Jane by April Lindner
October 2010 by Poppy
Hardcover, 384 pages
Review Copy
Book Synopsis
Forced to drop out of an esteemed East Coast college after the sudden death of her parents, Jane Moore takes a nanny job at Thornfield Park, the estate of Nico Rathburn, an iconic rock star on the brink of a huge comeback. Practical and independent, Jane reluctantly becomes entranced by her magnetic and brooding employer, and finds herself in the midst of a forbidden romance. But there's a mystery at Thornfield, and Jane's much-envied relationship with Nico is tested by a torturous secret from his past..(Goodreads)
Review
Jane Eyre (one of my favorite female hero's) falls in love with a middle-aged rock star....only in this version her name is Jane Moore. Shortly after the death of her parents, Jane finds her self penniless, unable to pay tuition and must drop out of Sarah Lawrence. Desperate for a job, Jane applies for a nanny position and soon lands a job working for Nico Rathburn, a very well-known somewhat notorious rock star. So Jane begins watching Nico's daughter and slowly but surely gains the affections of Nico, as they talk, hang out, swim and swoon over each other. Jane follows very closely to the original plotline, but gives the reader some great brain candy...having Mr. Rochester as Nico Rathburn, a smoking hot tortured rock star made the sexual chemistry much more steamy than the original. I liked that besides the hotness factor Lindner still featured Nico with the same struggles as Edward. Jane falls in love with Nico not for his fame, money or sexiness but for the artist and dramatic person he encapsulated. While I didn't like his parenting style, he was in sense trying to do all the right things, even his past things that haunted the story. Mr. Rochester wasn't the best dad either though, nor was he the best when it came to relationships. I think reading along I wasn't prepared for the F-bombs that flew out of his mouth...not that swearing bothers me but coming from this classic character it was so weird.
I had to read this because it was about Jane….I had to read this because Edward Rochester was one of the first male characters I ever had the pleasure to fall in love with………That being said, I had mixed feelings on this retelling of my favorite Gothic classic. For the teen reader, the author defiantly took liberties in modernizing a classic tale of love and creepy mystery and twisting it with language, drugs, rock and roll and graphic sexuality-although the concept behind the novel was to make Jane and Edward “modern” some fans (die hard fans) of Jane Eyre will not like the liberties taken because of the classic nature of who Jane and Edward were, to the teen reader though it may intrigue them to read the classic…and that’s always a good thing!! Overall well written and fun to see Lindner's take on my favorite couple.
Rating
Jane is recommended to the mature teen (10th&up) and adult. Content contains: Drinking, drug use, violence, death, sexuality, child abuse and language.
3/5- YA- Romance- Classic Retelling
Copy provided by Around the World Tours
Oh, man, I've kind of been looking at this book and wondering if I want to read it. Your review makes me want to! I guess I kind of like the rock-star update. I've never read the classic Jane Eyre, though. >.>
ReplyDeleteI don't know what it was about this book, but I fell in love with it. I liked the simple yet very endearing characters. I've never read Jane Eyre so I can't talk about it on that aspect, but still a very enjoyable read.
ReplyDeleteI'm so stoked about this. Sad to hear it doesn't rock but thanks for the honest review. I can always count on you to give me the straight up low down :)
ReplyDeleteI'm a little hesistant to start this now, but it's calling my name...
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting. Thanks for the review! :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting remake...Parenting and relationships are hard. I think I could get into this one.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell I'm finally catching up on my blog commenting?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I confess, I STILL haven't read Jane Eyre! I don't know how I missed it but it's on my Kindle waiting for a spare minute. I definitely want to read this book and have heard good things about it but I think I'll probably wait until after I've read the original.