Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

124 reviews

whitelotusreads's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

a gothic story about cycles of abuse with truly insufferable characters — love it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Racial slurs

77mimi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

rest easy emily brontë, you would’ve loved ethel cain
—
this is my third time reading emily brontë’s only novel – the first being when i was 12 (i was highly confused and didn’t know what i was getting into), second when i was 15 (which left me thinking lord i hate these characters) – now eight years since my last read, this time around the book completely and permanently altered my brain chemistry i fear

emily brontë is a poet first and foremost, the prose is gorgeous, the storytelling absolutely brilliant; the atmosphere, the mood are all perfect — her characters? god fucking awful, worst people you could ever encounter, and it doesn’t need to be said but her characterisation is amazing; even with these horrible people this novel is genius and moving and everything a novel should be

it’s miserable — it’s miserable and it’s hauntingly beautiful with such well explored themes of social class, nature-nurture, the cycle of trauma and violence, grief, revenge – and ultimately, love and passion

the story is dark, heavy and wild – truly it did feel at times like brontë was losing her grip on it – and surrounded by this cloud of profound descriptions of the moors and the environment, just a semblance of brightness in a gloomy and uneasy climate
but there are brief moments of comedy cleverly spliced in by brontë which genuinely had me laughing aloud

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Death and Racism

Minor: Incest

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

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Death of parent

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

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

riverofhorton's review against another edition

This book is incredibly violent, with every kind of toxic relationship and abuse you can think of, with the kind of casual racism and misogyny that I have at this point come to expect from 19th Century fiction. That said, I may well return to this book at a later date, since there were a few scenes that I found to be quite thrilling, and I do find myself invested in the characters and their development. Right now just isn't the right time for me to be reading a book with this amount of violence.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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

Minor: Self harm, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

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

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

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

hatofulbf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Animal cruelty

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, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Incest, Racism, and Grief

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