenagers from today who are thinking about marrying the first person they fall in love with is culturally weird. I also wondered about Henry Tilney being that interested in a seventeen year old, when he'd at least be in his mid twenties. She's a bit young, bro.
As for the promised "frisson" that crime writer McDermid is supposed to bring to this retelling, it comes mainly in the form of Cat and Henry using the word "frisson" repeatedly throughout the book. There's no sense of menace or thrill whatsoever.
This book is quite readable, but not without its issues. The author's grasp of modern teen language was pretty embarrassing and often unrealistic. In some cases, she's using the text-speak to make the point that certain characters are insufferably dim (Bella Thorpe, with her attachment to "totes"), but generally with her modern Cat Morland, I think she just doesn't get it. Modern Cat is still 17, and as an explanation for her naïveté of character which drives the story, McDermid has made her home-schooled. Cat is still attached to her phone and social media though, which plays an important role in showing the social interaction at the heart of Austen comedy. This gets pretty tiring though, as the characters are always mentioning "Facebook and Twitter" (in that order) in a way that doesn't seem entirely natural. It's as if the author thought of social media and using textspeak as being a really novel and funny way of updating the material, but it just makes her stand out as someone who doesn't especially understand that generation or zeitgeist. McDermid does use the Twilight series as this version's Mysteries of Udolpho, which I think translates rather well.
Another issue was not changing the characters' ages, while having them still be so invested in marriage. Teenagers from today who are thinking about marrying the first person they fall in love with is culturally weird. I also wondered about Henry Tilney being that interested in a seventeen year old, when he'd at least be in his mid twenties. She's a bit young, bro.
As for the promised "frisson" that crime writer McDermid is supposed to bring to this retelling, it comes mainly in the form of Cat and Henry using the word "frisson" repeatedly throughout the book. There's no sense of menace or thrill whatsoever.