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Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

4 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Wow what a journey. Reading a story that was written nearly two hundred years ago is a constant cycle of confusion and connection. I was searching the internet for things like "what did 'quiz' mean in the 1800s?" one paragraph, then feeling such a strong sense of familiarity and sameness the next. 

Reading through the lens of its time period you can see how radical and progressive it was, but viewed through a modern lens there are obviously many themes to be found lacking. Being generous, I could say that the picture it paints of how far we've come as a society gives me hope for how far we'll get in another two hundred years. Being critical, I could say wow that's a lot of racism. 

Overall a very engaging and gripping read. I really loved the beautiful descriptions of nature and scenery, and I was extremely attached to the main characters by the end. I absolutely see why it's a classic. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark reflective sad 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: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have always loved Jane Eyre, from my first read to my experience with it now. And while my perspective on things have changed, I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. 

This book is told in a kind of memoir/autobiography style and is about a woman named Jane Eyre and her life focusing on her childhood to her early adulthood and all of the things she goes through and befall her during that time. 

The writing of this book never ceases to impress me. I love how simplistic it is and yet how complex at the same time. It reads very well and sucks you in to the point where you're Jane. I always love it when that happens in books. The pacing is also well done. It doesn't really drag and I always found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next. 

The plot, while simple, also has a quite suspenseful feeling to it as well. It's primarily about Jane - from her early years with her awful family, to her time in school and her employment with the illustrious Mr. Rochester and finally with St. John. It's all fascinating and I loved watching Jane grow as a character and watch her interactions with every character in the book. And the themes are great - family, love (and the different types of love that are basically embodied in each of the characters), gender roles and feminism of the day. I just loved the themes of this book

The setting is mostly in England in different institutions and houses. It's also very much a Gothic style book which means it has some eerie and creepy elements to it and I thought all of that was done really well. 

Finally, the characters. I love Jane. She's one of my favorite characters period. I thought her growth throughout the book was great, I love how independent and outspoken she is and yet also how she fits the gender roles expected of her at the same time. I loved seeing her interact with everyone around her and how they shaped her into the woman she becomes. I also still like Mr. Rochester. My opinion has changed on him quite a bit from my initial read, but look he's the biggest drama king - the smallest inconvenience and his life was over. I also had a different perspective on St. John as well. I found I liked him more, but I also was so mad at him by the end again, but this time I understood him more. I frankly still think Jane should've stayed single - both of the choices she was presented with have pros and cons and ultimately are unhealthy. Even in the end, while they're on more equal footing, there are aspects of it I'm still not 100% sold on. Overall though, I had a really good time with it and I love the journey the characters go on. 

Overall, I still really enjoy Jane Eyre and it's one I'll reread over and over again over the years. 

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