Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

47 reviews

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Wuthering Heights is a stunning, claustrophobic nightmare of a gothic novel that I appreciate more in my 30s than I did in my teens. I went into this with little memory of the plot - the entirety of my recollection of my senior-year English essay on the subject was “everyone’s awful.” But two of my childhood besties were game for an impromptu buddy (re)read, and there is nothing quite like revisiting a book you didn’t understand on your first read and realizing it’s actually more horrifying than you previously understood (as a parent, the generational cycle of abuse and the childhood trauma wrought by severe isolation, confinement and emotional manipulation color the story for me, now). 

Also on this read, I was more interested in the structure and style. The use of two unreliable narrators is so brilliantly done, where Mr. Lockwood’s diary-style narrative depends entirely on an abbreviated version of Nelly Dean’s narrative, which depends entirely on her retelling of events that happened to other people nearly three decades ago. The layers of bias between us and the events of the story create a feeling of always viewing the action through a fun-house mirror, with the melodrama rendered farcical and the broodiness of the characters and the moors deepening into supernatural terror. 

Ultimately, who but an isolated and introverted young woman confined to the English moors, writing under an alias, defying the strictures of her zealous Christian family members could have written a story even her own sister would later caution is maybe too dark? (Charlotte’s posthumous introduction to the novel is overly apologetic and explanatory to a degree that I really dislike, but her note that her sister’s writing was “moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath” is perfectly said). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Incest

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy

eva_vva's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt, Stalking, and Self harm

acwhit17's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Fucked up and yet. So compelling. Understand why kate bush was obsessed with it, very shocking for the time period and so good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Ableism, Death of parent, Bullying, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

hatofulbf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Misogyny, Incest, Domestic abuse, and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty

kjboldon's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

4.5

Emily had a plan for this book but even after several readings, I'm not sure what it was. But it was precise and high minded, however debased her characters got. This one is definitely not for those who need a likes le character. Did she carry the Byronic ideal to its logical, ironic, conclusion?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Violence, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Bullying, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Addiction, Animal death, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Death, and Kidnapping

yujiarx's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Death, Child death, Bullying, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Sexism, Classism, Death of parent, and Toxic relationship

sarah_zaffiro's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

• Loveable characters? No

3.0

honestly not sure why people love this book so much.. or why Heathcliff is as romanticized as he is; hella problematic person. Also we’re just okay with first cousins marrying each other as well ? 
It’s an easy read & has fairly good pacing, but I also found it difficult to ascertain which character (Lockwood or Nelly) was speaking in the first person since so much of the story is told from Nelly’s point of view.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Bullying, and Child abuse

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Death, Death of parent, Murder, and Incest

Minor: Misogyny, Animal cruelty, and Sexism

kaanda's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

4.5

Every character except the two main narrators are insufferable in the best way. The pettiness and drama kept me engaged throughout while the despicable treatment of certain characters made me care. A super fun, but frustrating read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexism

chelly_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Death

thanhnguyen99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Death, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Grief