Friday, November 22

Book Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë


Jane EyreAuthor:  Charlotte Brontë
Title: Jane Eyre
Genre: Classic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 532 
Publication Date: October 16th 1847
Where I Got It: My shelf (Goodwill)



Orphaned as a child, Jane has felt an outcast her whole young life. Her courage is tested once again when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, where she has been hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward Adèle. Jane finds herself drawn to his troubled yet kind spirit. She falls in love. Hard.

But there is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?





Tried this years and years ago and it was a DNF. Now I'm back and trying this one again. I love to give 2nd and 3rd and 4th chances for some books. 

The story is a classic. Jane was orphaned as a child and she felt like an outcast her whole life. But she never gave up. Once she grows up she arrives at Thornfield Hall and is hired by Rochester to care for his ward. They seem so different but are so similar. Jane finds herself drawn to him. However, there is a terrible secret. 

The beginning was slow and everyone annoyed me as it did before. I fought through my annoyance and got past her childhood. Yayy. Brownie points there for me. Things got better for a while and then I was bored the last 100 pages or so. But I was curious enough to continue reading. 

I did really appreciate the darker overtones. It made it different and not an a-typical romance. I can for sure see why this has stuck as a classic. Intense characters, intense plot. And not a-typical lovers. Rochester has the brooding-ness going on, but he is not precisely dashing or charming. Honestly...I personally had a hard time trusting him. Jane is not the queen beauty and isn't perfect but she did scream "pure" and eh. It was refreshing overall though. 

Honestly...I did skim near the end because I just wanted to be done. Very long. 

I am glad that I did get myself to try this book again. I liked it more and actually finished it. Still not my favorite book, but I did enjoy it for what it was. 

Overall, I am glad I gave it a 2nd chance. Still some issues for me and I did skim at the end there, but it was much better than I originally believed. I'll give this a 2. 











3 comments:

Sophia Rose said...

I read this so long ago so I don't remember lots of my thoughts on it. But, I do remember thinking the very last quarter dragged. I was in a gloomy and broody phase in my teen years so I was definitely primed for this one.

Blodeuedd said...

I really liked it when I read it
Would I now? Who knows

Carole Rae said...

Sophia, I guess when I was a youth trying to read it I was too broody. Hahaha I was so picky.

B, who knows. ;)