This book had me at "Jane Eyre in space". I love Jane Eyre, I love re-tellings, and I love sci-fi with a healthy dose of romance.

I was definitely entertained by this book. The author has a style that is interesting and accessible, and knowing that this is a debut novel makes me optimistic for future novels.

I did have a couple of issues with this book, however.
For starters, I felt like some of the words and idioms were anachronistic. There was some slang that is common today that I just don't think will be common hundreds of years in the future, when this book is supposed to take place. There were also certain phrases that were very old fashioned that made for some awkward phrasing. Language is just such a fluid and ever-changing thing. There are words and idioms in our daily vocabulary that didn't exist just a couple of years ago and a few years from now there will be even more, so it felt a little strange to hear modern-day slang in a book that is set hundreds of years in the future in a completely different environment than ours.

The other, larger question I have is: would this hold up on it own? What I mean by that is, if a reader who picked up this book had never read the source material, would the book still work? While I do think that it was entertaining and engaging as someone who loves the story of Jane Eyre, I think it did lack some depth as far as the characters and their motivations go, especially in the case of Stella (this version's Jane). I didn't think the relationship between her and Hugo (Rochester) had much of a foundation, and many of the events felt glossed over for me. It didn't take away from my enjoyment while I was reading, but after the fact I realized that it was missing a little something for me.

I will say that there is a reveal (aside from the one everyone who has read Jane Eyre is expecting) that I didn't see coming that I thought had a lot of potential. I don't know if it was executed in the best way, but I appreciated that the author was trying to bring a surprise to the table.

I actually thought the ending of the book was the most interesting. I would've liked to see more of what happened after

they got to Earth. The idea of returning to this place that they thought was going to be uninhabitable was really interesting to me, and I wish that last part had been a little more than what was essentially a footnote.

I get that that isn't the point of a Jane Eyre retelling, but I was intrigued.

I really like the idea of adapting classic literature into YA (or adult) sci-fi, and I think that this book was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours, even though it wasn't a new all-time favorite. I will definitely check out the author's next book, which is described as Jane Austen (YAY) + the Bachelor (ehh) in space (YAY again!)...mostly because Jane Austen, not gonna lie.