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redheadorganist's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Mental illness and Pregnancy
books_because_why_not's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.75
To start off, I found the characters in this book to be insufferable. They were interesting, but awful people. I only liked two characters in the entire book, but they were not even the main character. It is fine to have characters who have flaws, but many of the characters were just terrible and had hardly any redeeming quality. At least, I want one main character to be likable, that’s all I ask.
Also, this book put me in a really bad reading slump. I started this book in Early 2022 and finally got around to finishing it midway through 2023.The writing is very flowery and hard to understand in the present day. I had to look up summaries for chapters because I could not follow along. Brontë uses eye dialect (basically writing words misspelled to show how they were literally spoken) to convey Joseph’s yorkshire accent. This, however, made reading any of Joseph's dialogue absolutely unreadable.
The story was fine I guess. It did not really capture me as a reader because it was kind of slow going. Many people describe this book as a romance, but I felt like this is not true to what I read. A lot of times character’s were physically assaulting each other. In my opinion, this story is more about Heathcliff’s revenge rather than a love story.
I really did not like this book and if you have similar tastes as me, I would avoid this book. I’m not saying “Wuthering Heights” is awful, it is considered a classic after all. It is just not my cup of tea and is the worst book I have read this year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment
canyi's review against another edition
dark
tense
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
3.5
Read as part of a buddy read among friends so it’s more recreational/ to mock it as a romance. But my final opinion is that its not a romance to mock because it’s not a romance but more of a horror, the true romance is not the “main” couple, they’re the source of the horror. The true romance in this book is the end couple, I guess you could look at it as a romance that blossomed from the pure evil doings of Heathcliff but it really doesn’t feel like it’s the main point.
Personally I prefer to read books where I like or enjoy the main characters so honestly it wouldn’t be my go to pick. However once I got past that I found it was actually a really easy/ captivating read once I acknowledged (not a major plot spoiler) that it was not a romance but more of a horror. .
Despite the slow moving plot I felt compelled to finish it, at least just because I wanted to see if Heathcliff is ever stopped . Although I was inclined to give this a one star because I absolutely despised most of the characters, I don’t think I was supposed to like them. Honestly it’s easier to hate a character you’re supposed to hate than not liking a character you’re supposed to like.
3.5 stars because it wasn’t a bad story just terrible people, although I will admit the rating would be lower if it didn’t have a somewhat happy ending.
Personally I prefer to read books where I like or enjoy the main characters so honestly it wouldn’t be my go to pick. However once I got past that I found it was actually a really easy/ captivating read once I acknowledged (not a major plot spoiler)
Despite the slow moving plot I felt compelled to finish it, at least just because I wanted to see if
3.5 stars because it wasn’t a bad story
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Stalking, Bullying, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Classism, Death, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence
maddypat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have a love-hate relationship with this book. I think going into it with the expectation that it would be a novel about primarily romance and love made me struggle to understand it. Really, it's a story about flawed people experiencing trauma and loss, and how that shapes their life and the lives around them. Love is there, and I'd even say it's still relatively central, but it's less about the exploration of that love and more about the results of it. I would have given it just three stars until I read the last two chapters -- when I promptly began to cry my eyes out!
It's a bit slow for me but I can fully see why it's a classic and would recommend it to anyone.
It's a bit slow for me but I can fully see why it's a classic and would recommend it to anyone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty
the_quickening_tree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Miserable plot, average writing, drags on more than is necessary. A classic, but not an enjoyable read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Death, and Grief
mistystar's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Death
armand's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief
Moderate: Death
holly_jolly's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
4.0
Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights tells the story of mainly two generations of characters that bring out the worst in each other.
What kept me hooked at first, were the eerie atmosphere and (MINOR SPOILER) the nightmarish apparition of a woman at Wuthering Heights, a moorland farmhouse, that made me want to find out who that woman was.
Getting to know the characters, I was constantly trying to figure out who of them was the worst. But although I did not like any, despised most and straight up feared some of them, I often felt for them.
Emily Brontë created some exceedingly interesting characters here.
I absolutely love how she managed to turn around this absolute disaster, that kept getting worse and worse throughout the book, in the end.
Furthermore, the book offers opportunities for analysis, e.g. regarding the characters' development and the reliablility of the narrator as large parts of the story are told by a housekeeper.
What kept me hooked at first, were the eerie atmosphere and (MINOR SPOILER) the nightmarish apparition of a woman at Wuthering Heights, a moorland farmhouse, that made me want to find out who that woman was.
Getting to know the characters, I was constantly trying to figure out who of them was the worst. But although I did not like any, despised most and straight up feared some of them, I often felt for them.
Emily Brontë created some exceedingly interesting characters here.
Furthermore, the book offers opportunities for analysis, e.g. regarding the characters' development and the reliablility of the narrator as large parts of the story are told by a housekeeper.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Child abuse
emmonsannae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rereading this for the second time (the first 6 years ago), I was surprised at how much more I enjoyed it. Most of the story is a dumpster fire: the characters are terrible and only get worse, the drama is excessive, and the Victorian depravity is unending; but the prose is witty and vivid and it’s a dumpster fire I couldn’t stop watching. I really appreciated the story’s ending, after 400 pages of sheer brutality—it was a relief to able to watch the only pitiable characters in the novel consciously break every cycle of evil and choose goodness. (It gets bonus points for being a perfect gothic “ghost” novel which ends up having much more to say about the ghosts we make for ourselves.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Death, Classism, Child abuse, and Mental illness
bookwomble's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse