Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Cumbres Borrascosas (13/20) by Emily Brontë

78 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). 

---

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

maayanaravot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

This book is a total adventure to read. It has very dark themes of abuse and is filled with hate and revenge. Even so, the book is written so well and i found it enjoyabke to read. After i fished it, i didnt know what to make of it, what was the point? I wasnt sure how much i liked it. But over time ive grown to like the book more and see how it explores trauma and clinging to the past. Idk if id reccomend it to anyone tho, cuz its very tense. 

The only character i really liked is edgar, he deserved better.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Grief, Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting

cosmopsis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Classism, and Racism

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

---

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

---

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

mcmeiss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

mirandahems's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

none of the characters are likable except the narrator Nelly, and maybe on a good day cathy linton. but heathcliff is literally the worst??? and actually evil??? and why do they hate children so much. also, they need to get out of the holler and stop marrying their cousins

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Mental illness, Confinement, Infidelity, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, and Death

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?

---

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

evgeorge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.0

Violent, abusive, harsh, dark. A love story? no thank you

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Grief, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Violence

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark sad

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

1.0

this was such a slog to get through. this writing style is both so boring and so overly dramatic. just about every character was detestable and when they weren't, they were in love with someone so obviously detestable that i was annoyed and frustrated nearly the entire time i read this. i don't understand why anyone loved catherine sr. as much as they did when she was overtly manipulative, selfish, and instigative.

her dying literally halfway through the book seemingly in childbirth when there was not a single hint to her being pregnant, even when she had a doctor checking in on her constantly confused me so much and caught me by such surprise that i had to reread the passage a few times just to be sure i read it right. it just made no sense how that even happened without anyone knowing or even suspecting she was pregnant. especially when it starts out that she's faking her illness initially for attention and to manipulate everyone to give her what she wants.

i did not understand catherine sr. and heathcliffe's obsession with each other when it seemed that they rarely even had any time together between being forbidden to speak to/spend time with each other, being mad at one another, or heathcliffe just straight up disappearing for years.

heathcliffe's obsession with her made even less sense to me after she died and was honestly so disturbing. he dug up her grave!!! what do you even mean!!! his behaviour throughout this entire book was so revolting and violating.

i also could not understand why catherine jr. liked linton so much when he was just a big, whiny, manipulative baby! like what even is the attraction there at all? all these characters were so unreasonably attached and unwaveringly loyal to the most insufferable people and i just didn't get it. it was truly so frustrating. also, heathcliffe holding such a crazy and intense grudge against the people who wronged him for their and his entire life, so much so that he holds the grudge against their ENTIRE bloodline and makes it his life's mission to ruin all of their lives and disrespect their wishes in even death is WILD. what a fucking loser. also, how are you going to have whole ass characters with dialogue that is so indecipherable and incomprehensible to any person on earth that you have to have an actual glossary to translate it for the reader??? that isn't a language, by the way! the book is bad, argue with the wall.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Death

many characters are manipulative and narcissistic. the relationships are toxic and often times abusive. a male character has a strong and strange obsession with a female character. there are a couple mentions and descriptions of grave-digging.