A review by bookishmillennial
Escaping Mr. Rochester by L.L. McKinney

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial 

  • First-person, rotating dual POVs of Jane Eyre and Bertha Mason
  • Takes place mostly in Thornfield Hall, with the main characters Jane & Bertha dreaming of escaping to New Orleans with the young ward, Adele 
  • Tropes: reimagining, slow burn, secret letter exchanges, secret romance, period romance, shared trauma, queer awakening, romance suspense/escape!
  • Representation: Black female main characters, sapphic romance 

Thoughts
I really enjoyed this YA romantic suspense/thriller and felt it properly paid homage to the original, yet standing strong enough on its own. L.L. McKinney quietly built everything in this book (it seems intentionally so, as it worked for me!), with the suspense slowly building (even though we know Mr. Rochester has Bertha in the attic! But Jane doesn’t know for a bit! It’s interesting to watch her slowly question and figure him out!). I just adore that this iteration of Jane is too smart, wholly uninterested, and utter unimpressed with Mr. Rochester. She attempts to set professional boundaries with him multiple times, and she does not fall for his scam. 

McKinney also does this slower building with the romance between Jane and Bertha. They actually don’t meet until about 50% in the book, but the first 50% was necessary for Jane to begin to question the strange happenings at Thornfield Hall on her own accord through her own interactions with Mr. Rochester. 

I thought the letters between Jane and Bertha were especially fun and swoon-worthy. I think some people may think that this is “info dumping” but I felt it was a clever, appropriate way to learn about Bertha and Jane’s pasts, including Jane’s late girlfriend. I adore that their friendship and budding romance gives each other even more impetus and motivation to escape and live a life that they have full autonomy over. 

I loved this story of young women risking it all to take their power and lives back, and as a bonus, they found true love! 

cw: confinement, kidnapping, gaslighting, emotional abuse, violence, murder, toxic relationship, bribery, threats, death of parent/loved one, grief
Expand filter menu Content Warnings