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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

153 reviews

esztertth's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Read it first when I was a teenager and loved it, and the re-read made me fall in love with the book even more. So bleak, so haunting, so gothic, exploring the dark sides of human nature and obsession.

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birtelesemann's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • 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


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miss_vonnegut's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • 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

How can I love a book this much and absolutely detest pretty much all of the characters? My guess is that the writing was so engaging and well done that it somehow works. I was hooked from the first chapter and read it in about a week. (Usually, classics take me longer.)

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emtees's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

The writing in this book is gorgeous.  The descriptions, the setting, the tone, the delineation of character traits and emotional arcs, all incredible.  I’m saying this up front because I didn’t really like the book, but I can’t rate it down when it is so beautifully written.

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.  

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overbooked207's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

📖 Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Book Review 📖

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🥀🍂🪦💔

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sparodi's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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rakkaussipsi'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? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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maryy19's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.25


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cinthiaurora's review against another edition

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

4.5

Great book. Emily Brontë’s writing is so gorgeous at some points that it takes my breath away. Trying to read Joseph’s dialogue gives me a headache though. 


Wouldn’t necessarily say she ending is unsatisfactory but it is frustrating how Mr. Lockwood’s character was truly obsolete all along. Nelly is also kind of a frustrating character because she’s such a passive narrator. Her will never influences the outcome of the story. I know it’s because she’s a servant, but you’d think she’d have at least some influence over her own actions. Her primary purpose really IS to just be there and observe, and occasionally be used as a tool to move the plot along. Kind of depressing for a character who’s dialogue narrates literally the entire book.
Also, most of the characters are extremely unlikable but you’ll love it if you know that already going in. 

Final note; I disagree with the general  consensus that this book is slow-paced. Someone dies or gets married nearly every chapter, and there’s several years long time jumps… I don’t know how much faster it can really get. 

 

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heather_dowell's review against another edition

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

2.0


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