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strawberrydream's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
5.0
this book will forever be wedged in my soul. i cannot adequately describe how insane jane eyre makes me feel and how much it all is. what i think and feel about how incredible this book it had probably been said a million times over and will be for many years to come. jane eyre is so much, too much, all encompassing… lord almighty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
elysh_kaye's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. I found it to be slow paced for the first portion, but once the plot began the pacing improved. The language wasn't as inaccessible than other classics I have read, but still full of large descriptive prose regarding nature that I thought was unnecessary and repetitive at times. My biggest issue was how the "love triangle" aged, having Jane choose to marry either a man "old enough to be her father" or her cousin
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Incest, Mental illness, and Suicide
twentyventi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
I had never read Jane Eyre all the way through until now. Such a beautifully written book - Charlotte Bronte’s writing is so evocative, and there are so many gems of dialogue between her characters. The reader is attached to Jane Eyre from the start, a reliable and worthy narrator of her story.
Note: There is definitely some expression of views towards race within this book which is unfortunately not uncommon in books written during this time period/within English literature. It’s a shame as it is not at all relevant or necessary to the plot of the book.
Note: There is definitely some expression of views towards race within this book which is unfortunately not uncommon in books written during this time period/within English literature. It’s a shame as it is not at all relevant or necessary to the plot of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide
Minor: Racism and Antisemitism
whattaylorreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Incest, Sexism, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Ableism, Racism, and Antisemitism
sofiya'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? Yes
4.0
This book is so perplexing that I literally don't know how to rate it. It's by far one of the most interesting classics I have read (likely due to the heavy dialogue and use of first-person), but it's far more chaotic than I would have ever expected. I have no idea how people label this as an iconic romance because I saw very little good things about the romance. I'd label it more as a coming-of-age/mystery (??) novel than a romance.
I will fault the book in that a lot of the story involves "telling" rather than "showing", particularly the 8 year time jump that's summarized in about 2 paragraphs. Some parts were done really well and others weren't in my opinion. I also found that occasionally my mind would wander as I read, and sometimes I had a hard time staying focused.
I didn't really understand the use of St. John at the end- especially the fact that the story ends by speaking about him. I'm still not really sure what the commentary on Christianity was meant to be, considering that both religious men we meet in the book are quite awful to Jane (and just in general). I know that there were examples of good Christianity and bad, but I wasn't really sure what I was meant to take away from it.
An additional note is that I enjoyed seeing the different levels of class and how it was addressed in the book. During that era, even servents were treated on different levels (usually based on education) and I do find that an interesting thing to examine.
Also, re: the romance. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a psychopath. The g*psy scene is so bizarre and he acts so clingy to Jane that it made me uncomfortable at times (and that's excluding the fact that he locks his mentally ill wife in an attic). I understand that I'm reading the book with a 2021 lens, but I don't understand how the book was ever looked on as romantic.</spoiler
Overall, I enjoyed reading Jane Eyre. I can't say that I'll actively choose to re-read it, but I'm happy to have gotten through it.
I will fault the book in that a lot of the story involves "telling" rather than "showing", particularly the 8 year time jump that's summarized in about 2 paragraphs. Some parts were done really well and others weren't in my opinion. I also found that occasionally my mind would wander as I read, and sometimes I had a hard time staying focused.
An additional note is that I enjoyed seeing the different levels of class and how it was addressed in the book. During that era, even servents were treated on different levels (usually based on education) and I do find that an interesting thing to examine.
Also, re: the romance. Mr. Rochester is a bit of a psychopath. The g*psy scene is so bizarre and he acts so clingy to Jane that it made me uncomfortable at times (and that's excluding the fact that he locks his mentally ill wife in an attic). I understand that I'm reading the book with a 2021 lens, but I don't understand how the book was ever looked on as romantic.</spoiler
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide
sarahjoym's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Death of parent, and Abandonment
isabellaft's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
yoheleonore's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
madelnguttorms1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
2.5
If you're interested in England during the Victorian era, then I would recommend that you read Jane Eyre at some point. The values and morals of the English people during this time are made quite clear through the eyes of Jane, in both the way she perceives herself and the way she perceives others.
It wasn't really a book after my taste as I'm not much of a romance reader, and my taste in books is quite different to this one. I enjoy fast-paced, plot-driven stories, and Jane Eyre is a slow-paced novel that is mostly character-driven. We follow Jane through a portion of her life and we get to know the people and the environment around her during this time. I could enjoy this book if I had related to Jane more, but I felt quite distant to her most of the time, despite this book being formatted as an autobiography.
It wasn't really a book after my taste as I'm not much of a romance reader, and my taste in books is quite different to this one. I enjoy fast-paced, plot-driven stories, and Jane Eyre is a slow-paced novel that is mostly character-driven. We follow Jane through a portion of her life and we get to know the people and the environment around her during this time. I could enjoy this book if I had related to Jane more, but I felt quite distant to her most of the time, despite this book being formatted as an autobiography.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Suicide
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
its_van_vulpen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Suicide
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts