I read several rave reviews of Lyndsay Faye’s Jane Steele, and while I was a bit nervous about the serial killer angle (will it be like Sweeney Todd? I wondered), I was more than happy to give it a shot. Jane Eyre was a novel I looooooved in high school and then, as an adult, realized that Mr. Rochester is a very bad man. A very bad man indeed. [Shhhh, not now, Daniel. We’ll talk about you later.] Anyway, I read Patricia Park’s most excellent […]
“When we tell truth, often we are callous; when we tell lies, often we are kind”
Spoiler warning! There will be some mild plot spoilers for the early sections of Jane Steele in this review. I’m going to try to keep things vague, but it’s difficult to write about without revealing some details. Even if those in today’s world who never read Jane Eyre (they exist, I’ve met several of them), still tend to know the gist of the story (it is after all, 200 years old by now). Poor, down-trodden and plain Jane has an awful childhood, goes to the […]
Reader, I loved this book.
To say I was hesitant about reading Jane Steele is a bit of an understatement. Yes, we had a few glowing, wonderful reviews from ElCicco and yesknopemaybe, and that should have been enough to convince me. But last year I read Jane, a modern retelling of Jane Eyre, and I hated it. HATED IT. I was wary about getting myself into another Jane Eyre story. But this isn’t a retelling of the classic, its more of an homage. And it kicks ass. I’m going to go out on a […]
Reader, I Murdered Him
I’ve read plenty of good books in 2016: books I’ve enjoyed, books that were well-written, books I’d recommend to people. What I haven’t read are books that go above and beyond that. Jane Steele is the first full length novel I’ve read this year that I want to procure a hardcopy of and just fall asleep with after rereading my favorite parts. I want to force it upon friends and strangers alike because it was such a lovely reading experience. Jane Steele is kind of […]