I had roller-coaster of feelings reading this book. I went into it rather blind like I do most books. Of course, I knew it was an older book, so I had some general assumptions because of that. However, I didn't read the synopsis or anything like that. I prefer to be surprised. 

In retrospect, I wish I had known it was an intentional subversion of Jane Eyre. For much of the book, I was thinking... 

"This better not turn out the same way as Jane Eyre."

I loved reading Jane Eyre, so I wasn't interested in reading a rip. Jane Erye is one of my favorite reads of all time, so you can imagine my feelings. 

It became clear to me, embarrassingly last into Rebecca, that the book was playing with my expectations. It clicked, and by the end, I'm thinking back at all the events in the book and how they relate the story and message of Jane Eyre. 

For example, (no spoilers) our main character in Rebecca goes unnamed. That's right. You're in a POV that goes unnamed. Until she is married. Then, of course, she is Mrs. Mans-name. I like to think that relates to the fact that I can't remember the name of the first Mrs. Rochester. She might have had one but it definitely wasnt made clear. I never thought once about that or why it would matter. She was just a crazy lady, right? A mistake, a secret. I always knew that it was a sketchy relationship but I was definitely rooting for Jane and Mr. Rochester. Looking at it throught the context of Rebecca changes that.

Most of the time, I would think it was pretentious or a hassle to say you should read something else before you read this. But now... I don't think I would have enjoyed Rebecca as much without Jane. It makes it a message. It made me think. It made me question. 

Jane made me rethink my perception of the story of Rebecca. Like Maxim's tale and even the behavior of the employees and officials later on. What are the real motives? Why would you even think looking through the eyes of this inexperienced, biased girl that you're getting the truth. This narrator is unreliable not because she lies but because she doesn't want to see. Max killed his wife because she was pregnant with an other man's child. He never loved her but he didnt want to be embarrassed by her. He lied, threatened and bought people off to get off for that murder. You don't understand until the end that they're basically in hiding. Its actually in the first capter but thats not clear until after the end. I also think that Max and Frank are a couple. I have all kinds of evidence for this but this review is too long as it is. 
Let's just end by saying I have sooooo many thoughts.