Scan barcode
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really liked this book & thought it was a beautiful take on Jane Eyre. I loved the main character & the love interest felt very Rochester to me.
I did not like the forgiveness of the abusive parent figure. Lost a star for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Bullying, Colonisation, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
mnm43's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
lit_with_lauren's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
antonique_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Child abuse, Murder, and Gore
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- Y'all know I'm a JANE EYRE lover, so as soon as I heard this was a YA fantasy retelling, I ran to grab a copy. And yes, WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS delivers!
- I love how Blackwood kept all the pieces of the original story but rearranged them a bit, and it all still works wonderfully. Slight tweaks to relationships, and of course the entire idea of Andromeda being a debtera, relocate this story to the fantasy space quite smoothly, while maintaining the basics of the original characters and plot.
- I was gripped by the action and the imagery. Some of those manifestations are gonna stick with me for real.
- The one thing I wish there was more of was backstory on how the church came to be involved in the debtera process. It felt like there could have been a whole prequel novel here with Jember's experience and Andi's training.
- Y'all know I'm a JANE EYRE lover, so as soon as I heard this was a YA fantasy retelling, I ran to grab a copy. And yes, WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS delivers!
- I love how Blackwood kept all the pieces of the original story but rearranged them a bit, and it all still works wonderfully. Slight tweaks to relationships, and of course the entire idea of Andromeda being a debtera, relocate this story to the fantasy space quite smoothly, while maintaining the basics of the original characters and plot.
- I was gripped by the action and the imagery. Some of those manifestations are gonna stick with me for real.
- The one thing I wish there was more of was backstory on how the church came to be involved in the debtera process. It felt like there could have been a whole prequel novel here with Jember's experience and Andi's training.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Minor: Racism and Trafficking
foreverinastory's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley & Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Rep: Ethiopian female MC, Ethiopian male love interest, Ethiopian male side character with a peg leg and chronic pain, Ethiopian supporting cast.
CWs: Abandonment, blood, child abuse, death/death of parent, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, murder, slavery, violence.
Rep: Ethiopian female MC, Ethiopian male love interest, Ethiopian male side character with a peg leg and chronic pain, Ethiopian supporting cast.
CWs: Abandonment, blood, child abuse, death/death of parent, emotional abuse, fire, gaslighting, gore, grief, injury/injury detail, murder, slavery, violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Slavery, and Violence
spinesinaline's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
The pacing dropped off a bit for me at the end but I really enjoyed this take on the Jane Eyre story. Thanks to the publisher for an e-ARC!
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I did enjoy it though it didn’t deliver as much as I thought it would.
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I did enjoy it though it didn’t deliver as much as I thought it would.
Blackwood’s take on Jane Eyre feels fresh and new with this Ethiopian inspiration. Rather than a governess, the MC here is a debtera or exorcist, hired to get rid of the Evil Eye that’s tormenting a wealthy man and his staff.
Despite those significant changes, this does feel like it stays pretty true to the original, though thankfully without that considerable age gap. The original’s romance with its push and pull, and fighting and flirting, is followed here as well.
The relationship is still odd though, partly because they move so quickly from strangers to cutesy talk and also because the Mr. Rochester character here speaks in such an old-fashioned way when he’s only 20 years old. I couldn’t totally get on board with it and because of the changes in this retelling I was expecting a thriller moreso than a romance and that was just not the case.
The second half fell flat for me while the thrill aspects of the beginning were exciting. But nothing really came of them and it felt like we left the mysterious dread behind, which was disappointing. There are also many questions around the curse that are left unanswered and it feels unfinished and messy because it’s so central to the main action.
Still an interesting story but I could’ve gone with more on the thriller side.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Physical abuse
Minor: Slavery
More...