Summary:
"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..."
My Thoughts:
Okay, I'm going to put this out right now...THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW. I usually try to avoid it when possible, but I'm sorry, I don't think I'll be able to this time. A Breath of Eyre is the first of a trilogy, with the second A Study in Scarlet being released next month. Based on the titles, you see that book one has parallels with Jane Eyre, book two visits The Scarlet Letter, and the third book, A Phantom Enchantment, shall follow The Phantom of the Opera. All classic pieces of literature, and I'm very curious to see how Eve Marie Mont weaves these stories together.
This was a great first novel, and I really found that I connected with Emma, probably because she is a writer and absolutely loves reading. It was brilliant. However, it is sort of obvious why her dad and her stepmother are worried about her, and think that she may be mentally ill, much like her mother was. Here's where the SPOILERS come into play. In the course of this book, Emma almost drowns, is struck by lightning, gets caught in a burning barn while trying to save horses, and then almost drowns again. Four hospital visits in the one school year that this novel spans. Now, admittedly, most of these occurrences are accidental, and two of them help serve as her gateways into the world of Jane Eyre, but wow. I just have to say that if Eve Marie Mont has to make Emma this accident prone in book two in order to suck her into the pages of each book, I will have reason for concern.
That being said, I read half the book last night in an hour and then read the rest today in about another hour, so it was a really quick read. I do believe that it will appeal to fans of classic literature, but I would not recommend it to people who don't have at least a working knowledge of Jane Eyre. While I would prefer to say that you should read Bronte's novel first, I guess one of the movie or TV-mini-series versions would work as well. Part of me is sad that this will only be a trilogy. The literature geek in me would love to see other classics: Wuthering Heights, any Jane Austen (though maybe not P&P or S&S since they are done so much already, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, ...my brain is seriously going blank right now, but you get my idea. Or maybe there could be some sort of spin-off where the modern character traveling into these books is male, going with The Three Musketeers or something by Thomas Hardy or Charles Dickens. Hey, even Shakespeare would be pretty darn interesting.
I thought A Breath of Eyre was well written, had characters I enjoyed and either related to or at least feel real with depth of character, and the story was interesting enough to keep me in the story the whole time. Because of NetGalley I already have my hands on A Touch of Scarlet, though the release date is March 26, 2013, so there will be a review for it ready for release day. And though they advertise this book for the age range of 14-17, I am 24 and completely enjoyed it. I believe it will appeal to any age, so long as they enjoy the stories of classic literature. Definitely a 5/5.
A Breath of Eyre at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-breath-of-eyre-eve-marie-mont/1104515885?ean=9780758269485
A Breath of Eyre at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breath-Eyre-Eve-Marie-Mont/dp/075826948X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360721046&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Breath+of+Eyre
Other Readings:
Currently I am finishing up The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson, as well as finishing Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan, diving into Broken Illusions by Ellie James, and The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead. I'm also sorely tempted to pull Jane Eyre out again for yet another re-read.
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