Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

1 review

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.