Historical+Fiction

//- Maylynn Chen//
 * __Jane Eyre__** by **Charlotte Bront****ë**

A young orphan girl named Jane is forced to grow up in harsh conditions, in the home of her cruel aunt and in a disciplined charity school. Bullied and tormented all her life, she is reminded daily that she has no parents, no money and very plain looks. Determined to have her freedom and pursue a life of her own, she is hired as a governess to the daughter of a mysterious and sardonic man, Mr. Rochester. They are very much alike; both are un-attractive and misunderstood, but also very different, Jane being poor and Mr. Rochester being extremely wealthy. Despite their differences though, they develop a very close friendship and begin to fall in love, planning to get married. It seems the couple has found happiness at last. But when Mr. Rochester's darkest secret comes to light, Jane's world is torn apart yet again and is forced to make a decision that will affect her for the rest of her life. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite novels of **all time** simply because it has such a great story behind it. It really promotes female empowerment and gender equality, which proves it is much more deep and thought-provoking than just a regular Cinderella story. The love between Jane and Mr. Rochester is so amazing and the fact that they overcame so many obstacles for their love is truly inspiring. The tragic events they went through for love of each other had me crying for half of the book! A classic romance that will sweep you off your feet, I recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind crying their guts out.

Click [|here] to see Jane Eyre on Amazon. =)

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown -Jonathan Chou

Symbologist Robert langdon has been called on to study the mysterious ambigram branding on a unexpected victim. The unexpected targets by the ancient brotherhood, by the Illumanti brings back a “historical revenge.” 4 mysterious terrorist assassinations in 4 chosen locations. As the ancient brotherhood carries their terrorist actions under the nose of the catholic church, they form traitors from within Vatican city.

The author uses historical artwork as clues to the main terrorist assassination events, as well as other number and word references. I like how the author embeds each new discovery to a vital part of a clue. The story doesn’t seem to have an ending even after the problem has been solved. Therefore, I don’t think the last few pages of the book are really necessary. Overall, the book is very “grabbing”, and is very hard to put down.