Still continuing the multi-book reviews so that I can catch up. It’s difficult for me to believe I haven’t reviewed the first of the two books in this category because it feels like years ago (and it was several months). (There will be plenty more YA in the speculative fiction review, which will be about a mile long.)

First: A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes #1) by Brittany Cavallaro.

Giant Sherlock Holmes fan here. Go ahead, search it on my blog and you’ll find it well-documented. I was excited about this revitalization of the Holmes and Watson families through their descendants at an American (maybe should have been England, but there are authorial limits) boarding school. I was not disappointed. While there were plenty of dissenting voices at the book club meeting, I stand my ground. I am a fan and will continue the series, 125%.

For one, I just had fun reading Charlotte. If I weren’t a Sherlock fan, would I have had as much fun? Probably not. But it also ticks some other boxes, like boarding school, strong female lead with flaws, and an underlying darkness. I liked that it was modern. It was goofy, but also had serious themes and moments, largely relating to teen (and slightly beyond) stuff like drugs and sex. (It was what I call “aspirational,” meaning that it was supposed to be set in a high school but it was really college.) While staying a mystery. (Kinda has an eau de Wednesday.)

I wonder how much those who aren’t familiar with the source texts can appreciate it. People at book club complained about the mystery (which never was watertight in O’Doyle’s stories either—that wasn’t the point) and the “forced” romance. Meanwhile, I was just over there having the time of my life, having so much fun right now. I didn’t read Jamie as dumb, nor did I read Charlotte as a manic pixie girl. As for the “not like other girls” thing, I like reading those. So there.

It was over-the-top, which, it turns out, is one of my favorite things to read. (I also discovered India Holton about the time I read Charlotte. I just recommended The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year to a customer today. Over-the-top is also one of my favorite types of movies/shows to watch.) Whatever anyone else may say about the book (and for the record, Goodreads readers nominated it for YA book of the year in 2016 and it maintains like a 3.8 rating which isn’t too shabby), I enjoyed this read and I for sure will move on to The Last of August, The Case for Jamie, and A Question of Holmes. Especially if you are a Sherlock fan who reads YA, check it out.

And now for the YA Jane Austen adaptation, Ghosted by Amanda Quain.

This one didn’t work as well, for me, despite me being equally excited about going into it. A retelling of Northanger Abbey? Set in a haunted high school? Sign me up! Gender-bent? Fine, though I don’t really need it here.

If given one word to describe this book to someone, I might say “acceptable.” In the end, I would recommend it to very young Austen fans or YA romance readers. But I wouldn’t promise too much. Quain’s writing is okay. I definitely spotted the twists ahead of time. There was unnecessary repetition, or maybe we want to call it cozy and slow. (Slow isn’t always bad.) The romance wasn’t totally doing it for me. (Note: Ghosted is more about trauma and grief than high school romance. Just pointing that out.)

I am a Jane Austen fan. (Who isn’t?) I read Northanger Abbey and I loved it. It is a stretch to connect Ghosted to Northanger. Much of what Jane Austen was doing in the original just plain doesn’t translate to a modern high school in any way, so it is WAY loose as an adaptation.

Someone in book club said they liked it how they’d enjoy a Hallmark movie. Yes. This is accurate. It also has very age-appropriate faults and growth and if the main character is wrapped up in her own world, well, that’s a stage of development we all went through (and perhaps some of us never left). I got all emotional at certain points and I wasn’t the only one. The family members were interesting and complicated (including the mom!). And the biggest takeaway: ghost stories are just another way to talk about history. Yes!

The ending. Hmm. There were some disappointments, especially considering the supernatural aspects. One of the characters kinda gets a break (thank goodness). I appreciated that it was not about total resolution, but about future growth. The ending dealt with a few otherwise frustrating things.

This is one of those YA novels that reads best when you are a teenager. (And no, they’re not all like that.) It was fine, kinda cute, and the romance basically worked. The motivations also basically worked, but there was too much telling and straight-forwardness. Then again, I’m 46 and this book wasn’t meant for me, even if I love Northanger Abbey and dark academia.