Reviews

Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

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fussl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-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

kathryngoeckner's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

courtney_reads_stories's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

3.5

✨ Historical Fiction
✨ Sapphic
✨ Female vengeance

This book was a wild ride covering an amazing range of topics that all somehow root themselves back in women’s autonomy, misandry, and resisting patriarchal masculinity.
If you’ve read Jane Eyre then parts of this story will be familiar, as Jane is Adele’s governess and then step-mother. Absolutely no familiarity of Jane Eyre is required to enjoy this book though.

Adele is brought to England by a man she is told is her papa after her childhood had been spent in Paris with her mother who was a Moulin dancer.

Much like Bronte’s Jane Eyre, Reader I Murdered Him follows Adele as she grows and develops and transitions from girlhood to womanhood.

Through her unreliable narration we follow Adele as she learns how to protect herself and maneuver through life as women in Victorian England, and the ways she choses to protect her friends as well.

The story is haunting and gothic and delicious, if at times fully predictable. I enjoyed the book and convinced my daughter to read it when I was done as well. Well worth the time if YA historical fiction is even a little in your interests.

kseaward's review against another edition

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4.5

This is a reimagining of Jane Eyre as told from Adele’s point of view. On her death bed, Adele’s mother sends Adele to live with an Englishman. Adele becomes a vigilante, born from the trauma she has witnessed against women.

willow's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

gwen_pageturner's review against another edition

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4.0

Prefacing this review by saying that I've never read Jane Eyre

This had a very slow start - I literally reread the first few chapters about three times before I got any further. Overall, I enjoyed the idea of a female vigilante stealing from the rich and protecting women, but it felt a little flat (which is why I'm not rating it 5 stars)