A review by spinesinaline
Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

The pacing dropped off a bit for me at the end but I really enjoyed this take on the Jane Eyre story. Thanks to the publisher for an e-ARC!

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I did enjoy it though it didn’t deliver as much as I thought it would. 

Blackwood’s take on Jane Eyre feels fresh and new with this Ethiopian inspiration. Rather than a governess, the MC here is a debtera or exorcist, hired to get rid of the Evil Eye that’s tormenting a wealthy man and his staff. 
Despite those significant changes, this does feel like it stays pretty true to the original, though thankfully without that considerable age gap. The original’s romance with its push and pull, and fighting and flirting, is followed here as well. 

The relationship is still odd though, partly because they move so quickly from strangers to cutesy talk and also because the Mr. Rochester character here speaks in such an old-fashioned way when he’s only 20 years old. I couldn’t totally get on board with it and because of the changes in this retelling I was expecting a thriller moreso than a romance and that was just not the case. 

The second half fell flat for me while the thrill aspects of the beginning were exciting. But nothing really came of them and it felt like we left the mysterious dread behind, which was disappointing. There are also many questions around the curse that are left unanswered and it feels unfinished and messy because it’s so central to the main action. 

Still an interesting story but I could’ve gone with more on the thriller side.
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