FINALLY!!!! BEGONE WITH THIS BOOK!!! Anyways, this was… fun ig? What I mean by that is, though there were some interesting plot points and characters and thoughts throughout this book, there were also moments where I was like „Charlotte ffs just move on already!“ So yeah. Also the Edward and Jane romance is albeit a tad controversial (like, idk,

the 20 year age gap and the crazy locked up wife come to mind

), ultimately it ended up being quite sweet actually.

Loved this book as a reread aswell, it was nice to know the story beforehand and catch glimpses of Mr. Rochesters shady behaviour and St John's robotic plans for the future. 

Also, I didn't realise how many red flags poor Jane is surrounded by. I begrudged her choice to go back to Rochester, but he was so much better than her cousin. 

The story provides keen insight into what could happen to a poor and helpless woman in a patriarchal society. It seems so easy for the men in her life to push her around and even order her to marry them, it makes me so uncomfortable. 

Also, as an Indian woman, I find St. Johns mission to rid the hindu heathens of their beliefs so ridiculous and disturbing. I don't know how people can go around claiming they have the greatest thing and try to fear monger people into a religion, its baffling.

Ok sooo it’s a wonderfully written book and the author is definitely talented. However, the story itself didn’t end up being my cup of tea. Rooting for the main character was super easy but her ending was not the one I was hoping for. 

Most of my thoughts are better suited to a series of academic literary analysis/research papers, so I'll do my best to cut those. I will also attempt to ease the other side that might just turn into heated keyboard smashing.

I forgot how much I enjoy this book. I really did. The first time I read Jane Eyre was in high school. And then in college I read Wide Sargasso Sea (and hated it, but that's for another review). But this reading left a much stronger impression on me, both of the negatives and the positives.
The pacing of this novel can be questionable. Far too much time is spent following Jane through Lowood School, and similarly on her love for the Rivers siblings. Many of the characters are quite dislikable - Rochester is rude and sometimes scary, St. John Rivers is straight up abusive by our standards, and Helen Burns is annoyingly preachy and almost disgustingly pious. Another critique from a modern perspective, but I forgot about the religious aspect, which was a personal annoyance as a non-Christian. There was also a fair amount of casual racism and anti-Semitism, a hallmark of the time period.
But I found I didn't care. The writing of Jane Eyre is some of the most gorgeous prose I've read in a while. It flows wonderfully and heatedly. Rochester's speech before Jane leaves is probably my favorite passage in the novel because the words are so wonderful.

The Brönte sisters are (somewhat) well-known for their hatred of Jane Austen. Although I won't be doing the full comparison I might wish to do, I couldn't help but think about the similarities of the two writers, having just finished Pride and Prejudice last week (again). Even as they go about their message in opposite ways, there are definitely some very similar themes. They even equally mark certain character quirks for the reader's inspection. I'll leave those thoughts unfinished for the time being (but HMU if you want to talk Brönte/Austen discourse lol) but there is certainly more to say on the subject.

I love Jane Eyre. Until Rochester entered the page I thought this would be a 3 star read, because I had forgotten so much of the prose. 
If I'm being entirely honest, it would harm no one if when attempting to read this for pleasure, you skim up until Jane enters Thornfield, which is where the real power of the writing begins.