This is the fourth Jane Austen book I’ve completed (I am somewhere in the middle of Emma...I really need to get back to it 😬) and I really enjoyed it. While it isn’t my favorite Austen, I still found Austen’s wit and social commentary really fun and interesting.

I’ve seen adaptations of Northanger Abbey in the past, so I knew the gist of the story. That said, the book is such a fun and different experience from the book. For one thing, this book is satirical in nature, poking fun at the gothic genre and at the same time poking fun at society in general. There are several times Austen refers to herself and breaking the fourth wall, which I really enjoyed.

I do have a couple of minor gripes. I found the romance between Catherine and Henry a little flat. I wanted to love their interactions, but it was difficult when Henry was always teasing her (to the point of being more than a little condescending at times) and she was incredibly ignorant about everything. It just felt to me like she was a little too naive for him, and he knew it. It’s strange, because I loved them in the movie adaptation I saw. I feel like they toned down his teasing banter and it gave it more of a gentle flirting kind of feeling. Also, the scene where they reveal their true feelings to one another is glossed over with no dialogue whatsoever. Instead we are told by the author that he told her his feelings and she told him hers and it was all wonderful. I wanted a scene with them actually interacting with one another.

All that said, I liked this book a great deal and can’t wait to jump back into Emma.