A review by tictactoney
Villette by Charlotte Brontë

challenging sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Okay, there's enemies-to-lovers, and then there's whatever the hell THAT was?!

I actually really wanted to enjoy this, and I did to an extent. I have tons of pages flagged and earmarked with passages I liked. Lucy herself is fascinating...not particularly likeable, but fascinating. Her secret-keeping is hilarious, but some of her other shticks got old, like "I only wear GRAY dresses" (it seems "I'm not like other girls" is not a twenty-first century invention). And our love interest is the WORST. I hate him more than Lucy hates Catholics. When the ending really decided to hone in on the whole Catholic thing and the M. Paul thing I really lost interest. If you're gonna compare her to her literary sister Jane Eyre, I think Jane gets the favorable comparison.