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thebookishunicorn's review against another edition
4.0
I haven't read Jane Eyre but this book was very reminiscent in the story telling style of Bronte. There was never much action but I was still greedily turning pages as fast as I could to keep reading more! I had my doubts before starting this book, but after 50 pages I was completely hooked. If you like cool sci-fi settings and English literature, you will definitely enjoy it!
My only complaint is that I thought the ending dragged on too long. It should have ended probably 40 pages earlier than it did. But otherwise I loved it!
My only complaint is that I thought the ending dragged on too long. It should have ended probably 40 pages earlier than it did. But otherwise I loved it!
curlyelizabeth's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
bethanym99's review against another edition
3.0
“‘Now, who is this bold creature?’
‘This is Stella Ainsley, our new governess, ’ Hugo said, his voice like an electric current running through me.”
-Alexa Donne, Brightly Burning
I think that this is the first book I’ve reviewed that I wasn’t completely in love with, so let’s see how this goes! Also, this may be a little bit spoilery? But if you know the plot of Jane Eyre, this won’t really spoil anything. Also, the romance is pretty obvious. So anyway, just a warning: if you don’t want ANY spoilers at all, only read up to the line that says “DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY SPOILERS”.
⭐⭐⭐☆☆ read for me!
In a time when the earth was believed to be a frozen ball in space because of an ice age predicted to last more than 200 years, the inhabitants of Earth have fled into space. Stella Ainsley is an engineer on a junky, failing spaceship, and, like the rest of the population, has never seen the surface of the planet they are orbiting. Unlike everyone else around her, who are either farmers or engineers, she wishes more than anything to be a teacher. She submits many rounds of applications, and right as she is about to lose hope, she gets a reply that, little does she know, will change her life forever.
Aboard the ship the Rochester, things are a bit...strange. From the staff aboard the ship, to the eerie noises at night, to the surprisingly young and slightly (or more than slightly) attractive Captain Fairfax, Stella must decide whether or not the reasons to stay (one of which is a certain captain…) outweigh the oddities.
-------
Let’s start with the good things I have to say about this book. This book is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre with a sci-fi twist, which is a great idea. I love both sci-fi and retellings, so it was a good mashup of both genres, with recognizable elements from the original story. As with the other retellings I like, the book was close enough to the original to tell what the story source was, but was modern and creative enough to satisfy a sci-fi lover. The technology in the book was pretty cool, and while I would have like a *bit* more backstory, I thought the world-building was overall pretty good. I liked Stella’s character in the first half of the book, because she was a bit more sassy and strong (which, if you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know I LOVE strong female lead characters), but not so much in the second half of the book; I’ll get to explaining that in more detail later though. I also like Hugo’s character better in the first half of the book, when he was witty and a bit sarcastic, before he got all self-deprecating. Also Jessa was a great character. By far, my favorite character is a tie between Jessa and Jon.
-------
Ok, so let’s talk about things I didn’t like as much with this book. Remember, I don’t really like sappy romance, so if that’s your thing, you may very well disagree with me. And that’s ok too; I am totally open to hearing other people's’ opinions of the book.
Like I mentioned a bit before, I liked a lot of the characters in the first half of the book, before the big “plot twist”. I also thought the book was not long enough to fully develop a lot of characters and motivations of said characters. Because of this, I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters, and I ended up being a bit annoyed by Stella at times, because I wasn’t really invested in her story, so it was easy to become frustrated with her choices. Also, the ending chapters of the book could have been a bit longer, or even made into novellas; it seemed like the chapters were so short, that it felt like the author was wrapping things up too quickly.
All in all, I thought it was a good idea, and I thought the beginning was well executed, but I kind of lost interest in the middle, thus the 3 out of 5 stars.
------------DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY SPOILERS------------
Now that I’ve talked about the book without spoilers, let’s dive right in to the details of the story.
Sorry if I’m being repetitive, but as I said before, I thought the climax was good, before Hugo’s mother was revealed and he was implicated with the virus. Honestly, I feel like the book went downhill from there. The personalities of the characters went from complicated and mysterious to more or less flat because we seem to know all of their secrets now. In respect to Hugo and Stella’s relationship, I felt like they went from attraction to full-out love in like 3 paragraphs. I’m a sucker for slow-burning romances, because then when they finally do “fall in love”, it means a lot more, and is not just a flimsy relationship. However, in this book, I felt the romance was a bit manufactured and rushed. At the beginning, it started as a slow burn, which was nice, but then it went from flirtation to “I love you” way too quickly for me. Stella seemed to be too invested in a man she met only months before, and she turns from a strong, independent woman to a girl who faints all too quickly for my taste. Also, Hugo was a great love interest at first, but then after the middle of the book, he became very pessimistic and self-deprecating, which was not a good character change for him.
Now for the plot: I didn’t really like it all that much. I read Jane Eyre when I was 10, so it has been like nine years since I read the book, and to be quite honest, I don’t remember all that much about it. So I’ll be taking the perspective of a reader unfamiliar with the story in regards to the plot. I understand that the book *is* a retelling, so the author was a bit constrained as to what she could create as far as plot goes. However, I didn’t think the whole story point with Hugo’s mom was interesting and memorable enough for me to really be interested and invested in it. She just kind of showed up one chapter, and when she died, I didn’t really feel any sadness about her. The whole second half of the book was a bit slow for me, and once Stella left the Rochester, I became more and more disinterested. Overall, I think this book was a good idea, but I would have loved for it to have been executed in a different way.
-------
Whew! That was a long one! 😅 Thanks for reading till the end, if you did! And if you didn’t, that’s ok too; I won’t judge.
‘This is Stella Ainsley, our new governess, ’ Hugo said, his voice like an electric current running through me.”
-Alexa Donne, Brightly Burning
I think that this is the first book I’ve reviewed that I wasn’t completely in love with, so let’s see how this goes! Also, this may be a little bit spoilery? But if you know the plot of Jane Eyre, this won’t really spoil anything. Also, the romance is pretty obvious. So anyway, just a warning: if you don’t want ANY spoilers at all, only read up to the line that says “DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY SPOILERS”.
⭐⭐⭐☆☆ read for me!
In a time when the earth was believed to be a frozen ball in space because of an ice age predicted to last more than 200 years, the inhabitants of Earth have fled into space. Stella Ainsley is an engineer on a junky, failing spaceship, and, like the rest of the population, has never seen the surface of the planet they are orbiting. Unlike everyone else around her, who are either farmers or engineers, she wishes more than anything to be a teacher. She submits many rounds of applications, and right as she is about to lose hope, she gets a reply that, little does she know, will change her life forever.
Aboard the ship the Rochester, things are a bit...strange. From the staff aboard the ship, to the eerie noises at night, to the surprisingly young and slightly (or more than slightly) attractive Captain Fairfax, Stella must decide whether or not the reasons to stay (one of which is a certain captain…) outweigh the oddities.
-------
Let’s start with the good things I have to say about this book. This book is a modern retelling of Jane Eyre with a sci-fi twist, which is a great idea. I love both sci-fi and retellings, so it was a good mashup of both genres, with recognizable elements from the original story. As with the other retellings I like, the book was close enough to the original to tell what the story source was, but was modern and creative enough to satisfy a sci-fi lover. The technology in the book was pretty cool, and while I would have like a *bit* more backstory, I thought the world-building was overall pretty good. I liked Stella’s character in the first half of the book, because she was a bit more sassy and strong (which, if you’ve read any of my other reviews, you know I LOVE strong female lead characters), but not so much in the second half of the book; I’ll get to explaining that in more detail later though. I also like Hugo’s character better in the first half of the book, when he was witty and a bit sarcastic, before he got all self-deprecating. Also Jessa was a great character. By far, my favorite character is a tie between Jessa and Jon.
-------
Ok, so let’s talk about things I didn’t like as much with this book. Remember, I don’t really like sappy romance, so if that’s your thing, you may very well disagree with me. And that’s ok too; I am totally open to hearing other people's’ opinions of the book.
Like I mentioned a bit before, I liked a lot of the characters in the first half of the book, before the big “plot twist”. I also thought the book was not long enough to fully develop a lot of characters and motivations of said characters. Because of this, I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters, and I ended up being a bit annoyed by Stella at times, because I wasn’t really invested in her story, so it was easy to become frustrated with her choices. Also, the ending chapters of the book could have been a bit longer, or even made into novellas; it seemed like the chapters were so short, that it felt like the author was wrapping things up too quickly.
All in all, I thought it was a good idea, and I thought the beginning was well executed, but I kind of lost interest in the middle, thus the 3 out of 5 stars.
------------DO NOT READ PAST THIS POINT IF YOU DON’T WANT ANY SPOILERS------------
Now that I’ve talked about the book without spoilers, let’s dive right in to the details of the story.
Sorry if I’m being repetitive, but as I said before, I thought the climax was good, before Hugo’s mother was revealed and he was implicated with the virus. Honestly, I feel like the book went downhill from there. The personalities of the characters went from complicated and mysterious to more or less flat because we seem to know all of their secrets now. In respect to Hugo and Stella’s relationship, I felt like they went from attraction to full-out love in like 3 paragraphs. I’m a sucker for slow-burning romances, because then when they finally do “fall in love”, it means a lot more, and is not just a flimsy relationship. However, in this book, I felt the romance was a bit manufactured and rushed. At the beginning, it started as a slow burn, which was nice, but then it went from flirtation to “I love you” way too quickly for me. Stella seemed to be too invested in a man she met only months before, and she turns from a strong, independent woman to a girl who faints all too quickly for my taste. Also, Hugo was a great love interest at first, but then after the middle of the book, he became very pessimistic and self-deprecating, which was not a good character change for him.
Now for the plot: I didn’t really like it all that much. I read Jane Eyre when I was 10, so it has been like nine years since I read the book, and to be quite honest, I don’t remember all that much about it. So I’ll be taking the perspective of a reader unfamiliar with the story in regards to the plot. I understand that the book *is* a retelling, so the author was a bit constrained as to what she could create as far as plot goes. However, I didn’t think the whole story point with Hugo’s mom was interesting and memorable enough for me to really be interested and invested in it. She just kind of showed up one chapter, and when she died, I didn’t really feel any sadness about her. The whole second half of the book was a bit slow for me, and once Stella left the Rochester, I became more and more disinterested. Overall, I think this book was a good idea, but I would have loved for it to have been executed in a different way.
-------
Whew! That was a long one! 😅 Thanks for reading till the end, if you did! And if you didn’t, that’s ok too; I won’t judge.
eyleen's review
5.0
First off I have to admit that I've never read Jane Eyre.
This book is advertised as a retelling of it and I cannot really rate this aspect.
Now that I've finished the book I've read a summary of Jane Eyre and recognized many aspects and names and plot lines, so in my opinion it seems very fitting.
Now to the actual book:
It was such a brilliant read!!
This is set in the future where Earth has entered a new ice age and all surviving humans have been living on a fleet of space ships orbiting the planet for many decades. I think this is such a great and unique idea and I loved learning about life on board the ships.
Our main character, Stella, has grown up in space, is now 17 and a teacher/engineer aboard one of the poorest ships. In the beginning of the book she transfers to a rich private ship as a governess for a ten-year old girl, whose big brother is the captain (and obvious love interest).
Stella is a wonderful character to read about. She's funny, humble and bold at the same time, very intelligent and very relatable in her feelings and actions.
Hugo (the captain) was not my favorite character, but definitely an interesting one.
There were many side-characters, plenty of whom I liked a lot. And there was a charming AI on board the ship which is always a good thing (love you Rori!!) ;)
There were many twists and the plot really kept me guessing. There was not one dull page. Lots of action, mixed feelings, mysteries, flirting and heartbreak.
I can't say much more without any spoilers, but this is so worth reading!! If you like stories set in space, go ahead and pick this one up! You won't be disappointed!
This book is advertised as a retelling of it and I cannot really rate this aspect.
Now that I've finished the book I've read a summary of Jane Eyre and recognized many aspects and names and plot lines, so in my opinion it seems very fitting.
Now to the actual book:
It was such a brilliant read!!
This is set in the future where Earth has entered a new ice age and all surviving humans have been living on a fleet of space ships orbiting the planet for many decades. I think this is such a great and unique idea and I loved learning about life on board the ships.
Our main character, Stella, has grown up in space, is now 17 and a teacher/engineer aboard one of the poorest ships. In the beginning of the book she transfers to a rich private ship as a governess for a ten-year old girl, whose big brother is the captain (and obvious love interest).
Stella is a wonderful character to read about. She's funny, humble and bold at the same time, very intelligent and very relatable in her feelings and actions.
Hugo (the captain) was not my favorite character, but definitely an interesting one.
There were many side-characters, plenty of whom I liked a lot. And there was a charming AI on board the ship which is always a good thing (love you Rori!!) ;)
There were many twists and the plot really kept me guessing. There was not one dull page. Lots of action, mixed feelings, mysteries, flirting and heartbreak.
I can't say much more without any spoilers, but this is so worth reading!! If you like stories set in space, go ahead and pick this one up! You won't be disappointed!
chocochipshooky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
kizvjmoncrieff's review against another edition
4.0
This is a novel that is marketed to me as a Romance story in a science fiction setting. I hate romance, as I feel like romance is not a strong enough storyline itself and thus relies so heavily on sub plots, so I don't usually read them. This novel I really loved I was very cautious and indifferent to begin with but quickly enjoyed it. My favourite character is Xiao and I like how no one is good an everyone sits on that line of being good and bad (main characters more than the others, but that's expected). I loved the writing style and the pacing, so I cannot wait to read more from Donne. Her next novel The Stars We Steal is going on my TBR
pantsreads's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5
I like the updates Donne made to the Jane Eyre storyline, and the futuristic, "in space" setting works surprisingly well.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
I like the updates Donne made to the Jane Eyre storyline, and the futuristic, "in space" setting works surprisingly well.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
itsdanysbooks's review against another edition
3.0
dost sklamanie.
+
- sci-fi prerozpravanie Jany Eyrovej
- prva polovica
- tajomno
-
- vsetko ostatne
- romantika o nicom (od polky sa mi ovela viac pacila ina postava a nie Hugo)
- o Hugovi sa stale hovorilo aky je naladovy a blablabla, viete ako Rochester, ale pri tom to ANI RAZ nebolo vidiet. A tiez dost dilino bol niekedy.
- ta hlavna hrdinka (som aj zabudla ako sa vola) bola riadne hlupa. Hlavne na konci. som prekrucala ocami tolko, ze mi az tak ostali.
- do tristvrtiny to bolo az prilis ako Jana. ako ja som cakala len take nieco ze bude ten isty napad alebo co, ale ta autorka normalne cele sceny vykradla.
(konkretne (spoilers): ked Jane prisla sprava ze jej umiera teta a Jane isla za Rochesterom po peniaze. uplne to iste sa stalo tu. ta ista konverzacia. Jane a Rochester sa stretli ked on sa zranil pri niecom a aj tu sa tak stretli oni dvaja. aj ako sa rozpravali hned po ich prvom stretnuti, kde on sedel a popijal a sa jej vypytoval. proste TO. ISTE. najprv mi to nevadilo, ale potom mi to prislo byt strasne neoriginalne)
- cele to nedavalo zmysel. proste autorka nechala cely system ako z 18. storocia. Rozpravali presne tak, hrdinka nosila dlhe saty (co bolo riadne neprakticke kedze boli vo vesmirnej lodi a opravovala tam veci!!), tak sa k sebe aj ti ludia spravali, brali sa uz v mladom veku a v rovnako mladom veku umierali (podotykam ze autorka hovorila o tom, ze mladi umieraju a potom !SPOILER! tam bol plot twist, ze vlastne vytvorili virus, aby este viac preriedili obyvatelstvo.....). cele to proste nedavalo zmysel, lebo ved do vesmiru sa dostali z dnesnej nasej doby, tak preco by sa odrazu vratili o 200 rokov spat?! ze decko guvernantku potrebovalo aj ked mali umelu inteligenciu a pretty much ju tam rovno mohol ucit robot... proste... no logic. celkovo autorka nic originalne nevymyslela na to, ze to bolo sci-fi. ani raz som si nepovedala ze och, toto znie super, skoda ze to neexistuje.
- no a ten koniec. dost o nicom. cely cas som vedela co je to za tajomstvo a potom ten plot twist mi prisiel byt ako totalna hovadina.
- na konci sa autorka z toho rozhodla urobit Illuminae x The 100
Skoda no. Napad to bol dobry, ale nie prave najlepsie spracovany.
Vydat? nope.
Citat? naaah. Netreba, o nic neprichadzate.
+
- sci-fi prerozpravanie Jany Eyrovej
- prva polovica
- tajomno
-
- vsetko ostatne
- romantika o nicom (od polky sa mi ovela viac pacila ina postava a nie Hugo)
- o Hugovi sa stale hovorilo aky je naladovy a blablabla, viete ako Rochester, ale pri tom to ANI RAZ nebolo vidiet. A tiez dost dilino bol niekedy.
- ta hlavna hrdinka (som aj zabudla ako sa vola) bola riadne hlupa. Hlavne na konci. som prekrucala ocami tolko, ze mi az tak ostali.
- do tristvrtiny to bolo az prilis ako Jana. ako ja som cakala len take nieco ze bude ten isty napad alebo co, ale ta autorka normalne cele sceny vykradla.
(konkretne (spoilers): ked Jane prisla sprava ze jej umiera teta a Jane isla za Rochesterom po peniaze. uplne to iste sa stalo tu. ta ista konverzacia. Jane a Rochester sa stretli ked on sa zranil pri niecom a aj tu sa tak stretli oni dvaja. aj ako sa rozpravali hned po ich prvom stretnuti, kde on sedel a popijal a sa jej vypytoval. proste TO. ISTE. najprv mi to nevadilo, ale potom mi to prislo byt strasne neoriginalne)
- cele to nedavalo zmysel. proste autorka nechala cely system ako z 18. storocia. Rozpravali presne tak, hrdinka nosila dlhe saty (co bolo riadne neprakticke kedze boli vo vesmirnej lodi a opravovala tam veci!!), tak sa k sebe aj ti ludia spravali, brali sa uz v mladom veku a v rovnako mladom veku umierali (podotykam ze autorka hovorila o tom, ze mladi umieraju a potom !SPOILER! tam bol plot twist, ze vlastne vytvorili virus, aby este viac preriedili obyvatelstvo.....). cele to proste nedavalo zmysel, lebo ved do vesmiru sa dostali z dnesnej nasej doby, tak preco by sa odrazu vratili o 200 rokov spat?! ze decko guvernantku potrebovalo aj ked mali umelu inteligenciu a pretty much ju tam rovno mohol ucit robot... proste... no logic. celkovo autorka nic originalne nevymyslela na to, ze to bolo sci-fi. ani raz som si nepovedala ze och, toto znie super, skoda ze to neexistuje.
- no a ten koniec. dost o nicom. cely cas som vedela co je to za tajomstvo a potom ten plot twist mi prisiel byt ako totalna hovadina.
- na konci sa autorka z toho rozhodla urobit Illuminae x The 100
Skoda no. Napad to bol dobry, ale nie prave najlepsie spracovany.
Vydat? nope.
Citat? naaah. Netreba, o nic neprichadzate.
novemberninth's review against another edition
4.0
I've never really read science fiction before, but I really enjoyed Brightly Burning. Stella and Hugo are enchanting but they're not without flaws. The setting is also gloom but at the same time there's always a flicker of hope. The romance is neat, but what I love more than that is the overarching conflict that challenges the lovers.
thatlizhunter's review
3.0
I'm rating this three stars because i really dislike Jane Eyre and maybe i should have known I wouldn't have liked a Jane Eyre retelling. So rate me one star. Because this book wasn't bad but just not my cup of tea. At all.