Book Review: Northanger Alibi

Title: Northanger Alibi
Author: Jenni James
Series: The Jane Austen Diaries
Genre: Romance/Contemporary/Retellings/YA
Goodreads rating: 3.74
My rating: 4

The Russo family and Seattle, Washington, are no match for Claire Hart and her savvy knowledge of all things vampire-related. Thanks to her obsession with the Twilight series, if there is anyone who would know a vampire when she saw one, it's Claire. And she's positive totally hot Tony Russo is a vampire - she just has to prove it!

In this modern retelling of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, follow Claire's hilarious journey on her first summer adventure away from home, where she learns everything isn't what it seems, and that in some instances, reality is way better than anything she'd ever find in a book.





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Jenni James is a Christian author who devotes her time to writing clean romance.  Something I respect and appreciate.  She is the author of the series' The Jane Austen Diaries and Jenni James Faerie Tale Collection, a series of novellas.  She is also the author of a handful of stand alone novels.  

Retellings can be really fun.  Especially Jane Austen ones, if they are done well.  Sometime a retelling is just a retelling.  The events are the same, the ways in which they happen are the same or similar and sometimes it's like just reading the original literature with a *plug in your genre here* twist.  But every once in a while an author will come out with a retelling that is just plain clever and a step beyond the average retelling.  For me, that is Northanger Alibi. 

Usually I would start with reviewing the first book in the series but Northanger Alibi, for me, was genius and it is my favorite book in this series.  A little info about the series, Northanger Alibi is the second book in the series but chronologically fits in between the 5th and 6th book in the series.  James decided to release the book sooner because the Twilight series plays a pretty big role in this book and she wanted to release the book during the Twilight "craze."  

For those of you who are curious here is a list of the books in the series;

Pride and Popularity
Northanger Alibi(read after Mansfield Ranch if you want to read it in chronological order)
Persuaded
Emmalee
Mansfield Ranch
Sensible and Sensational( Release date TBA)

Another fun fact about this series, a lot of the characters from previous books are used for more prevalent parts in the books that come after.  I would give examples except I think it would ruin some of the fun in reading the books for yourself.  

Now onto the characters.  I LOVE Claire as the main character.  In previous books she was young and often portrayed to be silly, which served it's purpose for other stories.  But her beauty and vivacity were able to shine in this book.  Northanger Abbey is amongst my favorites of Austen's novels and I found the use of Twilight a perfect way to recreate Catherine Morland in a modern way.  Catherine is a little silly and finds herself caught up in fantasies of murder.  Likewise Claire is a little silly and finds herself believing that the handsome Tony Russo is a Vampire.  It's really the perfect set up for retelling this story and I laughed so much at all the silliness.  

I would definitely recommend, if you choose to read this series, starting with Pride and Popularity and even though I didn't, hold off on reading Northanger Alibi til after Mansfield Ranch.  Things tend to make just a little more sense when read in chronological order.  The whole series is great but Pride and Popularity and Northanger Alibi are my favorite.