saniyamuz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Child abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Bullying, Mental illness, and Confinement
trudy_joan's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I was looking through my books the other day and found this one. I was not expecting to get through the second chapter, even, but the book kept pulling me back. I didn't particularly like the characters, and the proposals made me furious. Yet this is the kind of book that fills me with all kinds of enthusiasm for old classics and makes me feel as though I could get through nearly any one.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood and Mental illness
mijtje's review against another edition
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Beautifully written AND a great story. Let me first say: I’m not a fan of romance books. I usually dislike the “meant to be” part, the cliches, the way the characters only care about each other… but this book was different. I loved it. The last chapters gave me goosebumps. I even yelled at my husband when he tried to interrupt my reading.
What makes it different? Well, first of all, the characters aren’t perfect. It is not a beautiful girl falling in love with a rich, handsome guy. No, the girl is “plain” and the guy is, okay, rich, but way older than her and “quite ugly”. But still, they fall in love. Halfway through the book I wasn’t even sure if I liked Mr. Rochester. Also: Jane Eyre isn’t just blindly going to marry the dude. Nope, she wants her independence, she wants to do what’s good, and she wants true love. Pretty modern, right?
It is not a standard romance book, it is mysterious and a little dark at times. I found it hard to put the book down, it was never boring and always promised new revelations and shocking events. No long, boring conversations that are often based on miscommunication or lies that could very easily be discovered if only the characters TALKED to each other (pride & prejudice, looking at you).
And JANE EYRE. She goes on my main-characters-I-really-liked-list. That list isn’t very long but Jane deserves to be on it. She’s spirited, smart, kind, and funny. Especially for a classic she was a cool female character. Of course, the gender roles in the book are old-fashioned, as expected, but Jane Eyre does a pretty good job anyway.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It took me a month and switching between audio and physical copies but I finally finished!
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
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Confinement
Minor: Death of parent
treehouselibrary's review against another edition
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
Moderate: Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicide and Physical abuse
thewillowwood's review against another edition
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.25
I loved this book. It has many flaws, to be sure, but it was one that I felt deeply connected to throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Abandonment, Ableism, Antisemitism, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Confinement, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship
goodchivesonly's review against another edition
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
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: Child death, Bullying, Mental illness, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Child abuse
stormystewart's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Mental illness, and Racism
marageorge's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Confinement and Mental illness
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent
beckyyreadss's review against another edition
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
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury