Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

56 reviews

eib_21's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

theasophie230303's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Self harm

lazycycle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

melhevingham98's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

veganecurrywurst's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I disagree with the people saying that this is not a lovestory (although the predominant theme is revenge). I genuinely believe that Heathcliff loved Cathrine I and vice-versa. But they all were such toxic, irresponsible and egocentric people without boundaries that the being together only made it worse.
Most of the other characters even the narrator(s) are deeply flawed human beings.
I think the most "likable" are probably Catherine II and Hareton.
In oder to really appreciate this book, I recommend doing a bit of research on it first and listing to other people's thoughts on the book. I'm probably going to give this a higher rating after I reread it.

“He shall never know I love him: and that, not because he’s handsome, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made out of, his and mine are the same.”

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”

“I have not broken your heart – you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.”

“I’m wearying to escape into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of an aching heart: but really with it, and in it."

“It was not the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn.”

“I have to remind myself to breathe – almost to remind my heart to beat!”

“Treachery and violence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to them worse than their enemies.”

Some info-graphics I really enjoyed: https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/jul/30/emily-brontes-wuthering-heights-in-charts

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Death of parent

Minor: Self harm and Murder

neni's review against another edition

reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

 I didn't expect this to be as engaging as it was. Obviously classics can be enjoyable, and I've read classics that moved me ( Jane Eyre, for one), but they're usually more serious in tone and with a more sad/ reflective vibe. 

Wuthering Heights managed to give off that dreamy, nostalgic vibe we associate so much with the Bronte sisters, but paired it with frankly the juiciest family and relationship drama I've ever read lmao. Seriously, the kardashians have nothing on these characters , and I mean that in the best possible way. 

The ammount of toxicity in the relationships and the sheer magnitude of the generational trauma, while not exactly pleasant to read all the time, made for a gripping narrative. There were plenty of moments I actually found pretty funny, just from a "let's see how much of a human disaster this bitch is" perspective. Like a car accident in slow motion: you know shit is about to go down badly but you just can't look away. 

The characters themselves were all pretty unlikable, which surprisingly made it fun to read about ( even if I ended up not particularly caring about any of them lol). 

On a more serious note, I really liked the writing style ( to be expected) and thought the narrative strategy was clever (a character, being the narrator, telling another character the story) and interesting (obviously it's not unique to this book, but I thought it fit the story particularly well). 

One thing that brought the rating down slightly for me was the ending, which gave me mixed feelings. 

On the one hand, I couldn't help but feel the satisfaction of what is basically the closest thing to a "happy" ending I think is possible. On the other hand, I thought Heathcliff somehow got off "too easy" (that bastard of monumental proportions certainly deserved more suffering in my opinion) and the romantic plotline kind of came out of nowhere, in a way that didn't feel very believable. Especially considering the backrounds and the previous behaviors of the affected characters . I wasn't exactly disappointed, per se, but there was definitely a meh feeling. 

Overall though, I really liked this and enjoyed my time reading it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty

moss_and_ink's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Everyone in this book needs a cup of tea, a hug and a therapy session.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse

scruffie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I found this one very slow paced and reading it was quite the grind. Exceptionally dark though, so I naturally loved it.

Say what you will about the villain but I was impressed by his perseverance and how he uses the very same systemic techniques that oppressed him to oppress others, effectively perpetuating the misery.

Made me think of Philip Larkin's words:

"Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don't have any kids yourself."

Sidenote: I'd generously say that I understood about 30% of what Joseph says in the book. Didn't make a difference, really.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty and Pregnancy

dan13dean's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Gaslighting

Minor: Chronic illness and Physical abuse

sarah984's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Watching a bunch of fading landed gentry behaving badly has a kind of vicious Real Housewives feel to it which could be fun at times. These people could not bear to let anyone else be happy and were constantly cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

However, it's kind of blunted a bit by the distance the literary device used to tell gives it (some parts are like Lockwood relating a letter written by Cathy as narrated to him by Ellen) and the ending sort of runs out of steam.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Incest