nairijan 's review for:

Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste

1.5

dark emotional 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

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An incredibly disappointing read, Kiste's recasting of Lucy Westenra and Bertha Mason in the rebellious era of the 1960s California didn't deliver as I hoped it would. The narrative felt incredibly one sided where the modern Bertha is ultimately little more than a supportive character to Lucy, whose decades long friendship as a fellow immortal did not feel at all developed. I also fear in this sparkly chrome retelling of Victorian literature's victims that the author willfully ignored a lot of the nuance of Bertha's character that we get in Wide Sargasso Sea as well as any mention of other characters from Jane Eyre which could complicate the author's sweeping repainting of Rochester as a monstrous ex boyfriend.  Ultimately, the work was a lot of disappointing fluff.