Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

121 reviews

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

A lot slower than I prefer but overall a beautiful and emotionally challenging (in a good way) book. Jane Eyre was such a loveable character. She deserved better, but she convinced me to feel happy for her by the end.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

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

The prose is magical and extremely quotable, the story telling is brilliant with it's constant plot twists and developed characters. There are also some beautiful messages about sticking by your principles despite even the hardest of trials, I found Jane's character extremely strong for that, and she's not yet 20! 
If it were for that I'd give it 5 stars, however the 2nd half is heavily racist, ableist, xenophobic, and classist. Themes of colonialism and religious missions, institutionalisation, grooming (Jane is sadly very much groomed by the men in her life), etc. There is no condemnation of any of this, no revolt against bigotry in the narrative. Therefore, I can't give it a pass for being "of its time", as there are many classics which either resist against or refuse to entertain such bigotry. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
slow-paced
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Astonishing that this is billed as a romance. The colonialist bent was equally unwelcome. 

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Loved this book as a reread aswell, it was nice to know the story beforehand and catch glimpses of Mr. Rochesters shady behaviour and St John's robotic plans for the future. 

Also, I didn't realise how many red flags poor Jane is surrounded by. I begrudged her choice to go back to Rochester, but he was so much better than her cousin. 

The story provides keen insight into what could happen to a poor and helpless woman in a patriarchal society. It seems so easy for the men in her life to push her around and even order her to marry them, it makes me so uncomfortable. 

Also, as an Indian woman, I find St. Johns mission to rid the hindu heathens of their beliefs so ridiculous and disturbing. I don't know how people can go around claiming they have the greatest thing and try to fear monger people into a religion, its baffling.

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

This book is very well written and fun to read. Unfortunately, it also has the potential to be very dangerous if you're not reading with your guard up.
For example, she does a fantastic job actually leaving after finding out Rochester is already married. She has her eyes open enough to see where their relationship would be headed if she decided to stay and be his mistress and she runs. She builds a new life. She finds a family. And then she goes running back because she thinks she hears him calling her name. A lot of ladies want to say this is fine because his wife is now dead and he has been humbled, but she doesn't know any of that. She thinks she's walking back into the same situation she left. Instead, it conveniently turns out she now gets to play savior to the guy who lied and manipulated her. It's the same "I cAn ChAnGe HiM" garbage that plagues stories aimed at and cherished by women even though they know these stories never end well in real life.
Side rant, it rather drives me crazy that people turn it into a she must marry Rochester OR St. John situation when she easily could have just...not married either. Given that her cousins both successfully met and married other men, I think it's safe to assume they probably had friends they could introduce her to? They weren't the only men in England?

Anyways, it is very well written and enjoyable, but I'd only recommend it if I knew the reader would read it thoughtfully.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Would have been higher but for the anti-semitism and racism

Expand filter menu Content Warnings