Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

176 reviews

lorendushku's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

5.0

 Wuthering Heights is a story of two people who are deeply in love, but who are also deeply flawed.
Heathcliff is a wild and untamed man, while Catherine is a proud, spoiled and headstrong woman. Their love is passionate and intense, but it is also destructive. They both make mistakes, and they both suffer as a result.

I loved the locations, the moors are a place of beauty and danger, and they reflect the tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine.

The characters in Wuthering Heights are not saints or heroes, but real people who make mistakes and suffer the consequences.
I found myself rooting for Heathcliff and Catherine, even though I knew that they were both capable of great cruelty. However, I think that this is part of what makes the story so compelling. It is a reminder that even the most flawed people are capable of love, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

I was surprised when Heathcliff, instead of protecting what Catherine left, bested her. I thought that he would be more kind and forgiving, but he was instead consumed by his own rage and bitterness. This shows that even the most passionate love can be turned to hate.

My favourite scene in Wuthering Heights is when Heathcliff runs away and Catherine says that their souls are the same. This scene shows the depth of their love, even though they are unable to be together. It is a reminder that even when love is impossible, it can still be a powerful force in our lives.

I learned a lot from Wuthering Heights:
I learned that love is a powerful force, but it can also be destructive, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

Wuthering Heights is a challenging and heart-breaking book, but it is also a beautiful and unforgettable one. It is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

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eranada's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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


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nanc_282's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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


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marageorge's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-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

5.0


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caitlancole's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.75


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impla77's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

3.25

Not only is Heathcliff a dick, he’s also extremely annoying

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erebus53's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad 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

2.0

This is a book I was assigned to read in highschool.. and that, like every other read I was set, I quit at page 37. I resolved to one day pick it up and digest it in it's entirety. Verdict? Not very filling, a bit dry, not that satisfying. If I hadn't deliberately exerted myself, I wouldn't have bothered to finish it.

The setting is ostensibly spooky. It's a cold and desolate windblown house, with warped trees and harsh weather. The introduction sets the reader ill at ease with a new tenant imposing himself upon the landlord's household, only to meet with dour people and rude manners. Every attempt he makes to act toward them in a warm or overly familiar way is oh so cringeworthy, and disconcerting.

The narrative is told through word of mouth stories. The main narrator on the history of the characters is a maid servant, but yet further detail is fleshed out through recounting the content of letters and anecdotes of others... this method of telling stories inside stories I have seen before in things like Shelley's Frankenstein.

The Classism in this is predictably rampant. The use of a Yorkshire accent is disparaged and laughed at. Frustratingly for me, the narrator of the audiobook couldn't do the dialect any justice and she fumbled through all the parts that are written phonetically in rustic parlance. This took a lot more work for me to interpret than if it were read fluently. Gah! t'th divvel wet ye!

Another recurring theme is the whole cliché of dark and light. A dark haired, supposedly ill-bred orphan is taken to hearth and home, and of course fair haired, light eyed, pale skinned people are seen as morally superior. A bit of vanilla Racism to rub into the literature. Well.. the book is old.. but I don't have to like it.

Honestly confused at what a teacher would hope to gain from getting teens to vivisect a book like this.. the book is pale and dreary, a litany of ills and intergenerational abuse, of slow burning insidious revenge. I mean, I used to be a goth.. I've listened to Kate Bush.. this wasn't even romantic.

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duarshe's review against another edition

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

4.0

Do I get why this book is a classic? Obviously. But do I get why people romanticize Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship? Hell no.

Before studying this book in class (I'm doing an English major), I literally thought this was a romance novel. To be honest, it is in some weird way a romance novel, but taken to a toxic obsessed kind of love mixed with the characteristics of the Gothic novel of 19th-century Britain.

I'm really excited that I finally finished this book since I've been reading it since MAY and we're in AUGUST. However, I got lazy because from the moment Heathcliff leaves for three years until Catherine (junior) grows up a bit and starts visiting the Heights, it's all a big blur, and I didn't really care. It was a bit hard for me to get through the story, not only because English is not my first language and this was written in the 19th century, but also because classic novels tend to explain and describe completely unnecessary things and idle conversations.

Also, can we talk about how almost every character in this was completely and utterly annoying? The only character towards whom I didn't have any negative feelings was Nelly.

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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


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issyd23's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

Holy fucking shit this nocked my socks off! The prose are phenomenal & moving. Not bad for a virgin with no friends who died at 30 from TB 5🪦

Joanne Froggatt also fucking slayed the audiobook 5🪦

NB Nelly doesn’t get paid enough to deal with all the BS from the Lintons + Earnshaws - get a better employer girl! 

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