A review by maddiereadswords
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'll admit, it took me a few chapters to really get into this book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I've loved Jane Eyre for years, and this felt like such a worthy sequel/spin-off. My favorite aspect of it by far is the amount of friendships and community between women and girls. At no point does this book play into mean girl stereotypes; Adele grew up in a community of women who looked out for each other, and that's the energy that's woven into the entire book. There's even a pub run by a trans man that caters primarily to queer women (that I would pay good money to read a spin-off about!!), and the feeling of sisterhood, and community was such a highlight for me. All of the characters felt real and developed, the relationships were sweet, and I think Adele was a great protagonist.

My biggest gripe was with the pacing of the book. Most of the first third of it was a prequel to/retelling of Jane Eyre from Adele's POV which was interesting enough, but it isn't until a good way into the book that the action really starts. I would have liked a little more development of Adele's midnight training sessions with Nan and their escapades as that aspect felt rather rushed. Also pay attention to the content warnings for this one! It's a YA book and there's nothing too horribly graphic that happens, but it is really dark at points.

Also, I personally really like the twist at the end
when Rochester confesses to writing the letters from Eric and tries to assault Adele, which leads to Adele killing him
not because I like the twist, but because quite frankly, yeah I believe it of one of my personal worst literary enemies, Edward Rochester. I love Jane Eyre in spite of him; I've always hated that man so much, so like, good for Adele. (Also worth noting that the author's note at the end really expands on why she made the choices she did with respect to the source material, which I personally found really interesting, and a compelling interpretation of the text.)

Overall, I really loved this book!! I totally understand that it's not for everyone (once again, please check the content warnings!!), but if you're a fan of Jane Eyre, I would still highly recommend giving this a try.
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