Jane Slayre
Trade Paperback
By Sherri Browning Erwin
Original Story by Charlotte Bronte
Gallery Books
Release Date: April 13, 2010

Jane Slayre takes the approach of books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and takes a classic piece of literature and adds a supernatural twist to it. The original story Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte follows the interesting life of Jane Eyre as she grows up and falls in love. Sherri Browning Erwin puts a twist on this story by asking what if Jane had to do this while protecting the world from vampires, voodoo priests, zombies, and werewolves? Well, I say yes please!

The orphan Jane Slayre starts off her life by being raised by her Aunt Reed and living with her three cousins, John, Georgina, and Eliza, all of whom had been turned into vampires. Jane was terrorized by John, which lead to her being able to leave the house to be sent away to school. At this school called Lowood, Jane realizes that the world is filled with these supernatural beings and that her family isn’t the only afflicted ones. As with the classic tale, t first she spends time at the school as a student and then later as a teacher, but eventually she realizes it’s time for her to move on, so she takes a position as Governess at a place called Thornfield. Through her experiences, she founds out what love is and that she feels it for one man. She also discovers that she actually does have a real family that isn’t evil and might even have the same Slayre instincts that she does.

Overall, Erwin does a great job of mixing this supernatural twist into the classic piece of literature. I especially enjoyed Jane’s childhood and found the addition of zombies and werewolves very interesting and fun. There are a few moments when vampires are added to scenes in the story which don’t exactly fit and feel a little clunky, but that is rare in comparison to the rest of the book which it is very well done and actually very smoothly mixed in.

What this book does differently than other mash-ups I’ve enjoyed is that it follows a longer span of time and follows one person’s life rather than multiple characters’ perspectives of the supernatural events taking place. I felt as if the reader was watching Jane grow as a person as she got older.

Jane is a great character with a very interesting personality. What Erwin does well with this book is show how this twist of being a Slayre would effect Jane in her growth and personality. Jane is a very strong Independent woman as she was in Jane Eyre, but add this power of the Slayre blood to the equation and you have a whole other aspect of her strength. She will not be played for a fool and will not be treated as inferior. Jane is one of the strongest characters I have read in a long while and almost anyone can find something to enjoy in her and in her story.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the original Jane Eyre or anybody who is at all interested in any kind of supernatural stories especially, if you are a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Pretty much if you are interested in a good story, pick this up.

I give Jane Slayre a 4.5 out of 5