Review by lachelvi - Wuthering Heights

lachelvi 's review for:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

3.0

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I have now had to revisit this book three times over the course of 12 years, because for some ridiculous reason, members of my book club keep requesting that we discuss this one. I read it in hard copy the first time and was thoroughly disappointed. The second time I made very little progress and eventually just gave up and watched a movie version, which I also didn't enjoy. This, my third attempt and second time actually finishing the book, I read it mostly via audio book and probably only made it to the end because I kept increasing the speed of the audio. I will freely admit I hate-read the final chapters of this book just so I could enter it with a star rating instead of a DNF. Maybe this book is groundbreaking because of the way it frames the story, first introducing you to a cast of truly miserable characters and then going back in time to explain how things got so bad. Maybe Emily Bronte was the first author to do this, maybe not. Maybe the book was a stand out in its time for its unvarnished, unflinching portrayal of child abuse and spousal abuse and the cycle of generational trauma. I found myself quite literally hating nearly every character and I certainly didn't like a single one. The character development was depressing. Most characters went from bad to slightly worse. A few went from bad to impossibly bad. Only two have a possibility of positive growth presented in the final pages. I contemplated giving this book two stars, but I did find the book better in print than in audio and certainly some of the writing is quite beautiful. That said, I never, ever want to read this book again and I can't imagine ever recommending it to anyone, ever.

Content Warnings