Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

91 reviews

evgeorge's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.0

If you have been abused, have experience with violent, neglectful alcoholic or controlling behavior consider reading something else. This a horror story of obsession, violence, the legacy of family trauma, alcoholism and abuse. Heathcliff is a nightmare model of coercive control. What he and Catherine have is not love it is passion, obsession and mutual distruction. They and everyone around them suffer. This story has influenced women for generations to believe that this is what love looks like.  A romance. A love story. No. It is beautifully written horror story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

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

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

Minor: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Sexism

znnys's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

It's been a while since I've read a book that I couldn't put down. I was very fortunate to come to Wuthering Heights knowing almost nothing about the plot, aside from what the Kate Bush song revealed. I was immediately drawn in by this book about miserable people treating each other like shit! The spiral of these two families, with Heathcliff at the center, orchestrating his vengeance. He's a simultaneous fascinating and detestable character, and viewed through the unreliable perspective of Nelly, you're almost inclined to believe he's this inherently. But Wuthering Heights is about how abuse begets abuse, and the seed is planted by something beyond the scope of the Earnshaws and the Lintons - it is the pervasive classism of semi-incestuous white English hegemony. It's no coincidence that she emphasizes Heathcliff's ambiguous ethnicity as the main source of his Otherness. It only makes sense, then, that Heathcliff's vengeance runs so deeply, when the prejudice against him was set into motion long before he was born. His transformation into a villain seems like he's fulfilling the prophecy expected of him by everyone around him.

Unpleasantly surprised to see the notion that "these characters are mean and it's not ACTUALLY a romance" so pervasive, as if it's an actual a critique. Yes, they're mean. Yes, nearly every relationship in this book is fraught, miserable, tumultuous, and toxic. I don't see how that makes the book bad? Sometimes books about people who suck are good and interesting! Literature would be incredibly boring if characters always did and said the right things. There would be no conflict. These characters felt like such well-rounded, multi-layered people to me. A good character is someone who you can like, and hate, and pity, all at once. I felt that for nearly every character in this book.

There's a lot more I could probably say about this book, but I'd be writing an essay. Ultimately I really loved it and will probably count it as an all-time favorite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Self harm

fran_gc9's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Qué libro más raro pero me ha gustado mucho, no le doy 5 estrellas porque me ha costado un poco engancharme. Me encanta que sea una conversación entre la criada y un extraño. Algunas escenas son realmente incómodas y me sorprende que una mujer escribiera así en esa época (ahora entiendo por qué tuvo que usar un pseudónimo masculino). Mis personajes favs son Hareton, Edgar y Dean. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

mousecat's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism

actiaslunasaturniidae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

donnabrenton88's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Was a very slow and heavy start, being vaguely familiar with the story hindered more than helped. The arrival of Mrs Dean around chapter 6/7 helped me to finally get in to the story. Whilst deemed a tragic love story it felt more tragedy than love. I did enjoy the story and found immense hatred for many characters. The horror and hopelessness is well written amd the story had me until the end. The rating wasn't five stars as I felt the ending felt a little rushed and happy which felt out of kilter. All in all a good immersion into the classics and one I'd read again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment

ayphyx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.0

Everybody in this book fucking sucks and it’s great (except for you Hareton <3). This book is so much more enjoyable as a book about the cycle of abuse than a traditional romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Death of parent

wuthrinheights's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I first read this book a year or two ago, and I now hold two physical copies of it. This is a reread and I still harbor so much love for this story. When I was getting nearer to the ending, I was half glad, half saddened. I was excited to be finished with it so I could go on to read other books but I also didn't want to say goodbye to these characters. Seeing the story spread out for 20 years, I grew attached to them as if I was also a part of the moors. 

Although I do not condone their behaviours, I was still so fascinated and amazed by the intensity of the love held between Catherine and Heathcliff. They were wild and reckless and passionate, which hurt not only each other but the people around them and others that came after them. My favourite parts of the book were their love confessions spoken to Nelly. It was so intense and agonising, it plays so vividly if I were to think back on the book. 

My favourite character was Nelly. Everyone was always dramatic and taken by emotions, but Nelly was always cool and focused. Her deadpan deliveries cracked me up, which gave a lighter tone amidst the gloomy setting of the Heights. She often spoke the truth and would strive to do the right thing, even if her master(s) didn't like to hear it. 

It is still so mind-blowing that despite being written hundreds of years ago, Brontë was able to pen a story that covers abuse running through generational lines, when it probably wasn't that well studied back in those days. Emily was way ahead of her time and it's a shame she never got to see how well her book was loved after the publication. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

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: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Violence

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

Minor: Grief