Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

40 reviews

darkpizza's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Violence

_eelenaa_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

A little bit predictable, but that's the only negative thing I could say about this book. Jane Eyre is a great protagonist, she learns to love and value herself throughout the story due to the hardships she endures and the people she meets. The ending is great too. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

sofiya's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is so perplexing that I literally don't know how to rate it. It's by far one of the most interesting classics I have read (likely due to the heavy dialogue and use of first-person), but it's far more chaotic than I would have ever expected. I have no idea how people label this as an iconic romance because I saw very little good things about the romance. I'd label it more as a coming-of-age/mystery (??) novel than a romance.

I will fault the book in that a lot of the story involves "telling" rather than "showing", particularly the 8 year time jump that's summarized in about 2 paragraphs. Some parts were done really well and others weren't in my opinion. I also found that occasionally my mind would wander as I read, and sometimes I had a hard time staying focused. 

I didn't really understand the use of St. John at the end- especially the fact that the story ends by speaking about him. I'm still not really sure what the commentary on Christianity was meant to be, considering that both religious men we meet in the book are quite awful to Jane (and just in general). I know that there were examples of good Christianity and bad, but I wasn't really sure what I was meant to take away from it.

An additional note is that I enjoyed seeing the different levels of class and how it was addressed in the book. During that era, even servents were treated on different levels (usually based on education) and I do find that an interesting thing to examine.

Also, re: the romance. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a psychopath. The g*psy scene is so bizarre and he acts so clingy to Jane that it made me uncomfortable at times (and that's excluding the fact that he locks his mentally ill wife in an attic). I understand that I'm reading the book with a 2021 lens, but I don't understand how the book was ever looked on as romantic.</spoiler

Overall, I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre. I can't say that I'll actively choose to re-read it, but I'm happy to have gotten through it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Suicide

isabellaft's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, Child death, and Child abuse

josefinceh's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.5

Jane Eyre follows the titular character through a large portion of her young life as she travels from one abusive household to the next. An orphan and left in an abusive home, Jane grows a strong will and sense of independence, rarely buckling from her own thoughts and will. What makes her stand out from other women in this era is that Jane travels like a man of her time. Majority of the time when she moves it is on her own accord and by her own means. 

Like what you might expect from a book by one of the Brontë sisters, this one is packed with abuse and dark themes. However, this one is definitely one of the lighter stories. So if you've been curious about Brontë and this literary era, this iconic book might be a good place to start. 

My main dislike and discomfort of the story comes from the relationship between Mr. Rochester and Jane. The dynamic of the relationship made me incredibly uncomfortable due to its abusive nature.

Jane is blinded by her affection for Mr. Rochester in a way that I could never completely comprehend. As he harms and lies to her, ending each action with a declaration that his affection for Jane should be obvious, still not denying that he might hurt her again. Perhaps there is a comparison to real life abusive relationships that can be seen here.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Bullying, Body shaming, and Death of parent

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

maggiemercutio's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse

its_van_vulpen's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

mamaj2016's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Violence

gourireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

nholt's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness and Domestic abuse