A review by maddynd06
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

2.0

2/5

I don’t entirely know how I feel about this. On one hand, I was pissed off the entire time I was reading this because I found Rochester to be insufferable, and I got annoyed at Jane for liking him. However, I loved the writing style itself. I can’t say I enjoyed the book, hence the 2 stars, but I can understand how some people would like it. I can acknowledge that it is objectively a good book, it just wasn’t for me. Also, I feel inclined to mention that my professor made us watch the movie before reading the book, and I feel that negatively impacted my experience of reading the novel.

Rochester is, in all honesty, my main grievance with the book. I did not like him one bit. I was constantly irritated with him, and I despised the way he spoke to Jane. I was losing my mind over the amount of times he called Jane “little friend” or something similar. I could not look past it. Also, I know the intention was for him to be brooding and have a hard exterior, yet still have some good in him. He is supposed to be a likable character, but I actually despise him.

In terms of Jane, I don’t love her and I don’t hate her. She was not a strong enough character for me to feel any particular way about her, but I will say I loved her determination. Once she set her mind to something, she did it 100%. I typically love a happy ending in books (actually that’s kind of not true, I love sad endings) but I did not want them to end up together. I was so frustrated when she went back to him, married him, and had a son with him. I wanted her to stay away from him. I want to mention, I absolutely did not want her to be with St. John, but I definitely did not want her with Rochester either. I almost wish the book ended right when she ran away from Thornfield.

In terms of the writing itself, I thought it was absolutely phenomenal. The descriptions, supernatural elements, and narration were so well written. Jane’s inner monologue is intriguing and adds a lot of depth to the novel.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book much, but I do respect it. Objectively, it is a good book, I just did not personally like it.

Original Thoughts: Be so fucking for real Jane Eyre.