Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Jane Eyre

I debated a really long time how to rate this because let's be honest, this book is AMAZING until it's really not. It's obvious why this book is a classic. Jane is such a strong main character for 1847 writing. She won't take anything from anyone. I love her stubborn attitude & her need not to please a single person. She's sassy & fierce & nobody will stand in her way. However, I didn't care for all her analyzing & internal thought. I could have done with some of it, but I found myself spacing out a lot while she went on & on & on. I know she's intellectual & her internal thought helps us see that more in depth but it was just A LOT. I also felt like Adele was going to be a bigger character, & she is for a short time but she gets pushed to the back burner a lot. Again, I get it cause she didn't come from Rochester's wife... but seriously I thought Jane would stick up for her more (after all, she's so strong headed). Overall, I felt like the story dragged on in a lot of places which is really unfortunate because this book has so many strong points & an amazing story line (again, especially for its time)! 537 pages was just too much for me & by the end I couldn't wait for the book to be over.

Content Warnings

saniyamuz's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

mijtje's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

treehouselibrary's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

thewillowwood's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

More...