Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Gist
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am a sucker for space stories. Throw some young adult plots with a sprinkle of classic literature retelling and I’m a very happy reader.
Brightly Burning is all that. It is a retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre…set in space with quite a bit of young adult drama. Yes, please!
The Details
As with the author’s other retelling (The Stars We Steal) I was excited trying to figure out what character was based on the characters in the original classic and also what changes were made to fit this adaptation.
I found Stella to fit the profile of this new version of Jane very well. I appreciated her naiveté.
On the other hand, we have Hugo, the modern Mr. Rochester, who I still can’t trust when it comes to his feelings for his love interest.
Just as in the classic, I wasn’t so sure how much on board I was with the ending regarding those two characters.
The plot was obviously very closely related to Brontë’s Jane Eyre, so anyone, who is familiar with it knows how the various conflicts get resolved. Although, it was interesting to see where and how the author strayed from the original to fit the story and nature (science fiction-related) of this version.
As with the author’s other retelling, this was a joy to read. The writing was succinct and flowed without straining the eyes or the brain. I appreciated the author’s skill in relating the protagonist’s inner thoughts without getting too tangled up in them and losing sight of the main purpose: telling the story.
The Verdict
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I got lost in the storytelling and the “world” (i.e. ships) the author built as the setting and it just really worked for me.
It was a quick and delightful read and I would definitely recommend it.
