I don’t know how I didn’t know about this one sooner. I mean, I do. Life has been incredibly busy and non-stop post-pandemic, and 2022-2024 was a blur of classes and life, which explains how this 2023 release slipped under my radar, but OMG I’m so glad I found it. Terciero takes Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and turns it into a wonderful MM romance while Bre Indigo does a fantastic job of capturing a Texas ranch in this adaptation.
Northranger sticks true to the original with the main character Cade, facing that universal struggle of wanting to break out of their childhood, but keeping a certain amount of innocence and naivete that cause them all sorts of drama. He of course meets the “ruggedly handsome and enigmatic” Henry and sparks fly. The story includes a lot of the original tropes and moments, just shifted from Bath to rural Texas.
I loved the colors chosen for the illustrations, the browns really brought the West Texas vibe and were reminiscent of the blues used in Bloom, they really helped set the novel and brought a sense of place to it.
Recommendation: This was an adorable adaptation, and the marketing team deserves credit for drawing connections to both Heartstopper and Bloom. Terciero did a great job of merging in the universal childhood struggles of growing up with those of a gay teen coming to terms with his sexuality and his cultural upbringing. There were moments that I wasn’t a fan of, because I’m all about the queer joy these days, but I understood why they were included and even appreciated them for the beauty of the characters reactions and responses. 100% recommend checking this one out, I’ll probably buy a permanent copy for my shelf!