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4.07 AVERAGE

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Gilbert Markham!!! That’s my man
emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

So, here's the thing.
It's not the best book ever (Gilbert is one of the most annoying characters I have ever read) but it's not the worst either... it's just meh
emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is my least favourite of the Brontë sister novels I have read thus far. I enjoyed the large middle section told in Mrs Graham’s hand, but I could not stand the narrator!
Mr Markham is violent, impatient, obsessive, self-centred and a whole manner of unpleasant characteristics that make me question Helen’s taste (though her first husband was certainly worse). Hopefully our narrator proves a better husband than a friend. I could not root for him, so the ending was not a satisfying resolution. Furthermore, it was too easy for Mr Huntingdon’s death to wrap the narrative up so neatly.
Disliking a character does not necessitate disliking a novel, but I don’t think that he was supposed to be so unlikeable, especially considering the strong religious messaging throughout. This is a bold story with some great twists, but also a few considerable flaws.

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