Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

59 reviews

madzie's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Classism, Misogyny, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Suicide, and Child death

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Grief, Racism, Incest, and Death of parent

voicenextdoor's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This is a hard no from me.
I really liked Jane and the writing was fine, and anything that didn’t involved the romance was fine, but Rochester is a toxic, manipulative, gaslighting prick.

I don’t care that he sorta, kinda stops being a complete dick after he loses everything. He’s a raging jealous creep even then.

The way psychosis is described in this book is disgusting and offensive. A complete dehumanizing of the person. For instance using the following to describe someone “beastly”, “savage”, “snarling”, “standing up on their hind legs”.  WTF.

I really, really don’t get why everyone stans this book so hard. From gross classism to unbridled misogyny to straight up abuse. Yuck. No.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Child abuse

bearystarry's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Despite the … views of the time, I guess, and the fact that between the entire cast of characters there were about three redeeming qualities, I enjoyed listening to this book. The first two thirds were the most interesting and the last third sort of lagged for me but in general I guess I was just interested in the way Jane told her story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Body shaming, Ableism, Classism, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Abandonment, Racism, Mental illness, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Incest, and Terminal illness

carolinecronj's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

I went into this without knowing anything about the plot and would recommend you to do the same if you are still unspoilered, because some of the turns of the plot really surprised me.

What I greatly enjoyed about the book is its superb writing. Charlotte Bronte's command of the English language is nothing short of astounding, and her description of the various setting and a treat to read. 
 
However, my main problem with Jane Eyre is the romanticisation of abusive, manipulative and toxic character traits and relationships. I could not help but cringe at many of the supposedly sweet or romantic interactions throughout the book.

Furthermore, there are some deeply misogynistic archetypes, and the language throughout the book is at times ableist, racist and colonialist. 

In its own time and society, Jane Eyre was in many ways a revolutionary piece of writing and I definitely recommend it to be consumed as a historic product of its time. But if you are looking for a sweet and unproblematic love story, you should be looking somewhere else.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

cait's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

marilla07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

nanc_282's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

I’ve read Jane Eyre many times. I only picked the book up to find a reference and ended up reading the whole thing. It’s a book that I always find something different in each time. Lots of dark and problematic themes. Reading this time, I was particularly struck by the character of St John and his coercive, manipulative behaviour towards Jane. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Racial slurs

The age of the book means it does not acknowledge slavery and exploitation as the source of wealth for some characters.

jminaprisc's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Mental illness

Moderate: Violence

some lovely imagery and writing but the plot is very slow and can be frustrating

kelisabeth's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Classism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, and Sexism

mariekejee's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Over the last two weeks, I have accidentally become inundated with media concerning the autonomy of women. Sometimes, as in the case of the wonderful television series Fleishman is in Trouble, I find myself angered and moved. Other times, I just find myself angered, or worse, annoyed. Unfortunately for me, reading Jane Eyre only led to the latter.

I so badly wanted to dnf this book, but dnf'ing one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, and one with such a high rating at that, felt sacrilegious. Even after my mom had looked me in the eyes and implored me to pick a happier book, I stuck with it. Am I glad I did? Kind of. For sure, I'm glad I have a classic and feminist book like this under my belt, and I appreciate having a wider knowledge of classic literature. But that's a shallow reason for suffering through this book, for suffer I did.

I absolutely, absolutely hated reading about Jane's struggles as a kid. I hate reading about child abuse, and especially that which is so completely unfair, unreasonable and unwarranted. The first few chapters there is so little relief from it, that I could not help but feel angrier as I kept reading it. Of course Jane gets blamed for the abuse she suffers for no reason. Of course the school she gets sent to is so poorly run that the kids go hungry more often than not. Of course the teachers are strict and abusive. Of course her first friend dies within a couple of chapters of meeting them. After a couple of chapters, I almost became numb from the constant misery and injustice; I no longer had any expectations of a happy or comfortable future for Jane, or an enjoyable reading experience for me.

I don't need a happy book to be able to enjoy reading it. I read through I'm Glad my Mom Died and found it a great read, despite the majority of the book chronicling the abuse Jeanette McCurdy suffered at the hands of her mother. But therein lies the difference: I kept being angry at Charlotte Brontë for making me suffer through exhaustive descriptions of Jane being cast aside, unfairly treated, going hungry, wishing for death. She chose to write that, and while I understand why she did, I just plainly hated it. The actual, real world is highly unfair for so many people; I am not interested in fictionalised accounts of this injustice, and I'm especially uninterested in reading about the unfair treatment that women have historically suffered at the hands of men and further society.

As for the plot itself, I found no joy in reading it other than the few chapters Jane seems to settle at Thornfield, because at that point I had spent hours listening to Jane suffering through life and this is the first time she has finally found some peace for herself. There were some surprises for me in the plot, but most of them I had anticipated long before I got to read them. The surprises I did find were in the way she keeps being treated by the men in her life. There are four men of note in this story, and all of them (

Spoiler

even the one she ends up marrying!!

) are abusive douchebags. Even St. John, the one man for whom I had hope, makes a 180 and spends the last pages of this book refusing to take no for an answer.

There are quite some things which are remnants from the time it was written, such as the classism and xenophobia, and the obsession with beauty. I can't fault the book for it, because no doubt it is just a relic of its time, but god, is there ever so much emphasis on the beauty of women as a signifier of not just their worth but their character. 

Is it an important book? Most definitely. Is it well written and contains nice prose? Absolutely. Would I ever willingly expose myself to it again? Not a chance in hell. It's a good book - just definitely not for me. 

(also: I love this comic of the Bronte sisters http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=202)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Confinement