Thursday, March 08, 2018

Brightly Burning

Brightly Burning. Alexa Donne. 2018. HMH. 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: The gravity stabilizers were failing again.

Premise/plot: Love Jane Eyre? Love science fiction? Now you don't have to choose between reading your favorites. Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne is inspired by the classic novel Jane Eyre. It is set several hundred years--at least--in the future. Earth is uninhabitable, and humanity resides in fleets of star ships or space ships. Stella Ainsley, our heroine, has lived on several. She lived on Empire--one of the finest--until she was orphaned. When the novel opens, she's living on Stalwart and working as an engineer and part-time teacher. She wants to transfer OFF the Stalwart and find a teaching position. But teaching positions are hard to come by for the most part. But one position does become available, a position aboard the Rochester as a private governess for a little girl, Stella is super-excited about the opportunity. She doesn't know it, but her life will never be the same again...

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this one! I began reading it the day I received it. I was really intrigued by the idea of Rochester in space. I appreciated the fact that the names and situations have changed. It is inspired by a classic, but it doesn't stick to all the same particulars. Hugo, our hero, is just a few years older than Stella. And it is his sister--not his foster daughter--that needs a governess. The book offers plenty of drama and action...in addition to some romance. 


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Joy Weese Moll said...

This sounds like a fun take on the classic story.