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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I really wanted to like it, but I just wasn't that into it.
The third section of this book is immensely better than the first portion (the backstory). The way young Jane Steele was written I could not help but dislike her. She seems slightly sociopathic with her lack of empathy or regret. Don't get me wrong all her victims well deserved death but the fact that her only turmoil after killing was "how do i get away with this?" and not "I wish that didn't happen" bothered me. I did love the imagery of residing in an english manor with Sikh makeup, would love to see it in real life. In summary vivid imagery and storytelling that implanted you in the middle of every scene but character that were woefully less human than one would expect.
A cracking good yarn, even though I feel one of the characters unjustly shelved. Recommend if you like Gail Carriger.
3.5 stars
The first half of this book was soooo bloody addictive, I wanted to inject it into my eyeballs or absorb it through my skin like an amphibian; I couldn’t put it down and was sure I’d found an all-time favourite. But pretty much bang on the 50% mark the pace dropped off precipitously. In the end it took me two weeks to read it.
It’s a very loose retelling of Jane Eyre. Jane Steele is brought up by resentful distant relatives and sent to a horrible school before later becoming a governess, but that’s where the similarities end. Hardcore Jane Eyre fans needn’t worry - it’s more of a homage than a rip off.
Like Jane Eyre, Steele is self-sufficient, quietly powerful and very bright, unlike Jane Eyre, she’s also a serial killer.
Steele takes no pleasure in killing, but she ends up murdering several awful men because she has no choice; they are all rapists, abusers or paedophiles of some sort. What I loved about this book was that it threw a spotlight on the position of women in Victorian society while also giving the reader the satisfaction of seeing a badass woman overcome everything that is thrown at her. So often I’ve read books which make me wince at all the horrific things that happened to women in the past (and often in the present), and yet all I could do was grimace and shake my head. The women in those books rarely triumph over their abusers, and never in the extravagant way that Jane Steele does.
The first half of the book, in which Steele yomps around London and its environs, generally setting the world to rights and being a renegade, was wonderful. Then she becomes a governess (albeit under false pretences), meets Mr Thornfield and becomes embroiled in another mystery and it all falls apart. While it was refreshing to read a subplot about the Raj/East India Company/Anglo-Sikh War, the reason this half of the book was less engaging was that all of the action happened at a distance, either before the book began or on another continent..
Because the two halves of this book were so different from one another, I'm struggling to form a coherent opinion of it. Would I recommend it to a friend? Maybe? Is it possible to just recommend the first half?
(With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an ARC in return for an honest review)
The first half of this book was soooo bloody addictive, I wanted to inject it into my eyeballs or absorb it through my skin like an amphibian; I couldn’t put it down and was sure I’d found an all-time favourite. But pretty much bang on the 50% mark the pace dropped off precipitously. In the end it took me two weeks to read it.
It’s a very loose retelling of Jane Eyre. Jane Steele is brought up by resentful distant relatives and sent to a horrible school before later becoming a governess, but that’s where the similarities end. Hardcore Jane Eyre fans needn’t worry - it’s more of a homage than a rip off.
Like Jane Eyre, Steele is self-sufficient, quietly powerful and very bright, unlike Jane Eyre, she’s also a serial killer.
Steele takes no pleasure in killing, but she ends up murdering several awful men because she has no choice; they are all rapists, abusers or paedophiles of some sort. What I loved about this book was that it threw a spotlight on the position of women in Victorian society while also giving the reader the satisfaction of seeing a badass woman overcome everything that is thrown at her. So often I’ve read books which make me wince at all the horrific things that happened to women in the past (and often in the present), and yet all I could do was grimace and shake my head. The women in those books rarely triumph over their abusers, and never in the extravagant way that Jane Steele does.
The first half of the book, in which Steele yomps around London and its environs, generally setting the world to rights and being a renegade, was wonderful. Then she becomes a governess (albeit under false pretences), meets Mr Thornfield and becomes embroiled in another mystery and it all falls apart. While it was refreshing to read a subplot about the Raj/East India Company/Anglo-Sikh War, the reason this half of the book was less engaging was that all of the action happened at a distance, either before the book began or on another continent.
Spoiler
Therefore, watching Jane tease apart the mystery wasn’t as edge-of-seat as it could have been - why should the reader really care about Clements and Lavell and Karman when these characters died before the book even began? It didn’t have the elements of suspense needed to really engage me. ALSO, I didn’t get the whole thing with the morgue under the house. Was that just to add a little bit of drama? If so, it was revealed too quickly and was underwhelmingBecause the two halves of this book were so different from one another, I'm struggling to form a coherent opinion of it. Would I recommend it to a friend? Maybe? Is it possible to just recommend the first half?
(With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an ARC in return for an honest review)
Having completed the book, I obviously want to go back and re-read Jane Eyre, which was required reading too long ago. A wonderfully written book in similar prose, with lots of reference back to the Charlotte Bronte classic.
Reader, I fucking loved this book. Lyndsay Faye took one of my most loved stories, a tale with an unforgettable heroine, tossed it on its head, and produced her own undeniable magic. She remixed a classic, giving it new rhythm and rhyme and the result, Jane Steele, is a marvelously edgy adaptation that makes Lyndsay Faye a rock star in my eyes. Full review to come...
I have resisted this book for some time. Jane Eyre is my absolute favourite, and I am not at all keen on it being messed with. In the end, I read enough positive reviews from lovers of the original that I tentatively picked it up. Actually, it's a lot of fun. Reader, I murdered him. Jane Steele loves Jane Eyre, and while her life has many similarities, and the book is set not long after Jane Eyre, the story is full of twists and turns, and is not a retelling. The language was sometimes a little odd, and it was a bit modern in places, but it is fun and romantic in spirit, and I did enjoy it.
Jane Steele is, in all honesty a 4 or 4.5 novel but I so enjoyed the Jane Eyre/Great Expectations/Sherlockian-type of grand mystery/adventure/romance-hence the 5 rating. So happy to return to a Lyndsay Faye novel after many years. Well-researched and delightfully “ridiculous”, as the author attests.
I was sad as hell when I finished Lyndsay Faye's Timothy Wilde trilogy. It's set in my favorite time and place (NYC, late 19th, early 20th c). Also, I wanted to marry a fictional character (Valentine Wilde, you are MINE). Luckily, Ms. Faye healed (somewhat) my sadness with this confection, a naughty take on Jane Eyre. Delicious. And as usual, she piqued my interest about something I know little about (the Sikh culture). Good stuff.
dark
sad
medium-paced
A solid 3.75 because the story was fun. I deducted stars because the style of writing wasn't my cup of tea. For that reason, it was hard to keep on reading as I needed to be in a specific mood.I was surprised that the murders were written pretty straight-forward and they weren't too gruesome. I definitely flinched when Sardar got his right arm cut off though - I wasn't expecting that. I also thought some parts weren't exactly explored and it would benefit the plot. Some questions that linger include: why did Sahjara take to Jane so quickly, why did Charles and Sardar trust Jane so easily? The ending when it's revealed that Jane is an illegitimate child took me by surprise but that explained why they weren't living in the main house.