Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

161 reviews

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Wuthering Heights is a stunning, claustrophobic nightmare of a gothic novel that I appreciate more in my 30s than I did in my teens. I went into this with little memory of the plot - the entirety of my recollection of my senior-year English essay on the subject was “everyone’s awful.” But two of my childhood besties were game for an impromptu buddy (re)read, and there is nothing quite like revisiting a book you didn’t understand on your first read and realizing it’s actually more horrifying than you previously understood (as a parent, the generational cycle of abuse and the childhood trauma wrought by severe isolation, confinement and emotional manipulation color the story for me, now). 

Also on this read, I was more interested in the structure and style. The use of two unreliable narrators is so brilliantly done, where Mr. Lockwood’s diary-style narrative depends entirely on an abbreviated version of Nelly Dean’s narrative, which depends entirely on her retelling of events that happened to other people nearly three decades ago. The layers of bias between us and the events of the story create a feeling of always viewing the action through a fun-house mirror, with the melodrama rendered farcical and the broodiness of the characters and the moors deepening into supernatural terror. 

Ultimately, who but an isolated and introverted young woman confined to the English moors, writing under an alias, defying the strictures of her zealous Christian family members could have written a story even her own sister would later caution is maybe too dark? (Charlotte’s posthumous introduction to the novel is overly apologetic and explanatory to a degree that I really dislike, but her note that her sister’s writing was “moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath” is perfectly said). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, and Incest

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy

cosmopsis's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Classism, and Racism

eva_vva's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Addiction, Misogyny, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Confinement, Mental illness, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide attempt, Stalking, and Self harm

renorsomethin's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Medical content, Confinement, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Mental illness

acwhit17's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Fucked up and yet. So compelling. Understand why kate bush was obsessed with it, very shocking for the time period and so good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Ableism, Death of parent, Bullying, and Terminal illness

Minor: Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

tokagelizard's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

3.75

This is so often compared to Jane Eyre because the authors are siblings. Before picking this up I was under the impression it was a romance. You could say it is, in a twisted way.
I've never read a classic with such fucked up characters who hate each other so much with such petty drama. Characters who are also dying off every other page over their drama and nerves. It was quite awesome. Heathcliff is the most unredeemable asshole you could imagine. These people are pulling each other's hair and snipping at each other and crying on stairways. It's more entertaining than romance, but be warned they do this for the entire book.
Still, props to Emily for letting these creatures loose on the world. I hope the last two standing find some happiness together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse and Emotional abuse

mcmeiss's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Classism, Death, Mental illness, Outing, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Toxic relationship, and Sexism

tsundoku_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

I had to read this for school, and this is probably the best book I've ever had to read for school. None of the characters were likable and were honestly kinda insane. However, the story was really good, as was the writing. The ending was a bit unsettling relating to Heathcliff but it added to the story. This book made me want to read more classics. Like for being written so long ago, there were some pretty funny lines.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Grief, Incest, and Racism

msgabrielamaldonado's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Torture

herringgulls's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

Takes a while to get into because the narration style is so dense, but the second half of the book may be better than the first.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Incest, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse