Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Jane Eyre

Slow start, but got more interesting when Jane gets to Thornfield. It slowed down again towards the end for a few chapters but the middle wasn’t terrible. I did like Jane as a character and how quick witted she was (but Charlotte what were you doing giving this girl nothing but trash men and trauma).

I’m glad to have finished because 1) it’s finally over and 2) I can say I’ve read Jane Eyre! I maybe should’ve DNFd but I was stubborn and kept hoping it would get better with how many people love it. I had an especially hard time towards the end when the story takes a large turn and Jane’s story became really slow/tedious.

This is one of the worst classics I’ve ever read 🙃 there was no reason for it to be that long or categorized as a romance when Miss Austen existed at the same time?! If you’re going to start with a Brontë I suggest Wuthering Heights as it’s shorter and has better pacing (also a toxic romance but at least an interesting one).

Only reason it gets 3 stars is because of Jane as a character and there were some beautifully written lines!

Now please enjoy the majority of my random thoughts that played on a loop throughout:

-How is this a romance?! He’s horrible 😅

-Jane nooooooo

-The only person making any sense is Mrs Fairfax

Charlotte Brontë is not for me because I also tried reading Villette earlier this year and DNFd due to boredom 😳 Now the only Brontë sister I still must read is Anne, with Tenant of Wildfell Hall!

Content Warnings

treehouselibrary's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.75

Content Warnings

marageorge's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-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

3.0

I decided to read this book because I bought a poster with 100 books to read in your lifetime. This is the fourteenth book I've read on this poster. As with most books on this poster, I struggled with it. I don’t know if it’s the whole “classic” feel to them, but it was a mission to finish and usually when I feel like a book is a mission to finish it can be worth it, but this wasn’t.

This book follows a girl named Jane Eyre, throughout her life, she is a seemingly plain and simple girl as she battles through her life’s struggles. Jane has many obstacles in her life – starting with her cruel and abusive Aunt Reed, the grim conditions of Lowood School and her love for her employer Mr Rochester and finding out he is married.

My issue with this book is that it gave me whiplash. I understand that we basically watch Jane Eyre grow up from this small child that was being abused because she was an orphan, and a woman made a promise, she couldn’t keep to sending her off to boarding school and then getting employed. That was fine, Mr Rochester and Sir John are who gave me whiplash. If this book was written in this day and age, I would have killed for it to be a feminist book where she doesn’t need a man to be happy – but obviously back in those days it was either be married and look after the house or be a spinster and be poor. Also, I hated both “love” interests if you can call them that. I wanted to punch Mr Rochester in the face so many times. The way he lied, the way he treated his wife and yet Jane was like “oo yeah, I want some of that.” it just hurt my head. And then Sir John threatening her employment after she gave him money because she wouldn’t marry him – they are cousins, again I know it’s not as weird back then, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.

The only reason why this book didn’t get rated any lower is because of Jane and I wanted to hug her and smack her at the same time for not having that parental figure that she needed and that her other cousins weren’t complete idiots.

I am not having the best of luck with this poster, but I've got 86 books to go!

Content Warnings

bobcat_thepagemaster's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

This was the first time I have ever read Jane Eyre despite being an English major (how scandalous I know!!). Having read Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte multiple-times and being one of my all-time favorite books, I knew I was in for a treat!

The book begins when Jane Eyre is a rambunctious young-girl. She is forced to live her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and cousins after the death of her parents. Jane is treated unfairly and punished by Mrs. Reed. Eventually, Jane is sent away to a girls school during this time she befriends a girl named Helen. The book continues to follow Jane throughout her life, she graduates from schools and teaches there for two years until she answers an advertisement for a governess. This is where we get to meet the dark, mysterious, and wealthy Mr. Rochester. We witness both Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre fall for one another knowing their love is forbidden due to the class divide

and the fact that Mr. Rochester is still married to his wife, who he hides in the attic!

This book is considered a classic for good reason! It gives us modern readers a look into what life was like for young women in the 19th-century—what their limitations where when it comes to love, work, and opportunity. There’s politics, religion, love, and gothic spookiness all wrapped into one story. Charolette Bronte’s prose is unparallel! She began writing this book in 1846 yet feel very modern. It is intelligent, honest, and unforgiving. I believe everyone should read this book at some point in their life.

Content Warnings

madzie's review against another edition

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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

A classic for good reason. Bronte was a master of her craft. Despite being 500+ pages, every moment of this book is well-used. The plot may be slow to the modern reader, but everything pays off, and the tropes of the genre and personable characters make the reader continue reading no matter what is transpiring. Jane Eyre jumps off the page as a character well before her time but possibly even more relevant today than in Bronte’s time. Jane’s inner conflict drives the story and leads us to deeply consider our own lives and the lives of those around us in ways that very few authors have ever illustrated. Other characters support her story, and the themes astoundingly well as the reader tries to uncover their motives.

Unsurprisingly, Bronte writes beautiful, imaginative, addictive, and vivid prose that deeply touches her readers even hundreds of years later. Although outdated, Bronte’s writing still allows for such deep feelings, blunt ideas, and spine-chilling moments that modern readers will not find her as pretentious as some of her peers (or sisters). Themes create a deep consideration of our modern world and our interactions with others as well as literature in a way like no other.

This is a must-read classic that opens our eyes to women in modern society and history, as well as other topics of oppression, abuse, autonomy and individualism, and other ideas that are very pertinent to 21st-century life. If you love classics, you must pick one up. If you are interested in Jane Eyre but not classics typically, rest assured; this is an addictively good read that will keep you guessing.

Content Warnings

kaz_brekkerrr's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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