Sunday, January 5, 2014

A Breath of Eyre by Eve Marie Mont

12267739Summary:
In this stunning, imaginative novel, Eve Marie Mont transports her modern-day heroine into the life of Jane Eyre to create a mesmerizing story of love, longing, and finding your place in the world. . .

Emma Townsend has always believed in stories--the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates. Perhaps it's because she feels like an outsider at her exclusive prep school, or because her stepmother doesn't come close to filling the void left by her mother's death. And her only romantic prospect--apart from a crush on her English teacher--is Gray Newman, a long-time friend who just adds to Emma's confusion. But escape soon arrives in an old leather-bound copy of Jane Eyre. . .

Reading of Jane's isolation sparks a deep sense of kinship. Then fate takes things a leap further when a lightning storm catapults Emma right into Jane's body and her nineteenth-century world. As governess at Thornfield, Emma has a sense of belonging she's never known--and an attraction to the brooding Mr. Rochester. Now, moving between her two realities and uncovering secrets in both, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of Jane's story, or in the unwritten chapters of her own. . .

Review:
I read A Breath of Eyre over a month ago, and somehow forgot to review it. So I don't remember the exact thoughts I had after finishing this book, but I do know that I really liked it.

Jane Eyre is one of my favorite classic novels so I love reading YA that's inspired by this great work. Eve Marie Mont did a wonderful job of incorporating the aspects and themes of Jane Eyre into A Breath of Eyre. Not only does Emma get catapulted into the actual story of Jane Eyre and becomes Jane, but her real life mirrors the book pretty well too. Her mother is dead and she feels isolated, especially at her boarding school. That is, until she makes a new friend. Romantic interest Gray is also a parallel to Mr. Rochester and has his own secret that Emma must figure out.

Even though I know how Jane Eyre ends, that didn't stop me from enjoying this book. First off, when Emma is in the story, she changes the ending. She doesn't act the same way that Jane does and that really surprised. I liked seeing Emma become her own character with more depth. Apparently there are two more books in this trilogy and I'm really curious as to how the author makes those stories work too. Though the next book is A Touch of Scarlet and I've never read The Scarlet Letter. I guess now I better get on that.

Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library.

2013/Kensington Publishing/353 pages.

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