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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
An absolutely incredible novel stemming from such deep roots. At some point, I'm sure I'll stop crying, but not before I beg everyone whoever held a vigil in their soul for Jane. This book gave me what I had hoped for in its deliverance of sweet damnation of those that wronged that beloved protagonist-- but it also offered so much more. The novel’s depiction of the all too familiar guilt that settles into the bones of those who survive abuse, particularly in those who take any stand to retaliate against such violence, is stunning and so very needed. The rawness of her heroine's shame and the weight of her unkind yet unrepentant history made Faye’s retelling one I won't be forgetting anytime soon. I am grateful for all that was done here, but I find myself most sincerely thankful that this wasn't a lesson in forgiveness, but in rebirth. And that's the narrative that I needed more than anything.
In this highly imaginative adventure, the heroine is no meek governess left to wander the moors. Though she shares some unfortunate circumstances with Jane Eyre — ones she freely acknowledges to the reader — Jane Steele is a fierce, violent and stubborn. And she is a murderer. One assumes had she met a crazed, homicidal Bertha Mason she would have killed her at the feet of Mr. Rochester then and there and saved themselves all a few heartaches.
Neither should readers expect a campy romp like the amusing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This is not a slasher. It is a smart, calculating novel that uses the conventions of the mid-Victorian novel to its best advantage. There are solicitors, estates, missing jewels, mysterious parentage, letters, jealousy, diaries, the East India Company and several sharp blades.
Please read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/review-jane-steele/
Neither should readers expect a campy romp like the amusing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. This is not a slasher. It is a smart, calculating novel that uses the conventions of the mid-Victorian novel to its best advantage. There are solicitors, estates, missing jewels, mysterious parentage, letters, jealousy, diaries, the East India Company and several sharp blades.
Please read my full review here: http://mwgerard.com/review-jane-steele/
Overall, my reaction to this book was "meh."
It's not a bad book per say, but it was sold to my as "Jane Eyre as a serial killer," which really isn't the case. If it had, I would have enjoyed it more.
Having said that, it's well written and interesting, if a bit too long. I did get to the point where I didn't think the story would ever wrap up.
It's not a bad book per say, but it was sold to my as "Jane Eyre as a serial killer," which really isn't the case. If it had, I would have enjoyed it more.
Having said that, it's well written and interesting, if a bit too long. I did get to the point where I didn't think the story would ever wrap up.
Actually drove around town aimlessly for about 90 minutes because I didn't have anything else to do and I NEEDED to find out how this ended.
Jane Steele isn't so much a retelling of Jane Eyre as it is a commentary hung on the barest skeleton of the original. The main character Jane Steele is a huge fan of the book (Jane Steele is set in the few years after publication of Jane Eyre) and like JE, JS becomes orphaned, lives with a horrible aunt, is sent to a dreadful school, becomes a governess, falls in love, and then narrates her "memoir". But in between all that so much else happens. It's very plot-plot-plot-ty.
As much as I liked JS as narrator, I loved the introduction of all the Sikh characters in the book, Sardar in particular (I need to check that spelling since I listened to the book and didn't see it in print), and the reveals about a little bit of history that gets conveniently ignored in Victorian writing.
Jane Steele isn't so much a retelling of Jane Eyre as it is a commentary hung on the barest skeleton of the original. The main character Jane Steele is a huge fan of the book (Jane Steele is set in the few years after publication of Jane Eyre) and like JE, JS becomes orphaned, lives with a horrible aunt, is sent to a dreadful school, becomes a governess, falls in love, and then narrates her "memoir". But in between all that so much else happens. It's very plot-plot-plot-ty.
As much as I liked JS as narrator, I loved the introduction of all the Sikh characters in the book, Sardar in particular (I need to check that spelling since I listened to the book and didn't see it in print), and the reveals about a little bit of history that gets conveniently ignored in Victorian writing.
Jane Steele is a quirky retelling (kind of?) of Jane Eyre. The difference is that Jane Steele was a habit of killing people. This is a fictional autobiography of Jane Steele that she wrote after reading Jane Eyre and finding numerous similarities between their lives. The resulting autobiography is a piece of art.
This may be up there in the best books that I’ve read this year. I picked this novel up from my local library a total of three times, renewing them each time, so I had this book for around six months before I got around to picking it up. I can’t believe that it took me that long.
From chapter one, I was sucked in. The writing is honestly so flawless and intelligent. I love novels with historical settings, but I often can’t keep myself focused when it doesn’t have at least a romantic subplot (which is tragic of me). When I first began reading, I was unaware that this novel would end up with a rather romantic ending (which is kind of foolish of me, it is a retelling of Jane Eyre, after all). Even though I was unaware of the genre until about halfway through, I was still enraptured from chapter one. Jane’s story was just so wonderfully captivating!
Jane has such a horrible view of herself, which upsets me. It feels weird defending a confessed murderess, but I can’t help myself. The author just made her too lovable. Jane may have murdered several people, but she had legitimate reasons for doing so, and it was always to either protect herself or the people she cared about. Maybe murder wasn’t the best option, but it made it all much more interesting.
In order to keep myself from making a book myself just by writing the things I enjoyed from this novel, I will make the rest brief. Jane Steele had everything I could have wanted in a novel. In my opinion, not a thing could make it better. Therefore, I encourage every one of you to read this novel. If you like historical romance, murders, or Jane Eyre, you will like this novel. If you have a bit of a twisted side that likes grotesque things, you will like this novel.
10/5 Stars
What did you guys think of Jane Steele? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading!
You can find this review and more on my blog ---> www.pinktorti.wordpress.com
This may be up there in the best books that I’ve read this year. I picked this novel up from my local library a total of three times, renewing them each time, so I had this book for around six months before I got around to picking it up. I can’t believe that it took me that long.
From chapter one, I was sucked in. The writing is honestly so flawless and intelligent. I love novels with historical settings, but I often can’t keep myself focused when it doesn’t have at least a romantic subplot (which is tragic of me). When I first began reading, I was unaware that this novel would end up with a rather romantic ending (which is kind of foolish of me, it is a retelling of Jane Eyre, after all). Even though I was unaware of the genre until about halfway through, I was still enraptured from chapter one. Jane’s story was just so wonderfully captivating!
Jane has such a horrible view of herself, which upsets me. It feels weird defending a confessed murderess, but I can’t help myself. The author just made her too lovable. Jane may have murdered several people, but she had legitimate reasons for doing so, and it was always to either protect herself or the people she cared about. Maybe murder wasn’t the best option, but it made it all much more interesting.
In order to keep myself from making a book myself just by writing the things I enjoyed from this novel, I will make the rest brief. Jane Steele had everything I could have wanted in a novel. In my opinion, not a thing could make it better. Therefore, I encourage every one of you to read this novel. If you like historical romance, murders, or Jane Eyre, you will like this novel. If you have a bit of a twisted side that likes grotesque things, you will like this novel.
10/5 Stars
What did you guys think of Jane Steele? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading!
You can find this review and more on my blog ---> www.pinktorti.wordpress.com
This is so much FUN! Jane is a fabulously clear-headed, practical heroine, both an unrepentant and repentant murderess. Rarely have I cheered so much for the murder of despicable men at such capable hands. The story is tongue-in-cheek ridiculous, but it's paradoxically effervescent and morbid in a thoroughly enjoyable way. I would read a thousand stories like this!
On another note, I find the trope of the English gentleman (or scoundrel or wealthy businessman, depending on the story) who has lived in India (or some other "exotic" place), acquired special insight into the human condition through hand-wavy "eastern mysticism," developed of course a remarkable facility with weapons, and is then presented to the heroine as a object of fascination due to these characteristics, tiresome to say the least. So it was nice to see that although Charles Thornfield was absolutely a prime example of this trope (and this is deliberate as the entire novel plays with these gothic and romance tropes--not that there's not still an orientalist element), there were at least a couple of actual Sikh characters who were complex characters and played a key role.
On another note, I find the trope of the English gentleman (or scoundrel or wealthy businessman, depending on the story) who has lived in India (or some other "exotic" place), acquired special insight into the human condition through hand-wavy "eastern mysticism," developed of course a remarkable facility with weapons, and is then presented to the heroine as a object of fascination due to these characteristics, tiresome to say the least. So it was nice to see that although Charles Thornfield was absolutely a prime example of this trope (and this is deliberate as the entire novel plays with these gothic and romance tropes--not that there's not still an orientalist element), there were at least a couple of actual Sikh characters who were complex characters and played a key role.
I wouldn't call this an adaptation of Jane Eyre, but it was a fun story. It captures the feel of early Victorian writing, while exploring topics an early Victorian writer could not have if they wanted to be published. The story also mentions the first and second Sikh wars, and now I need to go research them. What more could anyone ask?
The first part of this book was really promising. I was really interested in where the plot was going to go and I thought Jane was an interesting character. The problems started in part two, when it seemed as though all of the plots regarding the murders and claiming the estate were left behind to start a mystery regarding the new residents of the estate and a mysterious trunk.
I wouldn't have minded these plots as much if all the other build up was tossed aside until it was convenient to bring it up again. The plot points that originally intrigued me were only briefly mentioned to wrap them up in a way that was too quick with too little development.
Another really big issue I had was when there were reveals regarding the various mysteries, they came suddenly and as long explanations from the characters revealing all the information Jane needs to know in that moment. I wish there would have been more build up to these reveals rather than just suddenly dropping them on the reader in the form of long monologues.
I have not read Jane Eyre so I cannot comment of if this is a good retelling or not but, from what I read, Jane Eyre was just a book Jane loved and connected to. The connections Jane pointed out felt pointless to me and like they were just being put in to remind the reader that this is a retelling.
I did like the writing style, the romance, and the characters but there were too many aspects that irritated me that I cannot rate this book higher than two stars.
I wouldn't have minded these plots as much if all the other build up was tossed aside until it was convenient to bring it up again. The plot points that originally intrigued me were only briefly mentioned to wrap them up in a way that was too quick with too little development.
Another really big issue I had was when there were reveals regarding the various mysteries, they came suddenly and as long explanations from the characters revealing all the information Jane needs to know in that moment. I wish there would have been more build up to these reveals rather than just suddenly dropping them on the reader in the form of long monologues.
I have not read Jane Eyre so I cannot comment of if this is a good retelling or not but, from what I read, Jane Eyre was just a book Jane loved and connected to. The connections Jane pointed out felt pointless to me and like they were just being put in to remind the reader that this is a retelling.
I did like the writing style, the romance, and the characters but there were too many aspects that irritated me that I cannot rate this book higher than two stars.