23.6k reviews for:

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

4.11 AVERAGE

challenging emotional 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
challenging dark emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark emotional
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No

amé. mucho romance, mucho drama, mucho hombre arrastrado y el toque justo de sobrenatural
challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-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
dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Oh wow. I started this about two months ago (ca) and stopped after 85 pages. I didn’t pick it up again until a week ago maybe, and decided to finish it. When I was 12 I watched Jane Eyre in the theatre with my mum and aunt and I loved it. Now finally reading 3 years later feels fulfilling.
dark emotional sad slow-paced
dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character

The more I think about Jane Eyre, the more torn I feel. My initial knee-jerk reaction was dislike — the content matter here (a teenage orphan being groomed by a 40yo dude) sure put me off my pie. I could see that the romance wasn’t the main point of the book — the focus is rather Jane’s quest to be seen and loved all the same — a theme that reminded me of another messed up story, that of TV Hannibal. And I thought, if I can sort of accept it in Hannibal, what’s stopping me here? Reader, I do not know.

Then there was another thing — repeated and manifold allusions to fairytales. When Jane first enters Thornfield, she is reminded of Bluebeard’s castle (and how telling, isn’t it). When she and Mr. Rochester first meet, they both mistake each other for a fairy creature &c. I doubt that’s a coincidence. What is a coincidence, as it could have hardly been anticipated by Ms. Bronte, is that all these themes conspired to remind me of one of my earlier reads, Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Estes — a book which approaches traditional fairytales through feminist and psychological lenses, applying their storylines and characters to (not solely) the feminine psyche. And looking at Jane Eyre in this spirit, well. It really adds something extra for me. What a beautiful, maddening, infuriating look into a woman’s soul.

I’m still not sure I quite liked this book — it made me fed up in many ways. But I can’t rate it 1 star anymore.

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that last star started fading when it seemed jane was marrying her cousin but then it came back