Dear Elektra,

I am saddened to read about how rough going your childhood had been but I am glad that you found comfort and strength in Jane Eyre. I am sorry that you could not find love in your adoptive mother nor an explanation why she couldn't love you. It was strange to me that as an adopted child herself that she could not accept you as you are. It makes me wonder how her relationship was with her own parents. I can only assume it was a good one if she adopted you with the idea of "giving back" and even wanted to name you Kathryn after her mother. As a woman hoping to adopt someday it broke my heart that even finding a stable home you were still missing the element of love. I could never imagine treating a child poorly. There seemed to be a huge disconnect between the two of you that I believe a good family therapist could have helped bridge. If for anything else I am happy though that you are fighting for yourself and refusing to be around anyone you deem toxic.

Best Wishes,

Stephanie

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Dear Jane was a gripping novel about a young girl from the streets of Greece who was adopted by a woman from America. In the book we are brought face to face with some pretty disturbing and violent scenes between many of the characters. It was hard to read but my desire to know what happens next kept me going. I wanted so much to learn why Elektra's relationship with her adoptive mother was so strained. I was left a bit unsatisfied here but expected to be since the story is only being told from Elektra's point of view through a series of letters.

Thank you Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for providing me an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I did not end up finishing this novel, while I did enjoy the format I could not feel for the character.

I couldn't seem to bond with the main character in this story. I think a big part of that is because of the graphic talk of suicide. This became a triggering book fairly quick.

For what I read I realized it was more it's me not the book. The book seemed intriguing, it was just I couldn't relate or bond.

This book was received as an e-ARC from Black Rose Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 Stars
A hard hitting story about Kit-Kat's (Kathryn) life in Greece and finding solace in reading and connecting to Jane Eyre. To read what happens is heart breaking and is tough subject matter. I loved the chapter heading as quotes from Jane Eyre. Although nothing major happens it's still a wonderful story of perseverance.

I was around the same age as Kit Kat when I picked up Jane Eyre. I expected it to be dull; another classic in which the patriarchy dominates and women are isolated within the walls of their home. However, Jane Eyre was nothing like I had read before. As a result, I connected with Dear Jane straightaway.

A journal is a place where you offload all the thoughts, emotions, and random musings you have swimming around your mind. Thus, what we have is an unclouded insight into Kit Kat's mind through each of her diary entries, By having access to her innermost thoughts, we can truly grasp the emotions she endured through the toughest of occurrences throughout her upbringing and adoption. I did find certain parts difficult to read, bringing to light the fact that there are so many children who suffer exactly as she does. Nonetheless, I admired how both Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte were an escape from the darkness for Kit Kat. They were a source of comfort. This demonstrates the true power of literature.and the great impact books can have on an individual's life, particularly in times of suffering.

Overall, although difficult to read at times, this was a heart-wrenching story which I couldn't put down. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC of Dear Jane by Marina DelVecchio. This was a story about a young child suffering abuse and responsibilities beyond her age. The main character, Kit Kat, made it through her childhood and teenage years by reading the book Jane Eyre and identifying with the main character. Identifying with this fictional character allowed her to find her way out of the darkness that surrounded her. It was a very good book.

I really enjoyed this story. It made me not want to put it down it sucked me in. I would highly recommend this book. I will read more by this author.

This book hooked me from the beginning and I knew right away that it would be different from any other novel I had read before. I also knew it would not be a happy book because of that first page. It was hard NOT to connect with the main character as she told her story through her journal entries and by the end of the book, you feel as if you know Kit Kat as the person she wants to be, not who she was when she became adopted.

The quotes from Jane Eyre before each new chapter helped connect Kit Kat to Jane through the different experiences and I think that some younger readers may think about picking up Jane Eyre to read in order to find out more about this character who helped Kit Kat embrace herself and learn about who she is. By having the novel formatted into journal entries, it really allows the reader to get into Kit Kat's mind in an unguarded fashion which I think is crucial for a novel like this. Instead of painting graphic and detailed situations, you see more into the mind of her and learn the complex feelings she is going through. Even though she is still a child in many ways, you can see the places where she has been forced to grow up and it tugs at your heart. Not all adoptions end in happiness, and I think this novel is an important piece of literature that needs to be shared in hopes that those people who need to see they aren't alone get ahold of this book and can connect with a character and reading. The world of reading is painted beautifully in this book and shows that everyone belongs in that world.

Dear Jane is such a hard-hitting, heart-wrenching book describing the awful childhood of Kit-Kat, a young girl originally from Greece. I found parts extremely difficult to read and it's horrible knowing there are so many children that go through exactly what she does. I liked that Marina DelVecchio gave our character solace in Jane Eyre and Charlotte Bronte and that she could see herself in both women. It was definitely a comfort for Kit-Kat and someone that she felt could understand how she was feeling and what she was going through.

I must admit I did find quite a lot of this difficult to read and although I wanted to give up on the book just because it was upsetting for me, I couldn't give up on Kit-Kat as I needed to see that she finally found happiness and the love she so much deserved.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book with high hopes. A story about a Greek girl who loves Jane Eyre? That's basically me. There were certain things I enjoyed about it: generally I found myself very gripped by Elektra's story, and was glad to see how she would turn out. I found her relationship with her adoptive mother interesting, if a bit flat. It was told entirely from Elektra's perspective, and she had good and bad (but mostly bad) things to say about the woman, but I was interested in knowing their story, why she behaved the way she did, her motives, etc. In this book nothing really happens, it's just a teenage girl telling you her story. I know there are people out there with lives like hers, but there were parts that felt deeply melodramatic, that each time something bad happened to Elektra I was almost laughing at how comically miserable her life is. Most of it is told from the POV of a 15 year old Elektra, and a lot of definitely reads like a young teen wrote it. I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not. A lot of it just felt like a college essay from a teenager, with a lot of explaining and repetition and analyzing of her own life. Overall though I did enjoy the story and think a lot of young women would benefit from it.

This book was received as an ARC from Black Rose Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was really dark and strong in the telling of Kit Kat and her struggle with adoption and the dark past that haunts her from her parents. She reads Jane Eyre and immediately connects with Jane that she starts writing letters to her for an exchange of strength and hope. This book exemplifies why reading is so important that its all about the connection to the reader and the impact the book has on their life. Its rewarding to the reader but also the author to think that their book made a positive impact in someone's life. Such a positive strong message that all should read at some point.

We will definitely consider this title in our urban fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Thank you to Black Rose Writing for the arc of this book.
This is a “heavy” book, as in regards to the subject matter, it is very well written, and I enjoyed watching Elektra become who she was meant to be,.