Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher(s) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review and/or promotion.

Truthfully, I haven't read much Jane Austen. A few classics, sure, but not as many as others probably have. Anyway— I mention this because, when I first got approved for this ARC, I wasn't even aware that it was a retelling of "Northanger Abbey," let alone a gender-bent one! I went into this read having pretty low expectations and left being mighty surprised because I really, really liked this one. The YA romance was cute and endearing, and I thought that the touches made/added in by the author to give the book's setting a subtly atmospheric, gothic vibe were well done. More than anything else though, what surprised me was how this book (which, again, is rated as falling under the YA genre), approached emotional topics— particularly grief. I loved how this novel illustrates the exploration of grief, the stages of it and how we choose to cope with such loss, and just how deep it can run when left unaddressed. As someone who also lost her father not too long ago and struggled in regaining my footing, I adored Hattie as a character and found her to be very relatable (and I'm sure lots of others will think so too). And Kit— Kit was so sweet and open and just... I felt such warmth radiating off of him while reading; I thought he was the perfect person to reach out to Hattie and help her in breaking down some of those walls. Overall, this was a solid, amazing read and I'm excited to read more from this author in the future!