Burning Brightly by Alexa Donne Review

Title: Brightly Burning
Author: Alexa Donne
Format: Audiobook

Seventeen-year-old Stella Ainsley wants just one thing: to go somewhere—anywhere—else. Her home is a floundering spaceship that offers few prospects, having been orbiting an ice-encased Earth for two hundred years. When a private ship hires her as a governess, Stella jumps at the chance. The captain of the Rochester, nineteen-year-old Hugo Fairfax, is notorious throughout the fleet for being a moody recluse and a drunk. But with Stella he’s kind.

But the Rochester harbors secrets: Stella is certain someone is trying to kill Hugo, and the more she discovers, the more questions she has about his role in a conspiracy threatening the fleet.

Wouldn't it be great to be able to move far away with a new job where nobody new you and start a new life? That is what Stella Ainsley gets to do when she gets a new governess job aboard the Rochester. She comes from nothing, her parents died at a young age and her aunt was more than happy to ship her off to a different ship as an orphan when she got the chance. So when 17 year old Stella gets a job on a private luxurious ship, she is more than pleased. But things aboard the Rochester aren't as they seem and mysterious Capetian Hugo Fairfax seems to be hiding something.

I will start off by saying that I haven't read Jane Eyre and this is a retelling of that classic. I did really enjoy this audiobook. The story was very engaging and the pace flowed very well. Stella was a very likeable character and it was very refreshing to see a strong female that wasn't willing to throw away the fate of someone else for a man. And the twist was surprising, at least to me. I am not for sure if that came from the classic or not.

So, the one thing I didn't care for in this book was Hugo and George. I don't think it was the author's fault, I think that goes back to the retelling. I found George to be annoying to an extennt. And Hugo was just childish. I understand that he was 19, but the whole trying to make another girl jealous with someone else bothers me. But that is the only problem I had with the book.