Name: Brightly Burning
Rating: 3.520833333333333 (24 reviews)
ISBN: 9781328604385

Alexa Donne

Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley, an engineer who takes a governess job on board the private ship, the Rochester, falls in love with the ship's mysterious, troubled captain in a story loosely based on Jane Eyre.

Brightly Burning

Jane Eyre meets The 100 in this romantic mystery set in space. Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley, desperate to leave the floundering Stalwart, finds employment on the haunted space-ship Rochester. Exiled from Earth, the remnants of the human race circle the planet in slowly disintegrating space-ships, but the Rochester seems in perfect condition. When a series of accidents threatens the charismatic captain, Hugo Fairfax, Stella is determined to find the saboteur and win his love. But there is a terrible secret behind the Rochester’s haunting, and soon Stella must make an impossible choice.

Paige Green

Review 2: 

Disclaimer: I own this book! Love it! It’s also signed by the author. Off-topic, sorry!

Rating: 5/5

Publication Date: May 1, 2018

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, scares, romance)

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Pages: 394

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.

But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet.

Review: Oh wow this book was just as fantastic as the first time I read it! I loved the world building and how Donne thought up how life would work in a world where we’re in space because of an Ice Age (it’s a very real threat still). I love the characters and how she took the original plot from Jane Eyre and somehow transformed it into a modern (futuristic?) tale for today’s generation. I also love the writing! I would definitely have loved a continuation of the tale ala 100 Days, but from how the author left it off is fine with me. I also thought the commentary on class and the different socio-economic impacts of certain factors was great.

My only issues are that, from my watch-through of a quick summary of Jane Eyre, that there wasn’t a lot about the Red Room and they changed some things from the original tale, but the changes, in my opinion, were well done and made for a fantastic retelling of a piece of classic literature.

Verdict: A must read if you like Jane Eyre or if you like Space (or BOTH!)

Review 1:

Rating: 5/5

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Romance/Dystopian/Retelling

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, sexual references, dystopian like horrors, and ice age)

Pages: 400

Amazon Link

Author Website

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book as an e-arc on NetGalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Stella Ainsley leaves poverty behind when she quits her engineering job aboard the Stalwart to become a governess on a private ship. On the Rochester, there’s no water ration, more books than one person could devour in a lifetime, and an AI who seems more friend than robot.
But no one warned Stella that the ship seems to be haunted, nor that it may be involved in a conspiracy that could topple the entire interstellar fleet. Surrounded by mysteries, Stella finds her equal in the brooding but kind, nineteen-year-old Captain Hugo. When several attempts on his life spark more questions than answers, and the beautiful Bianca Ingram appears at Hugo’s request, his unpredictable behavior causes Stella’s suspicions to mount. Without knowing who to trust, Stella must decide whether to follow her head or her heart.
Alexa Donne’s lush and enthralling reimagining of the classic Jane Eyre, set among the stars, will seduce and beguile you

So… I don’t read synopses and I shortly found out after I started reading this book that it was a Jane Eyre retelling. I’m one of those horrible people that hasn’t read many classics (well, I’ve not read the popular classics) but since I was somewhat familiar with Jane Eyre from a YouTube video explaining the highlights of it, I felt I was in a good position to read it. Surprisingly though I didn’t need my limited knowledge of the book to understand what was going on. The book was written so well and so unique given its retelling status. The book didn’t feel like a retelling and unless you were either familiar with the book you wouldn’t notice it was a retelling. The book also expanded from the original story so much and it really made the story its own. The characters in the book were very well developed and what you think is going to happen is completely the opposite of what does. The book did well at doing away at some of the tired old YA clichés. The book also had so many twists and turns that you can’t tell where the book is going. Hands down, one of my favorite Sci-Fi’s to date.

However, I did think that the book could have expanded more on the world building a bit, but once again what we got in the book was really well done and adequate. I need more though and I really hope we get a companion novel to this book. Maybe a Pride and Prejudice retelling? Little Women? White Fang? Wait… 

Verdict: Jane Eyre in space is cool. If only Charlotte Bronte thought of it.

Nikki Sojkowski

*to clarify, none of the main characters are LGBT+ but some side characters are overtly mentioned as such.

I’ve never read Jane Eyre which this is apparently supposed to be a sci-fi version of, but I really liked this book. Victorian class systems in space was a really fun concept, and we got lots of details about different ships and jobs. I thought that most of the characters individually where well written but that two relationships (between Stella and 2/3 of her love interests) fell a bit flat for me. Stella is a very caring person, but for humanity as a whole which doesn’t really show through in her one-on-one interactions. It’s hard to imagine her loving anyone even though she claims too, which made these two relationships feel very off to me. This didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the plot as a whole though.

Belle Ellrich

*I WAS SENT A PHYSICAL ARC IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW*

I would like to thank HMHteen publicity for approving my request and sending me this beautiful book. I couldn’t be any more grateful, and I am so happy to finally be posting this review.

When first hearing that this book is a Jane Eyre retelling, just in space, it’s easy to become interested. However, having not read Jane Eyre, it’s still pretty easy to see where the classical elements of an old era have been twisted in.

Brightly Burning first takes place on a poverty ship called the Stalwart. It’s constantly having mechanical issues, and it lacks water, air, spare parts, food, and medical supplies. This causes a little bit of panic for the main character Stella Ainsley. She is an engineer who is constantly called down to fix things, but she is also a teacher. Throughout the book, it’s evident that she prefers her job of teaching over engineering. Stella becomes easily annoyed by the fact that she is called in instead of her friend and co-worker Jon Karlson—nicknamed Karlson—whose uncle is the captain of the ship.

“We both know you aren’t applying anywhere else as an engineer. You hate the job, despite being very good at it—and not at all humble, I might add…”
From this quote, it is learned that Stella has been applying for teaching positions on other ships. Because of her concern with the Stalwart’s systems failing so often, she is desperate to get off of the ship. It doesn’t help that Karlson is constantly talking about how the Stalwart will be forced to try reentering Earth. This is where it is made known in Stella’s class of students that a super volcano had erupted before their time, causing the planet to fall into an ice age that is expected to last over two hundred years, or so they hope.

Then, the last straw happens. The engine and auxiliary systems failed, forcing Stella to leave her class of students in the hands of her good friend George. Though it takes her a bit, she fixes the problems and ends up recuperating with everyone at lunch. It is a day or two after the systems failing when she gets her final response back for a teaching job aboard the Rochester. She’d been accepted, and she would be leaving quickly after.

While flying toward her soon to be home ship, Stella learns many things. For one, the Rochester orbits the moon, unlike all the other ships that orbit Earth. On top of that, the ship is rumored to be haunted. Multiple teachers had left the ship in fear for their lives.

Throughout this book chills, tears, smiles, and squeals have been awarded. Alexa Donne has thoroughly impressed with her debut book. Fans of Marissa Meyer and Amie Kaufman will devour this and be left craving for more. For this, I rate this book 5/5 stars.

Lauren James

For a full review, check out my blog, https://storiedadventures.blog

*I received an e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Jane Eyre in space? Heck yes! Have I read Jane Eyre? Nope! But this book made me want to! 

This book was up and down for me. There were parts I sped read through because I didn't really care, and parts I took my time with for fear of missing information. The characters were kind of boring but the plot was very interesting. The writing was okay. Not the best, not the worst. 

I did NOT like the fact that the author didn't address the alcoholism more. Hugo is an alcoholic and to my knowledge didn't stop being one. Unless it was implied and I missed it, the author should have made that a stronger plot point.

Brightly Burning

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