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david_slack110507's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Racism, Abandonment, Gaslighting, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Death of parent, Infidelity, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Ableism, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Incest, Medical content, Vomit, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Cultural appropriation
jose_kg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The whole book felt very dream like and it was hard to keep up with what was happening when, what was true and what was madness. I appreciate this is probably the point, a fair amount of the book is from Antoinette's perspective and you have to question what is real, but I actually found Mr Rochester's part more the more confusing of the two perspectives.
My main take aways from this book are 1) that I came to really hate Mr Rochester for being such an awful person who was so easily swayed by gossip and racism, to the point I had to disconnect him from Jane's love because there is no way she could love such an awful man. 2) it is really hard as a modern reader to read anything from the perspective of a white ex-slave owner, even when a more modern writer is trying to show how awful those attitudes were. It makes it hard to love a character who uses the N word and believes that black people are fundamentally lesser to white people, even when this is historically appropriate for a person with this background in this time period.
Overall it is an interesting book, but I enjoyed Part 1 much better than the rest.
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
cyberhavok's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Classism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Confinement
Minor: Child death and Animal death
tinyjude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
In some senses, it does a great job at giving depth both to Bertha's character and background, and Mr. Rochester's feelings about her (which I did not expect to find here), as well as the racial complexities in Jamaica after the end of "legal slave ownership" (we know it was still being enacted nonetheless), colourism, women's autonomy and the treatment of (women's) madness and how these poor women are driven into these unstable mental states by their environments, and mostly their husbands.
But it was also confusing in a lot of instances and felt short when depicting more the nuance of the black characters' feelings towards their previous slave owners. I wish we had focused more on them in general, than the white Creole perspective, but I understand Rhys' background and how that shaped this re-imagining of Bertha's story. Still, I think it should be an essential read after Jane Eyre because it adds more depth to her character and a more complex post-colonial context than the original book did.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racism, Racial slurs, Classism, Trafficking, Physical abuse, and Slavery
rtrotzko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Alcohol and Mental illness
pippagrace's review
2.5
Graphic: Mental illness and Rape
pencilspeaker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Mental illness, Slavery, Infidelity, Racism, and Colonisation
ifweweresorrows's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death
cepbreed's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
"Justice,' she said. 'I've heard that word. It's a cold word. I tried it out,' she said, still speaking in a low voice. 'I wrote it down. I wrote it down several times and always it looked like a damn cold lie to me. There is no justice."
I've been meaning to read this book for awhile and my English course focusing on what houses represent in literature was the perfect excuse to finally get down to doing it. By excuse I mean I had to, but whatever LOL. As a disclaimer that rushed element might have influenced my reading experience, but I was slightly disappointed by this. I ADORED Jane Eyre and I was always so intrigued by Bertha Mason. I had this idea in my head that she was a Creole woman, but also a woman of color. I may have just invented that detail in my head though. I just thought any themes connected to her status as a woman of color would've reflected wonderfully with Heathcliff's status as not quite white enough in Wuthering Heights. That said, I loved the way Jean Rhys crafted the existence of Antoinette as a disgraced white woman in Jamaica. Rhys never shied away from the uncomfortable and I will carry that scene where the family is attempting to get into their carriage with me forever. I enjoyed books one and three, not so much book two. However, that is probably just a reflection of my hatred for Mr. Rochester. I hated him at the end of Jane Eyre and feared terribly that some parts of this book would attempt to redeem him (is it even redemption if its happening in the past?). Thank goodness I did not have to endure any sort of placating towards Rochester. My hate was augmented tenfold and the only thing bringing me a semblance of peace is the fact that he is disfigured by the end of Jane Eyre (lets just ignore that Jane actually returns to him...).
THE ENDING THOUGH UGHHH Knowing what comes next is just. so. good.
Song:
- tolerate it - Taylor Swift
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Classism, Emotional abuse, Racism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Confinement, and Mental illness
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Alcoholism
moa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Classism and Racism
Minor: Suicide