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eyreguide's review against another edition
3.0
I'm always excited to read Jane Eyre derived fiction. Always! And what's really interesting here is the gender role reversal in Evan Richardson being the orphan and the one being paid the salary. But it's clever because power dynamics shift a lot between Ginny and Evan. And because this is from Evan's point of view, the story seemed much more gritty and realistic than I think it would have been had it been from Ginny's point of view, which gave an interesting perspective on the subservient position Evan found himself in. When it comes to the romance in this story, I felt like it was a bit of a let down. The emotional connection that grew between them was often sidelined by flirting and sex scenes which started to get repetitive. I wanted to read about them getting to know each other more.
The mystery was very much unpredicatable for me - even when I was already thinking it would be along the lines of Jane Eyre! I loved that aspect, and the paranormal sort of things that kept happened made me wonder if this story might take an entirely new direction. The characters were the main focus of the story though, and the minor characters and the subplot with Ginny's father showed more about Ginny than I felt she showed herself. It was difficult to get to know her and really feel emotionally invested in her. I liked that Ginny fought so hard to keep her secrets, but in the end I wondered why she was so set on keeping them, when things were actually revealed. Her character was sadly not very clear to me.
I liked Evan's down-to-earth, hardened, sensible voice and the way the South was depicted (though I have never been there, it sounded so very appealing) and the ingenuity in the story telling provided some twists and turns I definitely was not expecting. Although the romance let me down, I think this is a very intelligent reworking of Jane Eyre with more than a few surprises, and great for fans of the New Adult genre.
I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.
The mystery was very much unpredicatable for me - even when I was already thinking it would be along the lines of Jane Eyre! I loved that aspect, and the paranormal sort of things that kept happened made me wonder if this story might take an entirely new direction. The characters were the main focus of the story though, and the minor characters and the subplot with Ginny's father showed more about Ginny than I felt she showed herself. It was difficult to get to know her and really feel emotionally invested in her. I liked that Ginny fought so hard to keep her secrets, but in the end I wondered why she was so set on keeping them, when things were actually revealed. Her character was sadly not very clear to me.
I liked Evan's down-to-earth, hardened, sensible voice and the way the South was depicted (though I have never been there, it sounded so very appealing) and the ingenuity in the story telling provided some twists and turns I definitely was not expecting. Although the romance let me down, I think this is a very intelligent reworking of Jane Eyre with more than a few surprises, and great for fans of the New Adult genre.
I received this book from the publisher or author for a fair and honest review. I was not compensated for this review.
melbsreads's review
2.0
Oh, goodness. I was completely intrigued by the sound of a retelling of Jane Eyre in which the roles were reversed, but this really didn't deliver. My main problem, I think, was Ginny. I think she was meant to come across as flirty and confident, but to me she was just irritating and pushy, and a little bit sexual assault-y. For the first eighty or so pages of the book, Evan repeatedly asks her to stop touching him, but she continues to do so, running her hands up under his shirt and across his stomach and back time and time again.
This made it impossible for me to find their relationship appealing or swoon-worthy at all, which made the increasingly repetitive sex scenes (have these two ever even heard of foreplay?? Because two minutes of kissing, then jumping straight to penetration seems like a recipe for pain) less steamy and more painful to read. I found myself distracted time and again by awkward phrases like "I kissed the back of her jaw" or "My hand slid up the skin of her back" that pulled me out of the story and made me giggle awkwardly.
I liked the non-relationship parts of the story a little more - the paranormal side of things (while it ultimately proved to be not what it seemed) was sufficiently creepy, and the setting worked well. I worked out quite early in the story who the villain of the piece would be, and the constant use of the nickname 'sugar' drove me bonkers. It made Ginny seem at times more like Evan's mother than his girlfriend, which was a little odd.
Look, I've read worse things in the past year. And it did at least give me plenty of unexpected laughs due to some awkward phrasing. So...yeah.
This made it impossible for me to find their relationship appealing or swoon-worthy at all, which made the increasingly repetitive sex scenes (have these two ever even heard of foreplay?? Because two minutes of kissing, then jumping straight to penetration seems like a recipe for pain) less steamy and more painful to read. I found myself distracted time and again by awkward phrases like "I kissed the back of her jaw" or "My hand slid up the skin of her back" that pulled me out of the story and made me giggle awkwardly.
I liked the non-relationship parts of the story a little more - the paranormal side of things (while it ultimately proved to be not what it seemed) was sufficiently creepy, and the setting worked well. I worked out quite early in the story who the villain of the piece would be, and the constant use of the nickname 'sugar' drove me bonkers. It made Ginny seem at times more like Evan's mother than his girlfriend, which was a little odd.
Look, I've read worse things in the past year. And it did at least give me plenty of unexpected laughs due to some awkward phrasing. So...yeah.
octavietullier's review
2.0
Je ne sais pas pourquoi je continue à lire des adaptation des classiques britanniques. J'aimerais bien dire que c'est un plaisir coupable, mais vu la qualité de la majorité de ces œuvres, je ne suis pas sûre que le terme "plaisir" s'applique. Soyons honnête, on est souvent face à une intrigue assez faible, de plus en plus ridicule à mesure qu'elle s'éloigne de l'originale, et des personnages dont le caractère contraste violemment avec leurs modèles. Et tout ça, quand on ne tombe pas sur un roman dont l'idée de base est révoltante. J'ai ainsi lu une adaptation où Mr Rochester était une star du rock clairement pompée sur Bruce Springsteen. Ça se passe de commentaire.
Mais revenons à nos moutons. La grande qualité de "Eyre House" tient dans les premiers chapitres, où le personnage principal explore le manoir éponyme. L'ambiance gothique contemporaine est une réussite. C'est pour cette raison que j'ai mis deux étoiles à une œuvre qui n'en vaut clairement qu'une seule. Car lorsque la véritable intrigue se met en place, on sombre dans le ridicule. La fin fait clairement pitié, si vous me passez cette expression juvénile (qui est tout à fait d'actualité, puisque les rebondissements semblent sortir tout droit du cerveau d'une adolescente hormonale qui ne se serait pas tout à fait remise de ses rêves de princes charmants). Les personnages féminins sont tous calqués les uns sur les autres, utilisent tous le même vocabulaire cliché de l'"Old South" américain et ont tous des tendances maternelles (ce qui est assez déroutant quand on sait que l'une de ces femmes est la toute jeune petite amie du héros). Bref, je déconseille absolument !
Mais revenons à nos moutons. La grande qualité de "Eyre House" tient dans les premiers chapitres, où le personnage principal explore le manoir éponyme. L'ambiance gothique contemporaine est une réussite. C'est pour cette raison que j'ai mis deux étoiles à une œuvre qui n'en vaut clairement qu'une seule. Car lorsque la véritable intrigue se met en place, on sombre dans le ridicule. La fin fait clairement pitié, si vous me passez cette expression juvénile (qui est tout à fait d'actualité, puisque les rebondissements semblent sortir tout droit du cerveau d'une adolescente hormonale qui ne se serait pas tout à fait remise de ses rêves de princes charmants). Les personnages féminins sont tous calqués les uns sur les autres, utilisent tous le même vocabulaire cliché de l'"Old South" américain et ont tous des tendances maternelles (ce qui est assez déroutant quand on sait que l'une de ces femmes est la toute jeune petite amie du héros). Bref, je déconseille absolument !
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