This started out as an intruiging twist on Jane Eyre and I was totally sold. However, it became increasingly apparent that in essentials the story follows the original a little too closely when you consider that the characters and their motivations were changed enough that the events that transpire and the actions the characters take cease to make sense in the original context. It's as if the author really liked Jane Eyre but the more she thought about it, the more she realized, "Hey, despite th...

This book slavishly follows Jane Eyre, upon which it is based. Even though it's been several years since I last read Jane Eyre, I recognized, almost scene for scene everything in this homage to the original.Now, as someone whose writing frequently draws upon myth or fairy tale, I have no problem with basing a new work on something older. Unfortunately, taking an old book, even a classic you adore, and creating a [psuedo-]science-fiction setting in which to translate, almost word-for-word, the or...

It had been years since I’d read Jane Eyre, and Sharon Shinn is amazing at everything else, so I couldn’t wait to read Jenna Starborn. I loved it. I’m skeptical when it comes to re-tellings, but Jenna Starborn was in such a different setting and time period, I couldn’t complain about anything. I loved Jenna. What a spunky and strong woman. The science fiction aspect was very cool and creative, and she followed the original Jane Eyre almost to the T, save the fact that it wasn’t as dark. Where Ja...

I'd forgotten this was a Jane Eyre retelling, so I spent the first few chapters going, "Huh, this reminds me of Jane Eyre." IMAGINE THAT.Ultimately, though, it was one of those retellings that stuck too closely to the original, maybe especially so because it's a sci fi retelling! I was very bored with the second half.

A truly wretched recreation of Jane Eyre's story. Instead of being the actual governess the protagonist Jenna is a mechanic hired to work at the estate. There is a governess however because there had to be a ward. Every character is included and Jenna remains true to Jane's stark principles but the language simplistic verging on slow witted. The only reason this retelling got two stars was for trying to place a valuable story like this into a mode that would make it more available to young reade...

The best Jane Eyre retelling I've come across. Unlike the others I've read, this book doesn't try too hard and come out like Jane Eyre in different clothing, all cutsey and stupid, nor is it some completely unrelated plot which the author is insisting is a retelling of Jane Eyre. (I always think of the Monty Python sketch making fun of the "with a twist" phenomenon by doing a Shakespeare play with a cast of dairy cows. Shinn avoids this kind of less-than-legitimate "retelling.") Instead, I found...

As an English teacher, I have a dirty secret, I don't LOVE Jane Eyre like I think I'm suppose to. I wasn't required to read it as a high school student or even as a college student. I taught English at the middle and high school level for almost 10 years before I finally picked it up. At first, I listened to it from Florida's Lit2Go site, which is a pretty decent unabridged reading of the book. Then I began teaching AP English and decided that I better read the book myself. I liked it, but didn'...

It’s January, and one of the things I resolved to do in the New Year was participate in Long-Awaited Reads Month. I’m sure any avid reader will agree with me – sometimes you buy a book that looks absolutely wonderful, and then for one reason or another, you don’t read it for YEARS. It sits on the shelf (or e-reader) gathering dust, and though you know it’s probably wonderful, you keep putting it off. Well, I’m finally reading a few of those books. Sharon Shinn's Jenna Starborn was up first. Shin...

I love Jane Eyre. I readily admit that I read it at least three times a year. So when I was strolling through the Yellow Room in the downtown Powell's a couple of years ago, and saw the little RECOMMENDED tag under this title, I paused to read the blurb. Jane Eyre... sci fi.. what's not to like? I'd never read any of Sharon Shinn's work before - and I haven't read any of her other works, so I'm not sure if this indicative of her usual quality - but I figured it would be an interesting read.I'm g...

Well, Reeder, I read it.No, that wasn't a typo. Jenna (our erstwhile Jane Eyre) is given a recording device much like a diary, and she occasionally addresses it as "Reeder" (instead of Reader, har har).The ratings are pretty low for this book, considering the author, and it's a bit sad. Some reviewers said that the author read Jane Eyre and really, really liked it. Yes, she must have, considering the amount of work she put into this story. I used to read Jane Eyre every year almost religiously,

This is truly one of the BEST adaptations of a classic that I have read. It is extremely faithful to the original which is unusual in an adaptation. But the best part is how this version actually enhanced my understanding of Jane Eyre.

It took such a weird turn about 70% in. Honestly felt like the writer was bored with the story and just wanted something different.

This is an amazing, beautiful retelling of Jane Eyre. If follows the original book so well, and the characters, especially Jenna, are so compelling. I love the amount of spirituality that Shinn contributed to the story (but, thinking on that, it seems to be a common theme in many of her books). And the new setting is a lot of fun. This really isn't the book for people who don't like science fiction.I adore this book, and I'm absolutely ashamed that I've never gotten around to purchasing this boo...

Compared to Sharon Shinn's other works, I found this book extremely difficult to read. At first, I quite enjoyed the spunky heroine, but shortly after her installation as a nuclear technician, I began to distrust her motives. She went from being a delightfully independent creature to a woman who declared she was independent, but her thought process & behaviors did nothing to support this. At the end of the book, I found myself wondering if she could live with her choices, especially since she ha...

I picked this up on a whim and tore through it. It's supposedly a retelling of Jane Eyre in a science fiction setting, which worked a lot better than I thought it would. Shinn didn't deviate from the original plot at all and it was interesting to see how SF-elements would play into the plot. It was even written in a very Bronte-esque style and made me want to reread the original again (it's been two years). Charming.

I love Sharon Shinn's other books and I love Jane Eyre, but this was just too directly a retelling. I like retellings to veer a bit from the original story, but all the big plot twists were here in the order they appear in the original, so I knew what was going to happen the whole time. It was, literally, Jane Eyre in space. Yeah.

This is the first book I read by an author that I have come to love. I decided to pick it up almost 11 years later and see how I felt about it now. It definitely is not one of her best, but I still enjoyed it. I will keep my original rating of: 3.5 Stars

The premise sounds bizarre (Jane Eyre in space!), but this is truly a well-crafted, elegantly told story, a lot of fun for anyone who enjoyed Jane Eyre but enjoyable even if you've never read it.

Jane Eyre IN SPACE! I thought this retelling would be too cutesy and vapid. Come on, it takes place on several different plants. But it turned out to follow the Jane Eyre plot line and tied in sci fi elements.

A Jane Eyre retelling that may have crossed the nebulous border between "faithful" and "rote."I love Jane Eyre, but I have only read it once, several years ago, so I was not alarmed when I saw from other reviews that it was "predictable" because it followed the plot of the original so closely. What I remember far more than the basic outline of the story was the memorable character of Jane herself and her lively narrative voice, and that is something I felt lacking in this effort. Jenna is not me...

I've read this at least once before, and I enjoyed it as a re-read, having forgotten most of the plot. (It's been at least 10 years, I think, since my last read.)Sharon Shinn is actually really good at worldbuilding, although her worldbuilding leans more towards "a setting for a romance", but that's not a bad thing. Her characters are also generally well-done, if heteronormative to the max. I usually enjoy her romances, although she has "slow-build" down to a science. (Example: her Archangel boo...

I have loved previous reads by Shinn, but this was kind of... meh. It's not badly written, and the premise -- a retelling of Jane Eyre in a science fiction setting -- is intriguing, but the execution is lacking. The problem for me is that the story follows the original much too closely, not only plotwise but also when it comes to characters and language. The nineteenth century-style prose is well done but it clashes with the setting, which is in the future in interstellar space on various coloni...

"You would think that if someone commissioned your conception, paid for your gestation, & claimed you immediately after your harvesting, she would love you with her whole heart; but you would be wrong" ...and so the story starts. I have to say I wasn't expecting to like this book as I'm not a fan of sci-fi but it was given to me by a Bookcrossing friend who hasn't given me a duff book yet & this one was no exception - I surprised to find really enjoyed it! Despite the fact that it's set many,

I knew I was getting a SF retelling of Jane Eyre but I have to admit I was surprised to find it SO beat-by-beat faithful to the original narrative. That made it feel a little dull & hard for me to feel invested in, although the specific ways Shinn comes up with to SF-ize the elements of the story are often inventive. Unfortunately, this focus on adhering to the narrative beats neglects to carry over the highly political & subversive soul of the original. I would have preferred less faithfulness

I don't do well with classics. I'll go in with the very best of intentions but after weeks of struggle and very little progress, that book will get set aside, and I'll read about 10 books in the time it took me to struggle through those few chapters. So, I resigned myself to try retellings instead. Why did I never realize that this was a retelling of Jayne Eyre?! I thoroughly enjoyed this! A futuristic adaptation via homesteading/planetary cultivation. Societal stratification via degrees of citi...

This is Jane Eyre, retold. Once I realized that, I skimmed to the end. Then read all the bits inbetween.The Reeder needs to put this in context of historical techno-events.(deliberate misspelling)FF.net started October 1998. The first Jane Eyre story listed there is dated 2006 (I just checked). Jenna Starborn was released in 2002.While re-tellings/re-imagnings of all things Bronte and Austen are commonplace now, they were not at the time of this novel's release. With that in mind, how does this

This author is a hit and miss for me. Some of her books I enjoyed and some I absolutely find it...unnecessarily boring. This one is the latter. By unnecessarily boring, I meant that there are some eye rolling story setup. Cough, cough, Jenna's 'oh so tragic abuse by her family'. Some of the plot mechanics in this story, I just find myself thinking, "Is this cliche really necessary because it just feels like a cheap plot mechanic?" The story and character just didn't capture my attention and

Jane Eyre, but in space!I hated Jane Eyre in high school, but maybe I just don't relate to 19th century romance? I mean, everyone else loved it....it's a CLASSIC!So, when I came across a version of the story written during my lifetime, and set in futuristic high tech space, I thought I would finally understand the appeal of the story overall.Nope.I couldn't find any of the characters likeable, and the only reason I managed to finish the book was sheer stubbornness. And maybe the secret hope that...

I have to say, I’m mostly relieved to have finally read this, after intending to for so many years — probably since after finishing Summers at Castle Auburn as a teenager.Despite being set in a futuristic universe, this hews a bit too closely to the source material — which I’ve grown less fond of over the years, though I used to consider it one of my favorite books. Mr. Rochester now feels more than a little exhausting.

It really all falls apart when the book gets to the romance part of Jane Eyre. The rest of it is fun and competent, but the romance is a really hard sell since Ravenbeck is a giant turd once Jenna agrees to marry him, and in this sci-fi future, it's just extra implausible that she'd go along with it just because *she's in love*. Even trash YA insta-love is more sensible.