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waitingforyourletter's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
remuslibrary's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Racism
Minor: Animal cruelty
solliereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I think the biggest mistake you can make when reading Wuthering Heights is to misunderstand the story of Heathcliff and Catherine as a love story - it is a tale of love, but it certainly isn't a love story or a romance in any sense of the word. It feels like a warning, more than a romantic story, that one will live a miserable and miserly life if one lets themselves become bitterly consumed by passion and regret, and real tragedy lies in what could have been of them if Catherine had pushed aside her thoughts of "marrying beneath her", or even what Heathcliff could have made of himself if he had let Catherine go in peace from his mind and his memory. I also appreciate the fact that we never see to in depth into the minds of Catherine Earnshaw or Heathcliff themselves - they feel more so like the performers in a play, that everyone around them reacts to with their own narratives full of bias. It's honestly genius.
I've seen reviews that the writing style is longwinded and dull, and had prepared myself for it but I personally found it incredibly gripping and I think it's more of an issue somebody might have personally with the genre and literary style. It's really no less longwinded or dull than other classics that I've read and loved, such as Crime and Punishment or, by another Brontë sister, Jane Eyre. Overall, I absolutely recommend this novel.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, and Xenophobia
birtelesemann's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
misselizabethan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
miss_vonnegut's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, and Classism
emtees's review against another edition
- 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
The story is… honestly kind of ridiculous, until you remember that this is the gothic genre, and compared to most gothics, the story here is pretty straight-forward. What made me dislike it was that I didn’t care for any of the characters or worry about what would happen to them. I don’t mean that the characters were flawed or even bad people - they were, but that’s to be expected in gothics - but that they were just frequently very annoying. They all had occasional moments where you could feel sympathy with them for the ways they seemed trapped by the circumstances of their lives, but then they would do something cruel or malicious for no good reason and that sympathy faded fast. Usually in a story like this I would expect to have at least one character I latched on to, but that didn’t happen here.
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Racism
overbooked207's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
1st book of January 2023 and 1st of the year:
“‘May she wake in torment!' he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. ‘Why, she's a liar to the end! Where is she? Not there-not in heaven--not perished--where? Oh! You said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer--I repeat it till my tongue stiffens-may you not rest as long as I am living; you said I killed you--haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always- take any form- drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!” - Emily Brontë.
I read this years ago, but I think I listened to it too fast and didn’t remember much of it, so I decided to give it another try because I remember loving the quotes and the atmospheric setting, and I’m glad I did! The atmosphere and writing are rich, haunting, and poetic, and so many of the quotes, like the one above, quickly became new favorites of all time, said quotes being infinitely quotable and full of drama, passion, love(even if it’s toxic), and poetry! Almost every character is the absolute worst, but sometimes that’s exactly what I want to consume because it can be so entertaining, and I love watching/analyzing the characters’ complexities and thoughts/actions even as I’m shaking my head(tho reading about what Heathcliff does was hard). And winter is one of the perfect times to read this as you get cozy with a hot beverage and blankets. The audiobook read by Joanne Froggatt was also amazing! I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more than the second, but the quotes made it up to me.
But please be aware of the TWs that are unfortunately prevalent in classic lit for unchecked racism, ableism, sexism, classism, incest, etc., and read/enjoy it critically and with that in mind. Other TWs include abuse(child, domestic, physical, and verbal), alcoholism, death, ghosts, grief, guns, and violence🥀🍂🪦💔
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism
itsartemis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Classism
Minor: Death, Incest, and Gaslighting
melosamatic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Racism