User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Get ready for absolutely thrilling, explosive, smart, modern retelling of Jane Eyre!
Jawless, nailless, colorless: side effects of reading something jaw dropping, shocking, head spinning, extremely twisty and ultra smart!
Oh boy, this book is a product of an evil genius and it’s the most dangerous glue you can ever imagine : you cannot put it down and after you read the final page, it is already in your head and never let you go! You keep thinking about the evil characters and their dark back stories, you get shivered but also a satisfied smile forms on your face because this is well written, exciting, riveting and surprising novel.
All those three POVs : especially Bea and Jane’s ( of course both of them don’t use their real names) breathtakingly twisty!
Reading this book is like driving your car at full speed in a rainy day into a cliff as Lucifer Morningstar sits next to you, asking what you truly desire: yes, it’s both frightening, heart pounding, but also adrenaline pumping, exhilarating experience!
Let’s take a close look to the story-line: Jane moves to Birmingham, Alabama, broke, looking for a fresh start, running away from something really dark about her past. We don’t know what is. But as we start to know more about her abused childhood at foster care, her kleptomaniac tendencies and mind games to control the power, we may sense she’s the person who has nothing to lose and the people are truly wrong about her: she isn’t the nice, naive dog walker!
Then she meets with charming widower Eddie who is Thornfield Estate’s resident, looking like he may see her soul. Eddie’s wife Bea and her best friend Blanche are drowned at an unfortunate accident and their bodies were never found.
And now a quite intimate relationship starts to build between Jane and Eddie. But Jane feels threatened by deceased wife’s ghost and as she starts to learn more about her past, she realizes Bea and her best friend Blanche are competitors and they have love-hate relationship ( mostly hate) And Eddie also acts strangely from the beginning, following Jane where she goes and emphasizing that he loves her because she’s the opposite of her wife. But if he loves her beloved wife so much why he tells something illogical!
And what if Bea is still alive. I don’t want to give spoilers but when you read the title of the book, you may get the wife’s living conditions and the place where she stays.
The gothic atmosphere of the book reminds you of Rebecca and Bea and Eddie’s dysfunctional relationship reminds you of not so naive Guinevere and Joe Goldberg who spends more time at gym (funny thing is Eddie also loves the books as it is mentioned in the first chapters!)
I already gave too much clues so I’m shutting my mouth! But I have to tell you get ready the rug get pulled out from under your feet.
Of course I’m giving five mine bending, WTH I just read, I’m truly numb and the ending was epic stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing this remarkable arc with me in exchange my honest opinions.
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Rating: really liked it
A quick and easy read if you want a thriller fix. I found much of the story to be very predictable though, and even the new twists the author added were easy to guess, because I was already familiar with the original Jane Eyre story. I wish the book had taken a bigger leap to be more surprising and engrossing.
Rating: really liked it
Hmm, is this really a thriller? I feel like the wires might have gotten crossed for me.
The Wife Upstairs is supposed to be a modern-day take on
Jane Eyre, though with more secrets, lots of twists, and obviously some murderous results. But instead of being suspenseful and thrilling, I found the story to be more cheerful and laugh-out-loud funny.
For most of the book, I felt like I was reading a romantic comedy as Jane and Eddie got to know each other. It was light and fluffy (though potty-mouthed), without any tension that would indicate something was amiss. There was also a good amount of commentary about the sheer inaneness of suburban life, which added a good dose of humor to the story.
I kept waiting for Jane's secrets to show up, or for Eddie to drop hints and act like he's a monster waiting to pounce, but nothing really happens. There weren't any undercurrents of suspense or tension in the story that I could perceive. It just felt... jovial, which doesn't seem like the right feeling I should be getting out of this.
And when we get to the reveals, they seemed weak and underwhelming for a thriller. I don't know if my expectations just weren't set correctly, but I found everything to be so silly and over-the-top, I kept giggling at inappropriate moments. It was so unrealistic and logistically impossible that it was hard to take the story seriously or to care about how everything shakes out.
My reaction to this book is a headscratcher for sure, especially in light of how thrilling everyone else found it to be. It entertained me, but I feel like I read a different story and possibly an entirely different genre than everyone else.
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See also, my thoughts on:Reckless Girls
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Rating: really liked it
The Wife Upstairs, by Rachel Hawkins, has so many delicious parallels to the old classic, Jane Eyre, but it has its own twists and turns, too. A book full of unlikeable people, which usually means I have a hard time enjoying the book, but in this case, everyone deserves each other and I kept wanting to see what was going to happen next. I couldn't help feeling I'd been here before but really, it was all new and intriguing, wondering what was real and what was for show, when the other shoe was going to drop, because things couldn't go on as they were.
The story starts with twenty three year old Jane walking a dog in the pouring rain. Jane, a perpetual foster child until she aged out of the system, used to surviving by her wits, thievery, and lying. Her latest job is walking dogs in the rich neighborhood of Thornfield Estates and she's barely making ends meet by stealing from her employers, taking things that they'll never know are missing. Then Jane has a literal "run in" with rich, handsome, eligible widower, Eddie Rochester.
Eddie wants Jane and she moves into his mansion almost immediately. Then they are engaged and discussing their wedding. But Jane has secrets and she has suspicions, too. Because Jane thinks that Eddie is just like her, which means he's hiding things, he's a liar, he takes what is not his, he cheats to get what he wants. And, there is the matter of his wife's death and that of her best friend. Were their deaths really an accident? There are rumors, lots of rumors about infidelity and arguments, so many hints from the gossiping neighbors. Whether I liked these people or not, I was hooked by the story.
Published January 5th 2021
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC.
Rating: really liked it
I was gonna give this 2 stars for entertainment value, but then I got to “Reader, I fucked him” and it broke me.
Rating: really liked it
**4.5-stars**Channeling all the amazing naturally-gothic atmosphere of the American South,
The Wife Upstairs puts a modern twist on the beloved Classic,
Jane Eyre.
Jane Bell is new to Alabama. Living on the outskirts of the posh Thornfield Estates neighborhood, she initially works in a coffee shop, but then takes up dog-walking for the wealthy families within Thornfield.
She begins to learns the ins-and-outs of their upper-class world, envying their lifestyles and occasionally taking a little bit of it for herself.
Jane is especially interested in the largest and most opulent property of all, imagining what it would be like to live there.
Once she meets the homeowner, a handsome young Widower, Eddie Rochester, things begin to change quite quickly for Jane.
As she and Eddie start a relationship, Jane can't help but be curious about his late-wife, Bea, whose presence is still very much felt in his life.
The more she learns about Bea, the more she wonders what Eddie sees in her?
When questions begin to arise about Bea's disappearance and assumed death, Jane becomes even more suspicious of the man she believes she is falling in love with.
Full of small town gossip and rich people drama, this story was a cleverly-plotted, modern-interpretation of a classic tale. While I have never read
Jane Eyre, after this, I really want to!
I enjoyed how Hawkins gave us alternating perspectives between Jane, in the present, and Bea, in the past.
These perspective shifts also made the reveals seem very fast-paced and fun. The pace at which the story evolved was also really well done.
Even though most of us know the basic outline of
Jane Eyre, I enjoyed where Hawkins took it.
In particular, I enjoyed how morally grey, Jane was. She's not a helpless Ingenue looking for a savior. She is clearly a girl who can take care of herself. I loved that.
If you are in the mood for a fast, super-fun Domestic Suspense novel, look no further. Pick this up and enjoy the show!
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for providing me with copy to read and review. I appreciate it and look forward to Hawkins writing more in the Adult space!
Rating: really liked it
Here is my video review: https://youtu.be/vXPpHYYnCZc
This is the best thriller that I have read since Home Before Dark! I simply could not put this down! Jane is a dogwalker in Thornfield Estates when she meets widow Eddie. As the two of them fall in love, both of their pasts are revealed. Will the past catch up with them? This a refreshing modernized retelling of Jane Eyre.
This book had some flaws. Why does Jane hate rich people so much? Not every rich person is a terrible person. Also, Jane swipes trinkets and jewelry from some of the homes where she walks the dog. This would not go undetected for long. It is not uncommon for a trap to be set out for the employees coming in such as setting a $20 bill on the counter and see if it disappears. Or some jewelry is sentimental and it would be missed. That being said, this book was so riveting that these flaws were easily overlooked. This is a must read!
2022 Reading Schedule
Jan Animal Farm
Feb Lord of the Flies
Mar The Da Vinci Code
Apr Of Mice and Men
May Memoirs of a Geisha
Jun Little Women
Jul The Lovely Bones
Aug Charlotte's Web
Sep Life of Pi
Oct Dracula
Nov Gone with the Wind
Dec The Secret Garden
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Rating: really liked it
100 days into 2021 and 100 books have been read. Check out my latest BookTube Video to see which ones are my fave!
The Written Review Thornfield Estates - a gated community chock full of the ultra-rich - and Jane has finally gotten in...as a dog-walker.
But it doesn't matter, at least Jane has a steady job and place to work her magic...and in walks Eddie Rochester.
He owns a gorgeous house, he is smart and funny and (most importantly), his wife died in a boating accident, thus allowing Jane to swoop in and snap up that place by his side.
And at first Jane truly sees him as another mark, someone to trick and walk away from once she's gotten her fix...but the more time Jane spends with Eddie, the more she realizes that this isn't another game.
And then there's the wife upstairs to deal with.
Holy Shit.
Holyshitholyshitholyshit.
Twisty. Turny. Wildly addictive.
This book. It's stunning.
I truly did not know much going into this book other than it is a Jane Eyre remake...and I really don't want to give anything else away.
This one was so fun to crack open and just let it take me on a journey. Definitely recommended!!
Rating: really liked it
4.5 starsI want to save my thoughts for the live show at the end of this month but aksjhdkahsdkjhas this book was so fun and I flew through it in less than 24 hours
Rating: really liked it
"I hear the car before I see it, but even then, I don't move, and later, I'd look back at that moment and wonder if I somehow knew what was going to happen. If everything in my life had been leading me to that one spot, to that one house. To him."
3*
this was predictable because I have read too many domestic thrillers*stars
I am harder on thrillers and suspense than I used to be when it comes to rating them. I want to be blown away or taken down a dark and terrifying path, not quite to horror, but something that sits with me for days. I kept waffling between giving this three or four stars. And decided with three because it wasn't a ride I excepted and somewhere I was disappointed.
First thing I haven't read Jane Eyre yet and earlier I thought it would be a good sign because this way I wouldn't know the direction in which the story is going but now after reading it , ik I don't have to read Jane Eyre .
It was an intense book. It was a very entertaining book, and at the same time if you look closely you will find many loop holes in the setting , narration and the way this whole plot is crafted. Because there were things which can't be overlooked. I could exactly see all of this played out in my head, and when Jane couldn't see it , I felt so irritated and frustrated. (view spoiler)
[ Missing food , your husband missing at nights , checking upper floor because you hear sounds , I sometimes had doubt are you sure they all were in same house??? (hide spoiler)]And I think all the characters are well written and interesting in there own way( except Eddie, dude get your shit together).I loved how deliciously evil and snarky they were and that you really couldn't trust anyone.
I was really disappointed about the whole Jane's secret thing , it was really hyped up I didn't see the point in building it so much.
The whole story line was kinda obvious acc to me and I think people can make out where the story is going. I really wanted it to be more disturbing , something out of the box .
Keeping those facts aside the writing was engaging because I loved how it gripped me right from the beginning to the end and I completed it within a day.
Rating: really liked it
Oh man, y'all. This book has been at the tip top of my most anticipated list from the moment that I heard that it was a modern-gothic-mystery retelling of Jane Eyre. I wanted SO BADLY to love it, but ultimately I kinda feel like it was just okay? It wasn't a terrible book, but throughout the entire story I kept finding myself wishing that it would do more, or go a little bit further and it ultimately just never really hit the notes that I was hoping it would hit. I will say, if you do decide to read this one, I listed to the audiobook and I thought the narration was fantastic, but the story as a whole was just... a little lacking for me and I am big, big sad because I thought this was going to be an all-time favorite for me. Here's hoping that Rachel Hawkin's next adult book will hit a little harder for me!
Rating: really liked it
Be sure to visit Bantering Books to read all my latest reviews.Never have I longed to read
Jane Eyre as much as I do at this very moment.
It’s not that I haven’t ever wanted to read it. It’s more that I haven’t ever wanted to read it
enough. Enough to where I would actually pick the novel up and turn to the first page.
But now,
The Wife Upstairs, Rachel Hawkins’ fresh reimagining of Charlotte Brontë’s gothic tale, has instilled a yearning inside of me to do just that. Actively, I am planning and plotting, trying to determine when I can squeeze
Jane Eyre into my jam-packed reading schedule. All because I enjoyed Hawkins’ sharp and suspenseful novel so, so much.
Having recently moved to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane takes a job walking dogs in Thornfield Estates, one of the ritziest communities in the area. There, surrounded by gossipy housewives and all the bright, shiny trinkets and toys money can buy, Jane hopes to not be noticed.
She hopes that no one will notice that Jane isn’t her real name. And she hopes that no one will notice their missing valuables.
Jane’s luck takes a turn for the better, however, when her path crosses with Eddie Rochester. Newly widowed, Eddie is the center of all the chatter in Thornfield Estates, as his wife, Bea, and her best friend recently drowned in an unfortunate boating accident.
For Jane, Eddie is an opportunity – an opportunity for both unimaginable wealth and protection from her past.
Yet as Jane and Eddie become more enamored with one another, Jane finds herself unable to fully step out of the shadow of Bea’s legacy. And she wonders whether she and Eddie will truly find their own happiness together, as the ghost of Bea is always haunting. Always watching.
I feel it’s important that I take a minute to stress that
The Wife Upstairs is a
retelling of
Jane Eyre. And while I am unable to knowledgeably compare the two novels, I am familiar enough with the premise and gothic nature of Brontë’s classic to know that Hawkins’ novel is strikingly dissimilar in tone.
Whereas I imagine
Jane Eyre to be dark, brooding, and filled with an undercurrent of dread,
The Wife Upstairs is not. It’s lighter and brighter. Frothier, almost. It’s more of a snarky, feminist, Southern soap opera – one that snaps and bites sharply at the hands of men, the wealthy, and the privileged.
And oh, is it fun. The novel is entertaining and addictive, with a brisk and never-boring pace. The chapters are short and quick to read, making it seem as if the pages turn by a magical will of their own. It’s suspenseful, mysterious, and intelligently witty.
Hawkins’ writing is also incredibly engaging. She writes smoothly, with a style that gently flows and reads easily, skillfully drawing you almost immediately into the story. By the end of the first chapter, Hawkins had me baited – hook, line, and sinker.
And the characters are just as engaging as the story. Which is surprising, since not a single one of them is wholly sympathetic. Not Jane. Not Eddie. Not Bea. But they all possess a certain charm – a flawed relatability, of sorts, that allows us to enjoy them despite their immoral ways.
All in all,
The Wife Upstairs is a fantastic read. It’s crafted so amazingly well and with such care by Hawkins. And I think it will appeal to both devoted
Jane Eyre fans and indifferent non-fans, like me, who have yet to read the gothic classic.
I highly recommend it. With great enthusiasm.
My sincerest appreciation to Rachel Hawkins and St. Martin’s Press for the physical Advance Review Copy. All opinions included herein are my own. Bantering Books Instagram Twitter Facebook
Rating: really liked it
oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best mystery & thriller 2021! WHAT WILL HAPPEN LET’S FIND OUT!"My Jane," he says, his voice low and rough, and I swallow hard, nothing feigned now, no illusion.
"I'm not yours," I manage to say. "I'm free as a fucking bird."
now,
this is a jane eyre i can get behind. you may groan and growl, with your do we
really need another retelling of Jane Eyre?
and i say YES!
it’s a breezy adaptation, set amongst alabama's idle rich, whose gossipy tongues start wagging once the help—their neighborhood's plain-jane dogwalker—catches the eye of the recently-widowed eddie rochester (a terrible boating accident involving his wife bea—née bertha—and her bestie blanche), quickly making herself right at home in his spacious mansion.
It’s been two weeks since I more or less moved in with Eddie, two weeks of soft linens and sinking into the plush sofa in the living room in the afternoon, watching bad reality shows on the massive television.
I’m never leaving this place.
however, that final sentence becomes a bit ominous to those of us who have read Jane Eyre and are familiar with the fact that sometimes, a wife isn't "dead" so much as 'locked up in the attic, and pretty unhappy about the whole situation."
it's a surprisingly fun and twisty bit of domestic suspense; there's plenty that stays true to the original, with little references dropped throughout, but jane is a lot more modern, a lot less willing to
endure her station in life—coming up in the foster care system has taught her that in this world, you gotta take what you can get and keep moving.
jane isn't even her real name, she's changed it after fleeing an incident in her last foster home; embarking on the path towards carving out a rage-to-riches story on the strength of her own grit, determination, and calculated manipulations, with some light kleptomania along the way. "jane" has a strong personality and a potty mouth, but she's learned how to survive by playing the game, coveting so badly what the rich take for granted.
I had no idea you could spend over a thousand dollars on fucking solar lamps that look like gaslights.
But here I am, loading up packages of those lights into the back of Eddie’s SUV, his credit card practically smoking in my wallet. He won’t care, I know—he told me to get “whatever it is Emily has decided she can’t live without”—but I was eating ramen and cereal for just about every meal only a few months ago, so hearing the cashier at Home Depot say, “That’ll be $1023.78,” as I checked out with nothing more than lights made my chest hurt.
My first week on the Neighborhood Beautification Committee is obviously going really well.
it's a story about class, identity, and secrets, and jane isn't the only one here with skeletons in her attic.
and speaking of that attic, (view spoiler)
[i get the justification for why there’s a bed in the panic room (wakka chikka wakka chikka), but there’s a shower in the panic room, too? there’s such a big deal made of bea thumping the bed on the floor to try to get jane’s attention, but would no one hear the pipes and water? (hide spoiler)]in any case, it's a fun spin on the original, bringing some much-appreciated lightness, humor, and female ferocity to a story that used to be about how great it is to be patient and is now about how great it is to be proactive.
****************************************
i keep winning so many gr giveaways because 2020 is like the one who broke your heart and then tried to win you back by giving you lots of gifts. keep 'em coming, 2020; maybe you'll get lucky.
come to my blog!
Rating: really liked it
4.5 stars
Talk about a fun book with plenty of pleasing twists and turns!
Jane is a down on her luck, dog walker in the gated community of Thornfield estates. She enjoys walking the dogs there and imagining what it might be like to live there. Her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester, a man whose wife, Bea drowned in a boating accident along with her best friend Blanche. When they fall for each other, Jane no longer must imagine what it might be like to live there. To have a nice home and not a dingy apartment. As her life begins to improve, she attempts to fit in with the women who once hired her to walk their dogs. Plain Jane tries to look right, dress right, eat right, etc. The women include her in their many committees and meetings but all the while letting her know she is not Bea, that they knew Bea first and perhaps know more about Eddie than she does.
I really love being introduced to characters with pasts, hidden agendas and who are not quite as they seen. Who is Jane really? For that matter who is Eddie? Who is Bea? How well do you really know someone? Who has secrets? What happened the night the women drown? This make for some juicy reading. I really enjoyed how Hawkins gave us little glimpses into the characters’ lives, their thoughts and their motivations. Speaking of characters, there are some interesting and odd ones in this book. Some you will like, some you will dislike and some you might not know what to make of them. If you are like me, you will really enjoy them, their quirks and their contributions to this book.
Besides being a fun juicy book, this was also beautifully written, perfectly paced and pleasing all the way around. I also enjoyed how she told the story. There is some jumping around in time, but she has the chapters clearly titled and there will not be any confusion. I found this to be a nice touch. Sometimes this annoys me in books, but not in this one. Rachel Hawkins is very clever as is this book.
I found this to be a fast read which had me turning the pages. Glued to my seat and engrossed in the story, I did not want to put this one down. As the book progresses so does the suspense, you know something is going to happen, but what?? You will need to read to find out.
Whether you have read Jane Eyre of not, this book will not disappoint. The Wife Upstairs is captivating, well thought out, and entertaining.
Highly Recommend.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
OMG 😳 This is my kind of thriller! Just like that my top 10 of the year books have a new addition. Add this one to the list! I absolutely loved this book. From the very first page to the very last this was a 5 star read for me the entire way.
Thornfield Estates is all about keeping up with your neighbors...literally. When one neighbor gets a dog walker, well they all HAVE to have a dog walker too. Why on earth do all these "ladies of leisure" need a dog walker?
Meet the dog walker...Jane...she is new to town...nobody knows much about Jane..she drives a crappy car...she doesn't have the best style..yet they all let Jane in their McMansions...why you ask??? Well...it's the cool thing to do...
When Eddie decided he "needs" the dog walker in a different way then most..well the dog walker quickly fleets up to the domestic goddess of the neighborhood,sipping cocktails with the other ladies of leisure.....then things get really interesting..see Eddie's wife is missing.......
OMG there are thrillers and then there are thrillers that are MY kind of thrillers. This was my favorite type! I love a character that is flawed and one where we get a look into their innermost thoughts....that just happen to be a bit twisted and defiantly snarky...throw in some dark humor and I am in....LOVE!!!
This book kept me on my toes the entire time and I was completely invested in every character...which they all had some dark, twisted secrets...I can't recommend this book enough. One of my favorite books of the entire year! Defiantly on my top 10!!
