Reviews - Wuthering Heights

25k reviews for:

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

3.72 AVERAGE

shardik9982's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

cmbrown4's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

moonysbcne's review against another edition

3.75

this book made me feel true anger, which is a testament to how powerful its effect can be on readers. i’d just like to say this book is absolutely not a romance (unless you think never getting over your childhood situationship is peak romance—then sure, it is). so if you go in expecting that, you’ll be disappointed. i’d say it’s more a story about the cycle of generational abuse.

in fact, i don’t think i truly liked a single character—they were all quite horrible in their own way. they are definitely in need of therapy! and maybe a change of scenery. definitely a change of scenery. i think I hated and loved this book equally.

rainbowfishy's review against another edition

4.0

i was quite shocked when reading this to learn that Cathy dies like midway through the book! people only ever talk about her and Heathcliff that I had no idea that half this book is about their children. strange - but honestly i kind of understand because the first half of this book was indeed more captivating… when the cycle starts repeating itself, it’s kind of like okay Emily, you’ve made your point… but overall this was much more enjoyable and atmospheric than I was anticipating.

i like the themes - obsession to the point of your own detriment, the futility of revenge, dysfunctional family dynamics creating cyclical traumas - and above all the constraints of class! if these people weren’t so concerned about securing enough means to live comfortably and had more avenues to change their economic positions then this story would be totally different. if Cathy and Heathcliff loved each other that much they could’ve run off together and sucked it up being poor… but money matters more! and this isn’t just about love, it’s obsession!

it’s also crazy to think about the fact that these people could basically count on two hands the number of people they interact with across their whole lives lol, like they are sooo secluded. their romantic follies are basically inevitable because literally what else can you do when you’ve been to like 3 places your entire life and met like 2 people your age…. the options are soo limited and bleak that’s it’s honestly laughable

and truly Everything Is Tuberculosis because these people were dropping like flies!! at that point you have to wonder if you’re not guaranteed to live that long anyways and your Beloved is already dead then why not just kill yourself… especially if you’re not that religious anyways and all you want is to be buried beside her then why wait, you know? but NO because these people are, say it with me, SELFISH COWARDS! above all else!

AND ALSO there’s simply no way in my opinion that you can read this without considering the racial dynamics. trying to erase Heathcliff’s racial othering truly undermines everything that Brontë is doing in the novel…