Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

9 reviews

uncreativeoops's review

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? No

4.0

This is a sort of Jane Eyre-retelling/sequel from Adèle's (Rochester's daughter) point of view which was a nice surprise. I always love retellings and reexaminations of characters offering a different perspective on the original plot. Some of the character's behaviour didn't fit with my reading of Jane Eyre, but it was an interesting interpretation and definitely worth for the story the author wanted to tell (though if you consider Jane Eyre to be the greatest romance of all time this is probably not the book for you. I've always loved it for Jane's determination and less for Rochester, which made the plot in this one much more logical). There's a lot of female solidarity and rightful anger, sometimes to the point of cheesiness, and I felt some of the conflicts were too easily resolved. A few more chapters wouldn't have been a bad idea, giving the problems more time to unfold and allowing the side characters to be more complex; some of them seemed to be not much more than plot devices whose motivation were only hinted at but could have been interesting. The novel wants to tell of so many lives that the protagonist encounters and somehow never finds the space to do so satisfactorily. On the other hand, this plus the very nice and flowing writing means that it's the perfect novel to be finished in one rainy day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Abandonment, and Death of parent

Moderate: Incest, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Sexism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, and Physical abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Colonisation

moopish's review

adventurous dark reflective fast-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? No

3.0

It was decent, but wasn't for me. A little too YA for me.

A lot of the book was about abuse, but had sprinkles of (what I found to be awkward) romance and comeuppance against those abusers.

The twist, I guess is what it would be, I found didn't do it for me. Part of it makes sense due to her mentioning feeling uncomfortable about him a lot I suppose. It felt over the top that he wrote the letters

I haven't read Jane Eyre but this book is about Adèle from said book, so maybe that played into my opinions.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Emotional abuse

ladylothlorien's review

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I had to sit with this one for a little bit before reviewing it because the ending was like being bucked off a horse without any warning.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. I loved the queer representation and the very happy, very queer ending for Adele. I also enjoyed her as an avenging angel, especially as the time period was so very restrictive for women (and queer people!). I want to join Nan's family as it is just a lovely example of why having a place where you can be entirely yourself with zero judgment is so important. The main issue I had was

the sudden reveal of Rochester as an incestuous would-be rapist who had been masquerading as Adele's beloved pen pal Eric for years. It was a huge shock to me. I've read other Jane Eyre-adjacent adaptations such as Wide Sargasso Sea, so I fully realize a lot of people hate Rochester (with good reason). I've just never seen him as irredeemably bad and Cornwell's Rochester is absolutely irredeemably bad. Which is why Adele kills him with her now trademark "toss man from a great height" MO (really appreciated the realism of this being the most effective way for her to kill). 

I struggled to see how Adele had always known this "darkness" in Rochester, even how he might have planned this from the start of taking in Adele. Reading the author's note at the end and her story of being sexually abused by her father helped me understand it better. I can understand now why the author saw a similar darkness in Rochester in Jane Eyre that she saw in her own father. I don't know that I see the same thing, but I can appreciate the author's perspective and how she channeled her story into Adele's.

I was leaning towards three stars but having sat with this for a while, I'm upgrading to four because overall this was a very good story and even if I may disagree with the author's interpretation of Rochester, I appreciate the interpretation. It's one of the things that I enjoy most about retellings and adaptations: the differences in how people interpret characters and plot points. Definitely want to read more from this author!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Child abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Murder, Pedophilia, Gaslighting, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Death of parent

Some of these content warnings are specifically about the ending of the story (gaslighting, incest, pedophilia). If you want to know what happens:

Rochester reveals that he is really "Eric" the boy that Adele has been writing to for years and that she fell in love with. He then tries to convince Adele to essentially become his mistress but he'll set her up in a separate home so they can pretend they are married to the locals. It's also clear that he has been faking or exaggerating his illness to get Adele to come home from her boarding school. Then he tries to sexually assault her and as they are fighting, she deliberately tosses him out a window, killing him.

As for the queer characters, it's clear that it's taboo to be a lesbian or trans, and keeping those things secret is important. However, there isn't any active lesbophobia or transphobia. And no one is hurt because of their queerness, although plenty of women are hurt for being women.

kekepania's review

Excellent writing and very mood-matched to Jane Eyre. The sexual abuse undertones became too central and as problematic as Mr Rochester is in the original Jane Eyre, the implications felt like an unfair twist. Reading Jane Eyre prior to Reader I Murdered Him will help the reader immensely!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

tlholmes's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Classism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Incest

caidyn's review

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wow. I wasn't expecti this at all. I figured it would more be a retelling of Jane Eyre, but it totally went in its own direction. Queer. Murderous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, Murder, Gaslighting, Incest, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape

loveat1stwrite's review against another edition

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? No

2.0

 **An ARC of this book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

For starters, I thought the title would be a quick homage to Jane Eyre, but this book ends up treating itself like a sequel to Charlotte Brontë’s book. As the promotional material didn’t mention anything about its heavy ties to Jane Eyre, I felt misled and left in the lurch right from the get-go.

The book follows Adele, before Jane arrives, while Jane is her governess, and primarily after Rochester and Jane get married. Pre-existing characters forced into a new dynamic can have potential, but here the source material felt like a crutch the author couldn’t let go of, even when doing so would have made for a more substantial reading experience. This would have been better off as an original new concept, with new characters that can be molded how the author sees fit.

While the sequel aspect was an early blindside, I was still excited for the historical fiction vigilante story I was promised. Unfortunately, that’s not really what I got. It was about 1/3 Jane Eyre retelling, 1/3 generic boarding school filler, 1/3 typical Victorian-novel-twists. In this last third is where we start to dabble with vigilante justice that unfortunately still left much to be desired. While there is sapphic romance from Adele’s POV, this too takes a backseat to the author trying to reference Jane as frequently as possible.  Overall, it was a weird structure choice to be sure, creating an experience that can be only described as unfocused.

Simply put, the aspects that were most heavily promoted and that were getting readers excited for this release were not allowed to shine.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Pedophilia, and Confinement

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? Yes

4.5

Being sent to boarding school is a dream come true for Adele. She’s always felt like she was in the background. Her father’s manor never really felt like home to her, especially after having to leave their original home. Boarding school in London seems like the perfect place for a fresh start.

But Adele can’t escape the shadows when she’s in London. Adele realizes that a lot of the men looking for favors from her friends don’t have the best of intentions. After a particularly violent assault, she teams up with another woman to extract revenge. Adele is determined to save her friends from a dark fate. But will she have the courage to save herself?

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advanced copy of Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell to review! I knew from the title that this would have some hints towards Jane Eyre; I didn’t realize how much it was going to be inspired by it! Told from Rochester’s adopted daughter’s eyes, we also get a glimpse into what happened after Jane Eyre. Since it’s one of my favorite classics, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Not only do the events align with the classic, the overall tone and voice also mimics Jane Eyre. We all know that Rochester was…not the greatest man, and this book just really confirms it. So often throughout the book, Adele mentions how much of a prison marriage was for women at the time. I loved that she got to work outside those confines, as a sort of vigilante. It’s such a great twist on the classic we all know.

And the characters! Adele has a strong voice from the get go; and she isn’t afriad to tell it like it is. The group of friends she makes at the boarding school were also well fleshed out; we get to see how society is affecting all of them differently. And the romance! Adele pairs up with a girl to get justice, and they fall in love. Honestly, it’s beautiful.

The only reason this isn’t getting five stars is that I do wish there was a bit more vigilantism. It’s pitched as a large part of the book, but it doesn’t really come in until later in the narrative. Expanding that would have pushed it over the edge for me.

All in all, if you love interesting twists on classics, you’ll love this book!
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Oh, I really enjoyed this! Didn't realize it was actually going to be so connected to Jane Eyre, but I loved that. Stay tuned for a full review to come next week!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

alannadoucette8's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Classism, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexism