Review: A Breath of Eyre (Unbound #1) by Eve Marie Mont
Author: Eve Marie Mont
Series: Unbound #1
Publisher: K Teen Books, an imprint of Kensington Publishing Corp.
Publication Date: March 27, 2012
Pages: 325
Format/Source: ARC/Won from Goodreads
Age Group/Genre: Young Adult/Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Retelling
Emma Townsend has always believed in stories—the ones she reads voraciously, and the ones she creates in her head. 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… (From Goodreads)
A Bit of Excitement…
I really enjoyed Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte when I read it last year (Yes! I hadn’t read it until last year! That’s crazy, I know!), so when I heard about A Breath of Eyre I was really excited to read it. A Jane Eyre retelling that has time travel? Count me in! So I was even more excited when I found out that I won an ARC through Goodreads First Reads. (Thanks again to Goodreads and the author!)
A Fast-Paced Read…
I’ve always been a pretty slow reader, and I calculated the other day that it takes me, on average, about 5 days to read a book. Which, to me, is too long! But I read half of this book in one day. It was that intriguing and fast-paced that I just couldn’t put it down! And I took the next day to work on my blog, and then the tornadoes came to town, so I wasn’t able to finish this book in a short amount of time. But I could have! The story just sucked me in and if I had had the time, I could have finished this in one day. Since I’m such a slow reader, I think that says a lot.
Clever Writing…
I really like the whole concept of this book – Emma gets hit by lightning and suddenly she is Jane Eyre, living at Thornfield, teaching English to young Adele, and falling in love with Rochester. However, the only fault I found with this book is that at one point Emma begins to forget who she really is, and it seemed like this book was going to be nothing but a slightly altered Jane Eyre. But then Emma was thrust back into her actual time, and I was relieved.
One thing I really enjoyed was that the storyline of Emma’s actual time really mirrored the story of Jane Eyre. A lot of the characters had similar lines or actions as the characters in Jane Eyre, and so this became not only a story about a girl who goes into the story of Jane Eyre, but it’s really a true retelling in and of itself.
Bonus Points…
Mont deserves a few bonus points from me:
- There was one point in the story where I was like, “OMG if this happens, the author gets a thousand bonus points!” And it happened! (Sorry for the vagueness – I don’t want to spoil anyone!) So +1,000 points!
- Harry Potter reference. Since I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, any reference to Harry Potter gets 50 million points. So, yeah, +50 million points!
- Making fun of Crocs. My absolute favorite lines in the story were when Emma goes to her grandmother and asks her, “Did you ever experience something you couldn’t explain?” and her grandmother says, “You mean, like Twitter? Or those plastic ventilated shoes I see people wearing. What are they called?”* This totally made me laugh out loud. Sorry followers, but Crocs are ridiculously ugly and should be made fun of on a regular basis, in my opinion. So all the points go to you, Eve Marie Mont.
Disclaimer: I won this book through a giveaway. I was not compensated in any way for this review.
*These quotes are from the ARC. I was not able to find a finalized copy to check these against, so these quotes may be different in the finalized copy.
Related Posts
fakesteph
April 20, 2012 at 12:20 pmGO READ THE SCARLET LETTER! I love that book. Now on to a real comment. :) I'm really excited to read this one so I'm glad you liked it. It sounds like SUCH a cool concept. I LOVE complex characters so that is good to hear as well.
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 21, 2012 at 1:27 amI know! I really need to read it. It's weird – when I was in school we didn't read it, we read The Scarlet Pimpernel instead. Which I really enjoyed and need to read again. But yeah, I plan on reading The Scarlet Letter sometime in the next year so that I've got it read before the second book in this series!
Bengal Reads
April 20, 2012 at 4:19 pmI haven't read Jane Eyre!! Ughh, that's horrible I know… I really need to start reading more classics! I love your review and how you gave extra points lol, the points were funny lol I hate crocs too! I am going to have to get to reading Jane Eyre first and then this book because it sounds so so good and I love this cover too!
Kayla @ Bengal Reads
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 21, 2012 at 1:28 amDon't feel too bad – I didn't read Jane Eyre until a year ago. But yeah, I need to read more of the classics, too.
Yes, another person with me against Crocs! I knew you were cool! ;)
Yeah, I'd advise you to read Jane Eyre first. I don't think you absolutely have to, but I think it makes it that much more interesting.
Kate@Midnight Book Girl
April 20, 2012 at 7:10 pmI really need to read this! I don't think I've ever officially read Jane Eyre either- it's one of those books that I've half convinced myself I've read but haven't. I did get a beautiful copy of it when Borders was going out of business. Great review, and I can't wait to get to this book- but I'll read Jane Eyre first!
Can't wait for tomorrow- and I am an official cheerleader for your blog!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 21, 2012 at 1:30 amYou should totally read Jane Eyre! And I don't know if it's absolutely necessary to read it before reading this one, but I think it makes the story that much more interesting. You pick up on the similarities, and I don't think you would if you hadn't read Jane Eyre first.
I'm so excited for tomorrow, too! And it's so cool that you were assigned to cheer for my blog! ;)
Bittner
April 21, 2012 at 12:47 pmI haven't read Scarlet Letter yet either!
I'm glad you liked the book so much! Five big stars is huge! I loved Jane Eyre and I remember that I read it around the same time you did. Remember we were going to go see the movie but we never did!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 22, 2012 at 2:35 amI know! I thought about that while reading this book! I have the movie on my Netflix queue – you should come over and watch it sometime or I could come over there!
Patricia
April 21, 2012 at 6:02 pmThis sounds so cool! I think I'd have a bit of a problem with the Jane-episode, too, but mainly because it'd feel like the protagonist stole Jane's life in that timespan. XD
Great review!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 22, 2012 at 2:36 amYeah, it was kind of like she stole Jane's life for a while since she forgot who she really was. But then she went back to her time and it all worked out. Thanks for stopping by! ;)
Andrea @ Cozy Up
April 23, 2012 at 10:24 pmI love the synopsis of this book. I fell in love with Jane Eyre when I read it in school. And I love the idea that the character is transported into her body. Thanks for the great review, this is one I badly want to read!!
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 25, 2012 at 2:29 amYes, you should totally read it! Sounds like you'd really enjoy it!
LHughes
April 24, 2012 at 2:41 amI love, love love Jane Eyre. It's in my top five fav books of all time. So I'm super excited that people are seeming to enjoy Breath of Eyre! I definitely want to read it! And the cover is super pretty! :)
Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase
April 25, 2012 at 2:29 amYeah, you should read it, too! I really enjoyed it a lot!