Jane Slayre: The Literary Classic with a Blood-Sucking Twist
by Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin
What is it about:
Jane Slayre, our plucky demon-slaying heroine, a courageous orphan who spurns the detestable vampyre kin who raised her, sets out on the advice of her ghostly uncle to hone her skills as the fearless slayer she’s meant to be. When she takes a job as a governess at a country estate, she falls head-over-heels for her new master, Mr. Rochester, only to discover he’s hiding a violent werewolf in the attic—in the form of his first wife. Can a menagerie of bloodthirsty, flesh-eating, savage creatures-of-the-night keep a swashbuckling nineteenth-century lady from the gentleman she intends to marry? Vampyres, zombies, and werewolves transform Charlotte Brontë’s unforgettable masterpiece into an eerie paranormal adventure that will delight and terrify.
What did I think of it:
The first part of this retelling of Jane Eyre is the best part of the book.
There's zombie mayhem, zombie slaughtering and more zombies!
With a start like that I was sure I'd be delighted by this book all through, but then Jane went to work for Rochester and the thrills died down.
Don't get me wrong: the story is very cool. Anyone who has ever read the original will know that. It's just that the added vampires, werewolves and other stuff were too little to be able to compete with the original story. Wether this is because Browning Erwin showed too much respect for the original story or because Brontë’s penmanship just can't be topped I do not know, but I felt like I could just as well have read the original as there wasn't that much difference between the two versions.
So when I finished this book I felt a great deal of disappointment, especially as this book started out so very promising, but failed to deliver in the end. I do not think I'll reread this version, I'll grab the original instead.
Why should you read it:
The zombie bits are really cool!
4 comments:
I love zombie mash-ups! I thought this might be kind of a vampire slayer thing, but I think zombies are beter. I might try this one, but if the mash-up doesn't work well, I might just pass on it.
Hi, Just gave you the Liebster Blog award!! http://darkfrannysthoughts.blogspot.com/2011/08/liebster-blog-award.html
+JMJ+
Hmmmm. I think I know what you mean about the mayhem suddenly dying down. When I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the parts I liked least were those which stayed most true to Jane Austen's original text.
Jane Eyre is my favourite novel in the world, but I think I'd want a vampire parody to be as full of vampires as possible!
@Titania: zombies are always better! ;-)
@Enbrethiliel: Yes! You get what I mean.
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