It was fairly enjoyable and funny but the romance was incredibly lacking in description, especially that ending! Show, don't tell, Jane!

This was the last of Austen’s full-length novels on my Austen to-read list and while it wasn’t a favourite, I’m very glad to have read it.

I haven’t read many Gothic books but I think it’d be an added enjoyment for folks who have to pick up on all the jokes and comments that reference the genre. I wouldn’t necessarily classify this book as Gothic but Austen is clearly using the genre as inspiration and offering a fun tongue-in-cheek parody as the narrator clearly explains the way this story does, and does not, follow a traditional Gothic plot.

Because of this play on the genre, it feels quite different to her other books since much of it is a discussion of the genre from this external narrator. But I still loved the humour from these asides as well as the story itself.

The main issue for me was the reliance on ‘telling’ over ‘showing’ so it felt like a lot of the story wasn’t explored in as much detail as it could have. I was especially disappointed by the ending because of this (so much dialogue glossed over!) and the romance was difficult to get invested in. I wasn’t surprised to see that this was actually Austen’s first novel since I noticed the same kind of description in Sense and Sensibility but it’s good to know she improves later on!