Reviews - Jane Eyre | The StoryGraph

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I don't know why it took me so many years to finally read this book! Paraphrasing the most iconic lines of this novel, and possibly the whole literature, Reader, I loved this book.

Jane Eyre is plain, simple and by general consensus, quite unattractive. And this is how she stays throughout the book. There are no makeovers, no Cinderella-esque transformations. Her beauty is all on the inside. Oh, and what beauty. I adore and admire the character of Jane Eyre. She, though a self proclaimed coward, is one of the strongest female characters ever. She has her morals, her beliefs and her integrity, and nothing, not even love, is more important than that. She would not fall in her own eyes and let go of her principles, even if it means making heartbreaking decisions. She is an empowered and independent woman, who paves her own path even when everything seems to be falling apart.

Edward Rochester is also unattractive. And by the end of the novel, he only gets more physically ugly. The more time Jane spends with this rude and grumpy master of her, the more she finds him to be her kindred spirit. The two share many witty exchanges that deserve a whole 300 page novel on their own.

The story is dark and tragic. Jane finds herself in one unfortunate situation after another. But she is bold, unafraid and unapologetic. She endures through each difficulty and comes out stronger.

Charlotte Bronte is a wonderful writer. The whole dark and gothic atmosphere is so well created. The characters are three dimensional, complex and real. The story is brilliant. And the sass is refreshing. All in all, this novel is perfect in every sense of the word.

shelvedbyelle's review against another edition

5.0

my first brontë book. yay!!!

i saw one tiktok video of a girl asking who their favorite brontë sister is, and me, feeling a bit of fomo went running for the secondhand shelves. i gotta have my favorite brontë girl!!!

anyway, it's really a fun read. jane is so smart. plus i got to see how charlotte is like in real life, as jane is inspired by the author's own experiences: she attended a school like lowood and worked as a governess herself.

i hate that i was listening to wuthering heights by kate bush in between chapters, and so i found out from the comments that mr. rochester hid his wife in the house (i know, a hundred percent my fault).

jane is kind of a show-off with her french, which i was too lazy to google translate because... when i read from a physical book, i tend to put my phone away. but i did a little research and it turns out that back then, especially in europe, french was the staple language before english took over. so pretty much the reader was expected to understand it, which i unfortunately do not have the privilege of learning.

one thing i couldn’t stop thinking about: there’s no difference in narration between ten-year-old jane and eighteen-year-old jane. i kinda expected a child to not know certain words or to narrate a bit more simply. there's no change of tone or anything. but maybe that's just me being used to modern novels.

i also hate that she still ended up with that scum mr. rochester, as if being a person with disabilities suddenly erases the fact that he locked up his wife who was clearly suffering from mental illness. listen, i know this is from another century so the mental health stuff makes sense in context—but this is MY review ok??? i can't help but be mad. and it’s not like he showed any real remorse until jane kind of stopped him mid-convo.

also, jane was very verbal about telling him he’s ugly lol.

but also... i hate the people in the book who kept telling jane she wasn't attractive. like, shut up?? she’s a baby girl. thank u diana for telling her she is beautiful!!!

all this to say: i really loved my first brontë novel. and now i’m currently reading emily’s wuthering heights. five stars!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

p.s.
so charlotte and i are of the same height. small girl represent