The Details
Publisher: HaperTeen
Published: June 26th 2018
Genres: YA, historical fiction, retelling, romance, paranormal
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Goodreads Blub
You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)
Or does she?
Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.
My Review
But first a story:
Shortly after I bought this book I was at the mall buying a coffee from Gloria Jeans. (Remember the before times?) When I came out of Macy’s I noticed a car that looked a hella lot like mine with the back door open and someone in the back seat. So I pressed the panic button on my key and the guy in the back stood up, shut the back door and walked away.
I was wearing a bright orange dress and heels, but I took off after this man carrying a bag across the parking lot that was presumably full of my stuff. Was this dumb? Yes, never do that. But anyway I yelled after him “Excuse me sir!” until he stopped. He turned and I said “I do believe that’s my stuff.” and he was like “Oh really?” and I said “Yeah.” and he shoved the bag at me and then walked off.
The man’s haul from my car would have been a three year old pack of cigarettes, some melted candy, a car charger for a phone my friend had in 2008 that I for some reason still have, and this book.
And now my review:
Like the first book, this was super funny and really enjoyable. We are living in a time where funny and light things feel really good. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Jane Eyre, for reasons discussed in My Plain Jane, actually. This book really shines a light on Jane’s super weird relationship with Rochester and does some fun things with it.
I loved the two other characters also. I don’t know much about Charlotte Bronte, but her character in this book is adorable and funny. I loved how head strong and determined she was. Charlotte was going to be involved in the adventure whether the boys liked it or not and I like that in a character. Alexander is a brilliant character as well. His narration held the most mystery of the three narrators, which makes sense since he was the least pre-existing of the group. I loved his backstory and his purpose in the book. Overall lovely characters.
Like in the first book, the supernatural elements we just weird enough, but fit in seamlessly. I think since Jane Eyre has some ghost elements to start with, having actual ghost and having ghost hunting be a major part of the book made perfect sense. I love a good story about a ghost hunting society. I really liked the little bit of retcon-ing the authors did with some Jane Eyre characters; it was so much more satisfying than the original text.
This was a fairly quick read for me too. It’s over 400 pages but once I got into the book it flew by. I laughed out loud and giggled, swooned and fell a little bit in love. If you’re looking for an escape, something silly and enjoyable, I recommend picking up My Plain Jane. I’m so excited to read the third one, I’m just waiting for it to arrive from my local bookstore!
Stay safe out there everyone, and until next time,
Deanna
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