- On Sale June 26, 2018 -
Hi! If you're reading this review because you're considering reading this book soon, I want you to stop. Turn off your computer. Shut down your phone and run (don't walk) to your nearest library or bookstore and pick up a copy of Jane Eyre and devour that shit like it's made of chocolate fudge. Trust me on this one. It's a fantastic book and will help you to better appreciate this one if it's on your TBR.
... Did you read Jane Eyre yet? Okay, good! You may now continue reading the rest of this review.
This was... not great. Not saying it was bad per say. It just wasn't much of anything. My Lady Jane was very funny and original. My Plain Jane didn't make me laugh even once.
My main problem with it is that the authors really messed up the characterization of Jane and Mr. Rochester. I LOVE Jane Eyre. It is hands down one of my favorite classics. Jane was strong and independent and stubborn. This book made her out to be a boy-crazed imbecile. That's not MY Jane Eyre! They also jacked up Mr. Rochester. In the original, sure he was brooding and somewhat scary. I'll give you that. But he was also sweet and romantic and kinda hilarious at times. This book made him out to be an A-hole. A villain! That's not MY Mr. Rochester!
The only thing that I think this book did well was adding Charlotte Bronte to this story as a character. That was really neat and she was actually a decent character. The best in this book, if you ask me.
The addition of paranormal elements, namely ghosts, was cool but I definitely think that more could have been done there.
Do you remember those parody movies and YouTube videos that used to be so popular a few years back? You know, the ones making fun of Twilight or The Hunger Games or whatever? That's pretty much exactly what this book felt like. Like it was making fun of Jane Eyre, belittling it, while at the same time somehow trying to honor it. Most of those movies were train wrecks, so trying to make a good book in the same vein would be pretty hard to do.
By the 50% point of the novel, I still hadn't connected with the story. It wasn't bad, like I said. It just didn't really give me much to love or the desire to finish the book. A bit of a disappointment, truth be told. I ended up DNFing this book at 50%.