Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

186 reviews

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

essiie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Classism, and Child abuse

Minor: Death, Chronic illness, and Violence

ciprianna's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Emotional abuse

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

lucy3000's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-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

2.5

The copious amount of abuse was a bit too much for me. Made the book hard to read at times. Also not happy that

Heathcliff had a peaceful death at the end. I hated that guy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Incest

Moderate: Animal cruelty

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

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: Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, and Rape

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

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism