Victorian Vigilante was what I was sold on until I realized this was Jane Eyre's twisted-after story. I must say... for the amount of potential this book held, it didn't do justice to the original Jane Eyre character. I'm sorry.

This is a very loose retelling of Jane Eyre through the eyes of Adele the young girl Jane Eyre was hired to care for in the source material. Adele becomes a vigilante for woman who have been wronged by men, but it was so disturbing. Overall the pace of the book was so slow that it was difficult to stay focused on the story. There were some sweet moments in the first part of the book, which is Adele's early life with Jane. The book takes a dark turn when Adele is sent to boarding school on London. After an assault, Jane teams up with a street-smart con woman and murder. The idea that the sexual violence against women is encouraged by those in power so let's take justice into our own hands approach to the rest of the novel just rang hollow for me. While there was some intriguing discussions about consent for women, I never felt drawn to the characters or their motivation. This was an attempt at an historical #metoo novel that feel flat. Elisabeth Lagelee did an admirable job with the material she was given.

I feel like this book did a good job of capturing the atmosphere of Jane Eyre but I could not ever fully get behind the main character's motivations. I think that there are many people who will enjoy this book unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

I was really looking forward to this one, because it is a historical and a thriller (not a common mix within YA). The premise sounded very interesting -- a girl who gets revenge on her and her friends' attackers. And as someone who is in their vengeful women era, this seemed perfect for me, Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the audiobook narrator. They did not seem to fit with the vibe of the novel at all, which really turned me off to the entire thing.

I absolutely loved this book! I haven't read Jane Eyre in probably 30 years, but after reading and enjoying this so much I went back to revisit it.

I fell in love with Adele, and the author did an amazing job telling the story from her point of view.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy. It was so good I pre-ordered my own audio copy on Audible.

This was a fine story. I enjoyed the play on a mystery and from the murders pov. There was a lot of excess language and that is probably due to the time period which the story was trying to personify but it was very distracting.

This just fell flat for me. I was drawn in by the synopsis, but I don't feel this read delivered on the vengeful feminine rage that I was promised. I wasn't that interested in Adele or her story, but I loved Nan. I think this would have been a much more successful read had it just focused on their backstory. The twists didn't deliver and the ending was rushed. I read to finish rather than because I cared about much of anything aside from Nan. Even the sapphic aspects of the story weren't enough to save it for me (words I never thought I would say tbh)

As for the audio, it was fine. I struggled with the VoiceGalley, so I waited for the actual published copy to release before listening.

I'm sure this has an audience, but idk who it would be.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for review.

This is told from the perspective of Adele, Mr.Rochester's female ward. It shows her early life growing up in a French brothel, her life with Mr. Rochester and Jane, and finally her life at boarding school.

This was an interesting read, especially if you are one who liked Jane Eyre. Many of the characters are incredibly likable and the reader feels connected with them. However, the end of the book was confusing and filled with plot holes, which kind of let the air out of the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Reader, I Murdered Him by Betsy Cornwell continues the story of Jane Eyre, but focusing on the Mr. Rochester’s adopted child Adele and offers a voice to her since her existence was basically forgotten after Jane became involved with Mr. Rochester. Adele is sent to a boarding school and finds herself among the friendships she makes. One of the things she finds in herself is the desire to protect her friends from the cruelty that is men.
***
This is a story of a queer teen vigilante who had her eyes opened to the wider world while with her mother in France before being taken in by Mr. Rochester and also while under Mr. Rochester’s care when she becomes aware of Bertha in the house.
I had conflicted feelings over the story, I don’t think I disliked Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre as much as the author to have really liked the ending of this book, but it is incredibly easy to dislike him the way the author wrote him, so there is that. I liked the build up of Adele and the relationships she had with the different students at her boarding school. The story was pretty easy to read and stay with. Overall an enjoyable enough read.

I will be honest that this book was just not up to par. It was a lofty goal that fell very very short. The characters were pretty plain, the setting was black and white, and although this is a revamp of a classic, I never felt that it adding anything new. The most enjoyable part of this was the title. An unfortunate blunder.

The audio for this title absolutely played a part in the dislike of the book. With a terrible grammatical rhythm, it was very shaky and hard to listen to. The monotone voice never lent to any enjoyment of the characters either.

I received a copy of this and it uses synthetic voices. I typically don’t have an issue with synthetic voices as I do require use of speechify occasionally, but with the lack of high quality audio of the NetGalley app the combo did not work and I couldn’t finish.

I just realized that I know this author from another book I adored!!!
MECHANICA

This book was a far story that,
Well gives away the story in the title.

The main character is goin thru her adolescence and growing into her adult self.

#ReaderIMurderedHim #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out! Wonderful read.

I LOVED this cheeky, dark retelling of Jane Eyre from the perspective of the charge she was initially hired to educate. Adele is world-weary, suspicious, and lacking in sentimentality after her early years living in a brothel, where she had a survivalist mentality drilled into her. And survive, she does!

I was very excited for this book. but with out a real narrator its hard to review. you can't connect with the synthetic voice.

I absolutely love this book! Adele has street smarts and never fails to utilize them to her advantage. This is the sapphic vigilante untold story I never knew I needed.

Simply the best title out there.

It set the bar high, and I'm new to audiobook book reviews narrated by a generic reader, and had to separate the lackluster performance from what turned out to be a surprisingly solid and clever story.

It is a dark, Victorian, darkly romantic tale, which is also "fan fiction." If you are spoiler averse, stop here.

If you are still with me, this is an alternate perspective sequel to Jane Eyre, replete with contemporary causes and empowering characters who you will cheer for (if you are not a monster.) The imagined world is lushly devious, yet honest and empowering. The final twist is icing on this delectable confection.

What a fantastic title this is, it immediately made me want to check the book out. Add in an LGBTQ+ romance and some vigilante justice and you've got a pretty great starting point.

The first half was a bit boring in places, we meet Adele and get a quick retelling of Jane Eyre. The second half is when Adele gets involved in helping young women fight back against men who would take advantage of them. I enjoyed watching Adele learn to defend herself and realize that she has power and can take control of her future if she's willing to reject what society and her adoptive father want for her.

The message of this is great, the pacing is pretty quick, and the twist at the end was unexpected. I wish the parts of Adele fighting men and learning to live a new life were a bit longer, but it was a good read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for the copy

Okay, let me start by saying I was really excited to get this one. But now that I’ve finished, I honestly can’t tell you what it was about. This one just wasn’t for me.

If you obsessively love the STYLE of Jane Eyre, then this book beautifully replicates that style with a hint of modernization and feminism. However, one drawback of that style is that it's SLOW. The first murder--which for me was the selling point of the cool premise--doesn't happen until 45% of the way in.

[Also, I know this does not reflect on the quality of the book, but it is extremely eerie to have an audiobook read by a robot with a British accent. Sometimes paragraphs would go by and I would forget, but other times, every sentence would be glaringly obviously.]