ghada_mohammed's reviews
501 reviews

“I was no angel or demon. I was as human as the man whose life I’d ended. I was Adèle Varens, and I was a murderess.”

This is Jane Eyre's little Adèle's story!

I was not aware of that when I started this book and I was duly (and delightfully) surprised when I found out. As if a female vigilante who roamed the streets at night to exact revenge on monsters in the form of men with too much power were not enough selling points, Reader, I Murdered Him seemed to be striving for perfection with its beautifully compelling narrative, radical honesty, and its insistence on tackling about every single grievance I had with the original classic: I loved how Jane's problematic marriage, at least in my opinion, was related with as much distrust as I felt when I read Jane Eyre the first time at nineteen. I also loved how Bertha was given a voice and allowed to be more than the crazy lady in the attic. Most of all, I loved the sisterly bond between the women and how every single one of them was unconditionally allowed to be who she truly was in a world that offered them very little freedom: particularly, I loved how Adèle, in her narrative, neither admonished nor thought less of Jane up to the very end, not making her a second villain or a victim.

My only scruple with this book was that despite the dark theme and brutal mishaps that befell its characters, everything played out so neatly to an extinct verging on unrealistic. There was a particular incident that especially vexed me out of giving it five stars:

while attempting to intercept one of her friend's misadventures with a millitary captain, Adèle not only climbed a tall tree (tall enough to see into the second storey of a building) in a Victorian dress without breaking a sweat, but then she proceeded to bodily overcome said captain multiple times in succession. I'm not calling myself an expert in climbing trees or hand-to-hand combat, but I just fail to pictures how all of that came to be.

Such a delightful and uplifting novel! Equally hilarious and painfully honest, 30 Things I love About Myself is a wonderful study in accepting one's flaws, striving for personal growth, and loving oneself through the process. Nina Mistry might not be perfect, but she is the wake-up call many might need to embark on their own self-love journey.