A Breath of Eyre

Fieldnotes:
1 Contemporary Re-telling of [Jane Eyre]
1 Time-slip (Maybe) into [Jane Eyre] leading to:
- Several Swaths of Text Only Marginally and Uninspiredly Taken from the Original
4 (!) Near-Death Experiences
1 Wholly Unnecessary Injection of Voodoo

2 Brooding Possibilities for Mr Rochester
0 Love Triangles (YAY!)
1 Irascible Roommate with Issues
1 Super-Creepy English Teacher
1 School Dance
1 Game of Poker Polygraph

2 Attempts at an Essay of which
- 1 Intriguing and Critical Thesis Regarding Source Material
2 Important Competitions
1 Pretty Bad Poem of Great Import
1 Disciplinary Hearing Threatening Expulsion

The Long Version:
I was lured in by the pretty cover, by the title, by the promise of what I like to call 'Book Hopping'. And it is probably show more partly due to my expectations (that this would be a mixture of Wuthering High by Cara Lockwood and The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde) that I was a bit disappointed with A Breath of Eyre.

While I really enjoyed the more critical feminist reading of the text and the exploration (though a bit one-sided without considering the historical context - though admittedly that might have made the entire book read like an essay) of Bertha's role in [Jane Eyre], I wasn't as sold on Emma's life mirroring the story (though Grey is more charming than Mr Rochester in my eyes).

And most surprisingly as it was the part I was most looking forward to, I really disliked the sections where Emma slipped into the story. The means (which seemed to involve her ending up in the hospital a lot) were not terribly satisfactory and after the first seemed increasingly contrived. And once arrived, large sections seem to have been simply taken from the Bronte novel and reworked/reworded to include Emma's POV. Not the wonderings of a girl suddenly trapped in an unfamiliar environment (other than an initial chamber pot incident), but an easy acceptance that seems out-of-place. Especially in the first section where she simply gives herself over to the Jane Eyre character, there is barely any of Emma's voice left at all. And when she starts deviating from the story line, there's barely any Eyre left at all. It just didn't work for me.

Surprisingly, the modern sections worked much better for me than the reworked Jane Eyre sections, and I found myself wanting to spend significantly more time with Emma's roommate of Haitian descent Michelle and her awesome Aunt Darlene at the incredibly tasty-sounding bakery (rather than with the actual protagonist who came off as oblivious and kind of whiny). show less

First off, many thanks to Kensington for providing me with a review copy of this book. It's one I've wanted to read since I heard about it, so I was thrilled at the chance to get my hands on it early.

I'm a HUGE fan of Jane Eyre. It's one of my all-time favorite books. I was excited to read a new take on it. Guess what? It went far beyond everything I'd hoped for.

I was expecting a retelling, I guess. I thought that it would be kind of like every other retelling-same story with a few new elements.

But it wasn't.

It gave me the chance to view Jane Eyre in a whole new light.

It let me see what might have happened had Jane had a stronger voice, if she had been able to keep her resolution to stay away from Mr. Rochester after the incident with show more Bertha. It let me see Bertha in a whole new light, and I think that was what I appreciated/loved the most.

Every time I've read Jane Eyre, I've kind of glossed over Bertha as the insane first wife of Mr. Rochester. I never once stopped to consider WHY she was the way she was, who might have driven her to complete madness, and what her dreams might have been. After reading A Breath of Eyre, I'd like to go back and reexamine my feelings on Bertha. I'd like to give her a chance.

I loved that the overall moral of the story wasn't win at all costs or shame the mean girls into being nice (though I loved that one time when Elise got hers. Man, I didn't like that girl.). The point was really to find your own voice, to be able to be heard above the clatter. When Emma finally found her voice, I rejoiced.

Mont's writing is fantastic. I didn't feel like she ever got bogged down in the minutia, nor did she resort to cliches. She just wrote solid, beautiful words.

Yes, it was a YA romance. Yes, it had elements of YA that can drive people nuts. NO, it did not drive me nuts at any point. No, I did not find it mundane. I found it powerful, moving, and inspirational. There's a message of forgiveness, both through Emma's experiences as Jane and her interactions with Gray. I love that she could take what she learned as Jane and apply it to her life.

Here's an example of one of my favorite lines:

"The sign of a true woman isn't the ability to recite French poetry or play the pianoforte or cook Chateaubriand. The sign of a true woman is learning to listen to her own voice even when society does its best to drown it out." (p. 300)

Isn't that WONDERFUL?!

This is one of my new favorites, and I will absolutely be getting copies of the next two books. I'm giving this a 'Pick Me' for being fabulous! show less

As a lover of the original Jane Eyre, I am drawn to adaptations of the story. That being said, this wasn't what I was anticipating. More than anything else, it was a contemporary young adult novel with flashbacks (if you will) to scenes from Jane Eyre (some of which seemed to take the original text from the novel nearly verbatim.)

I find it interesting that the author chooses to address Bertha's plight or her side of the story and make it seem as though no one had ever thought of the feminist issues within Jane Eyre. There was no mention of The Wide Sargasso Sea or literary critiques such as "The Madwoman in the Attic", even as a footnote or anything like that. In addition, the characters from Jane Eyre seemed to lack their show more vivacity and charisma.

The book itself is well-written, and perhaps if I weren't such a big fan of Jane Eyre then I may have enjoyed this book more. I would suspect that young adults unfamiliar with Jane Eyre will appreciate this book more than I did. show less

First of all, THANK YOU KENSINGTON for the ARC. :)

The story was so addicting! It flew! I started reading this book a few weeks ago when I was bored of doing some math homework and I couldn't believe how fast I read. Sadly, I didn't finish before math reclaim me so now school is over, I pick it up right away. (That is why it had taken me weeks to read, not because the story is slow and bad but school is slow and bad.)
Okay now for the review to truly begin.

The quality of writing Eve demonstrated was pure bliss. I adored how this book didn't sound like a cheesy, teenage life story. Emma sounded sophisticated and mature. I dislike how some YA portray teens as ignorant, and whiny. I really enjoyed Emma's character. When the characters show more needed to be more "teenage like", the tone was there. When Emma and her friends were at Lockwood, there were gossips, mean girls etc. - you know your typical school drama. The story was written in a causal teen voice. I loved Emma, she was a "true teen" (by that I mean she really acted like a normal teenager and not a forced character that an author was trying to make). I usually hate main character but I just love her. I love Gray because he was a super sweet and good looking guy (tanned skin with dog tags...yum I am picturing Rafael Nadal with dog tags...be right back, I had a nose bleed).



Plus Gray is called "The Silent Swimmer"...*faints* I am now picturing one of my favorite cartoon characters.



I loved Michelle and feel bad for her. Damn that girl gets the cake for shit happening to her. I liked Owen because he was adorable. Now I had mentioned the characters...it is time for the romance. There were many times in the novel that I had no idea which guy Emma wouldn't end up with. (I'm not saying this like she has ten billion guys falling head over heel for her - killing everyone in sight like The House of Night series.) Everyone looked good with Emma. They all fitted Emma, not in a sexual way in The House of Night way but in a sweet, romantic way. The romance was so complex, as the story arrived at the last chunk of the story, whoever Emma up with seems PERFECT! I couldn't suppress my approval! They look WAAAYY too cute together! They are going into my book OTP (one true pairing), right beside Toraf and Rayna from Of Poseidon.

But then things happened then I didn't know what to think!

Gosh! It was such an emotional ride. And now to the plot of the story.
The plot of the book was just amazing! It was so unexpected! You might think "Oh Jane Eyre, that's predictable." But no! There were parts where it reminded me of some of the Supernatural episodes (not the glory fighting cutting zombies episodes, but a little more mysterious type.) While reading, I kept on asking where the story would go. I kept on thinking that the story will end soon but realized I still have half the book unfinished. The story was just so interesting! The sweet, romantic, friendship forming part was right up there with Nicolas Spark. I imagined a whole movie scene with some of the dramatic parts! I was completely emotionally invested in this book. Wow! It felt like I was there, being a part of every character, feeling all the pains and need for forgiveness. The passages were so emotional and not dragging.Everything just had enough, pure perfection.
Eve created two worlds, both beautiful, and unique, different and intriguing. The tone Eve created just transferred me into the story. It was what I expect the time period to be like. It was so believable and I could picture everything so precisely. Well done! I cannot wait for A Touch of Scarlet and especially A PHANTOM ENCHANTMENT! Are you kidding me?!



I just found another reason to live in this world! (Whoa, I sound so gloomy and depressed there, but that was just an expression.)

See review with pictures: http://firestarbooks.blogspot.ca/2012/06/review-breath-of-eyre-by-eve-marie-mont... show less

I loved this novel! It was the exact right mix of fantasy(daydreaming?) and reality. I love contemporary fiction. I love fantasy. Mix em up and I'm in heaven. Throw in one of my favorite literary novels and I have actually died and gone to heaven!! This one even dealt respectfully with the issue of Bipolar Disorder. Teens do have it hard. They've got all those hormones going on, then all those issues, that now seem so small to us as adults, but to the teens reading YA, seem HUGE! They were to me. Like what to wear and who liked who and what I got on my Algebra test. But throw in being a scholarship student just trying to be invisible so you don't incur the wrath of the popular girls, a stepmother who you can't stand, and a weird change show more in your relationship with the boy you've known since you were a toddler and now you're crushing on and you've got even bigger problems. Oh, and then there's that whole living Jane Eyre's life thing. Kinda tough. Just a note- This is absolutely not a retelling of Jane Eyre or Emma living the life of Jane Eyre. It goes back and forth between the present and Jane Eyre.

The thing I loved about this book was that there was a plausible explanation for Emma being in Jane Eyre. I won't say why, but something happened to her that would account for her possibly dreaming the whole thing even though it felt real. And even though Emma knew the story of Jane Eyre, she only vaguely remembered bits and pieces of the story while she was in it so that she had to make her own decisions and didn't try to copy the decisions that Jane had. She grew to really love her time at Thornfield and she really doesn't know anything about the strange goings on in the house or the secret Rochester is keeping from her, from everyone. And Emma comes back from Thornfield and has to deal with real life. And it's tough. Things aren't easy and Emma isn't exactly one for facing up to hard things. And then she escapes again to Jane Eyre when she should be facing something hard.

I loved the way a minor, but forceful character in Jane Eyre was brought to life and concentrated on. I also loved that the people at Thornfield were all familiar to Emma, from her English teacher to the librarian. And that the truths in Jane Eyre made Emma question the truths in her own life and show some true character growth. While I didn't love Emma in the beginning, I admired her in the end for the things she did to help the people she loved.

Some of the sides characters were really lovable. Emma's troubled friend Gray was very genuine. I knew from the moment he started trading wisecracks with her that I would love him if I were her. They'd known each other forever, their mothers being best friends. Their circumstances were different, his family wealthy, hers not and her mother dead. But they were still thrown together because his mother kept in touch. There were hints about him being a player before but in this book he was sincere and caring and I really loved him. There was also Michelle, Emma's roommate, tough on the outside, but just the same scared girl on the inside, thrown to the wolves of the super rich and their unfortunate target because she was on scholarship and spoke her mind. And the hippie like Owen who is so down to earth despite his father's incredible wealth.

This novel blows all the other fall into another character book books out of the water. The contrast between the present and the book kept it from being a copy or rewrite of Jane Eyre and made it something really enjoyable to read. It was fast paced and the romance, though it kept you guessing (no love triangle!) was perfect. And this is a series! The next book is A Touch of Scarlet with the book pairing being The Scarlet Letter. And there is a scene from that book in the end of the book (I read the ARC). There is also a great quiz in the back to take to see what literary character you are. It was fun and actually enlightening for me to take.
I highly recommend this book for lovers of YA contemporary, historicals, fantasy, romance, or just a really great book! I am really looking forward to A Touch of Scarlet.

*Just a note, I don't think you have to read Jane Eyre, but I think it helps. Some references are vague and you may not understand. The emphasis wasn't a retelling of Jane Eyre or living in the book of Jane Eyre.

Heather
I received an ARC of this novel from the author for review. This in no way influenced my opinions of the novel. Thank you Eve Marie Mont for the ARC. show less

Not a particularly bad book, but I didn't enjoy it. Emma bounces back and forth between both worlds. She enjoys both, but I feel comfortable in neither. I didn't care what happened to Emma or the extra characters in either setting. Only once we get to the end when Emma defends her thesis do I understand the vibe I'm receiving. It feels like the thesis was, in fact, the author's, and the story was an elaborate device mixed with fan fiction to further promote her point of view regarding the treatment of women in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. Again, not a bad book, but it wasn't for me.

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT: http://shelversanon.blogspot.com/2013/02/4-in-1-review-techno-thriller-two.html

Emma Townsend is a lonely girl of 16 who attends a boarding school, Lockwood, on scholarship (meaning that she is looked down upon by most of the other students who are from wealthy families). Her childhood friend, Gray Newman, 18, good looking and popular (and whom Emma now considers to be out of her league), is even dating one of the snobbiest girls from Lockwood, Elise Fairchild. Elise and her friends fit the typical popular rich girl stereotypes – Elise is as beautiful as she is mean, and her friends do her bidding and help her gang up on students they consider to be inferior.

Emma’s mom died when Emma was quite young, and she has a stepmother, Barbara, who tries to be a mom to Emma but Emma isn’t having any of it. Instead, she show more still pines for her mother. Otherwise, Emma focuses on trying to be a writer (she keeps a journal), and daydreams about her handsome Brit Lit teacher, Mr. Gallagher (who reminds her of Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre). In fact, Emma is writing a paper about Jane Eyre for her class project.

In the meanwhile, Emma’s finally gets a friend – her new roommate, Michelle, also a scholarship student, and the two of them find a third friend in a boy from Braburn (where Gray attends), Owen Mabry. One night while the three of them get caught out in a storm, Emma is hit by lightening. Somehow, she finds herself back at Thornfield in the 19th Century, and she has stepped into the life of Jane Eyre. The characters from the book also happen to resemble those from her real life: for example, Mrs. Fairfax looks just her French teacher, and Mr. Rochester is of course Mr. Gallagher.

When she finally wakes up from the lightening-induced coma (using her mother’s dragonfly pendant instead of - say - ruby slippers to help her get back), everything is different for Emma, who has learned, after all, that there is no place like home.

Discussion: There are resemblances to The Wizard of Oz as well as Jane Eyre in this story, along with some aspects of time travel and questions about changing history. There is also a re-interpretation of Bertha’s story from Jane Eyre, with Emma/Jane painting her as a much more sympathetic figure, victimized by her status as a depressed woman in a society which, not unlike Emma’s Lockwood School, marginalized any female who was different.

On the whole, however, I liked the contemporary story much more than the time when Emma was back at Thornfield. For one thing, I thought there was far too much of direct quoting from Jane Eyre – I’ve read that book so many times it was actually kind of boring to me to have so much of it rehashed word for word.

I also thought that while there is an argument to be made for a feminist interpretation of the plight of Bertha Mason, the author changed the facts of the original story somewhat in order to do it. In this one case in which she didn’t actually use the original verbatim, I felt it would have been far more effective to do so.

Third, there are times when she conflates the characters of Gray and Mr. Gallagher, both of whom take on some of the traits of Mr. Rochester. I think she should have stuck with one or the other.

Finally, the author was developing an interesting plotline about Michelle’s father that she dropped. I thought for sure that the person who handed Michelle the roses toward the end of the book would figure in that relationship, but it was not taken any farther. On the other hand, it seems that Emma’s story continues in a book to come, in which she apparently goes back into the world of The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps Michelle’s story will continue as well.

Evaluation: This story will no doubt be found very rewarding for fans of Jane Eyre retellings. The author also is to be commended for handling the time travel "logistics" better than many such books. show less