My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

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.

Series:  Lady Janies #2 | Publisher: HarperAudio| Narrator: Fiona Hardingham  | Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins | Genre: Historical Paranormal  | Source: Purchased | Rating: 1

Challenges Read For:  -  2019 Try Something New new-to-me series | FraterFest

 

I was searching Audible for something to use my monthly credit on and this popped up. I’m such a Jane Eyre fan—and I’m always looking for a new adaptation—that I knew I needed this book in my life. Turns out, I really didn’t.

 

Okay, before I get ranty, let me tell you, dear readers, about this book. Jane Eyre and Charlotte Brontë are at Lowood Institution when a supernatural investigator seeks out Jane (who just so happens to see ghosts). While Jane has the ability, she’s not interested in helping Alexander with his ghost hunt, all she wants to do is become a governess and she just so happens to have a job at Thornfield Hall tending to the young ward of Mr. Rochester. Yet things aren’t what they seem. As Jane attempts to figure out what’s going on things start to get interesting with Charlotte and Alexander.

 

Had this book not been a Jane Eyre retelling it would have been a decent read. Although it is a Jane Eyre retelling where Charlotte Brontë (the author of Jane Eyre) and her brother, Branwell are also characters so it was all a bit preposterous

 

There’s so much rambling, especially from Charlotte, about Jane Austen and how she wants to find her own Mr. Darcy that it was laughable. Had the authors actually conducted a bit of research (as was mentioned numerous times throughout the novel) then they would have found out that Charlotte couldn’t stand Jane Austen or her work.

 

If you’re familiar with the original version of Jane Eyre, then you’ll know that the narrator often breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader. My Plain Jane uses that device as well although unlike Jane Eyre the asides in this one are rather juvenile and add nothing to the story, which became a bit annoying.

 

The way they handled Rochester and Bertha had me rolling my eyes. Given that most readers want to see the relationship develop between Jane and Rochester, this adaption was just insane.

 

Overall, the premise of this one was interesting but the authors ruined it when they decided to thrown in Jane Eyre and the Brontës. Had they made this an original story, it could have made for a decent YA read. Although the way this one came out, I really can’t find one thing to recommend about it.

Lady Janies Series

#1 My Lady Jane

#2 My Plain Jane