Publisher: Archaia
Release Date: September 13, 2017
Price: $24.99
Creator(s): Aline Brosh McKenna (writer); Ramon Perez (artist)
Format: 224 pgs., Full-Color, 6.25" x 9.25", Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-6088-6981-7
Age Rating: N/A
ICv2 Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
One of the difficulties in adapting a classic is that it is difficult to separate the adaptation from the classic itself. In this case, the writer, Aline Brosh McKenna, is excellent but quirky in the ways in which she modernizes the story, and those quirky bits sometimes stand in the way of the story itself. Story motifs which sort of worked 150 years ago do not always translate into modern terms, and her version of Mr. Rochester is, in a way, even more of a creep than the original. Unfortunately, she made one of the other characters into a rather horrific villain, for reasons never made clear.
That said, if you do not regard it as an adaptation, but instead just a piece of fiction on its own, the book is quite good. A few bits are hard to believe in a modern society, but in the world of this story, money can accomplish almost anything.
As a reader, I had a hard time believing the love story, but I had that same problem with the original. The artwork by Perez is excellent, and helps the story greatly. The artwork in the ballet sequence, for example, was a beautiful interlude.
For teens or adults who want a serious drama centering around a complex romance.
--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
