I had a good time with this book, but there are a few annoyances that are keeping me from giving it 5 stars. I really enjoyed the style that this book was written in; it truly sucked me in. I read it so fast, and the story had me hooked. I enjoyed the multiple twists at the end. I haven't read Jane Eyre (don't hate me) so I can't really say if the story really lives up to it, but I found that this book holds up on its own without having to read the one it's based on.

In general, I found Bea's chapters to be a lot more interesting than Jane's. She is a much more layered character and the star of the novel for me.

I was shocked when she was revealed to be the true mastermind murderer, but at the same time, I wasn't that surprised because of how calm she seemed to be throughout the book. In fact, she was too calm. So it made sense in a weird way.

As for the annoyances I mentioned - they are just that. Minor things that didn't really detract much from my enjoyment of the book, but they were enough that I felt like I couldn't give this book a perfect rating. Jane's "big secret" is a bit a letdown.

All it was is that the horrible foster dad she had died of a heart attack, and she ran away instead of helping him. I'm sorry, but why does the book (and Jane herself) treat it like she is running from something incredibly dark for it to just be... that? It's just a weird thing to treat so horribly to the point she lets herself be blackmailed over it.

And then there's the thing with Bea's name.

Bea is a perfectly normal nickname for Bertha. I don't understand why everyone was treating it like she lied about her whole identity? Even Eddie acknowledges this in his section, where he says something akin to "I don't like going by "Edward" so the Bea thing never bothered me" and I'm just sitting here like "it shouldn't have bothered anyone!" I don't know if this is a thing that would annoy anyone but me, sorry. It just bothered me because people have nicknames. It's normal.

Overall, I really liked this book. I loved the southern gothic vibes especially. The setting was awesome. I would definitely read more books from this author. Her style is really unique and gripping. I had a really great time with this one. And it makes me really want to read Jane Eyre.