Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Cime tempestose by Emily Brontë

57 reviews

evgeorge's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.0

If you have been abused, have experience with violent, neglectful alcoholic or controlling behavior consider reading something else. This a horror story of obsession, violence, the legacy of family trauma, alcoholism and abuse. Heathcliff is a nightmare model of coercive control. What he and Catherine have is not love it is passion, obsession and mutual distruction. They and everyone around them suffer. This story has influenced women for generations to believe that this is what love looks like.  A romance. A love story. No. It is beautifully written horror story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

fran_gc9's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Qué libro más raro pero me ha gustado mucho, no le doy 5 estrellas porque me ha costado un poco engancharme. Me encanta que sea una conversación entre la criada y un extraño. Algunas escenas son realmente incómodas y me sorprende que una mujer escribiera así en esa época (ahora entiendo por qué tuvo que usar un pseudónimo masculino). Mis personajes favs son Hareton, Edgar y Dean. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

kattyenn's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

5.0

all of these people are horrible, god bless 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse and Rape

donnabrenton88's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Was a very slow and heavy start, being vaguely familiar with the story hindered more than helped. The arrival of Mrs Dean around chapter 6/7 helped me to finally get in to the story. Whilst deemed a tragic love story it felt more tragedy than love. I did enjoy the story and found immense hatred for many characters. The horror and hopelessness is well written amd the story had me until the end. The rating wasn't five stars as I felt the ending felt a little rushed and happy which felt out of kilter. All in all a good immersion into the classics and one I'd read again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Abandonment

nineinchnails's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

i wish i could articulate why i liked this so much better but it was a super cathartic read. the prose was beautiful and the characterisation was really good in my opinion. i find it infinitely more interesting and satisfying to read about flawed characters than mary sues or people with shortcomings that get no worse than “i love too hard😔” so this was really enjoyable. i think heathcliffs ethnicity was worked really well into the book and gave a lot of insight into his character. i went into this pretty much blind but expecting it to be more of a romance than it was but i was pleasantly surprised! i think this is a gothic novel, and if that is the case, it was a very good example of one! i might be slightly biased since it’s set in yorkshire (my homeland) and it feels somewhat nostalgic despite being written centuries before i was born.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

melancholymegs's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Switching to the audiobook improved my experience with the book overall, but in the end all I feel is a relief to have finished.  Despite having a certain understanding of the characters, that did not make me feel for them.

I honestly pumped my fist when Heathcliff finally died.

  However I did like Nelly (I enjoy gossipy characters), and towards the end of their character arcs Isabella and Catherine Linton also grew on me.  But not enough to redeem the time I spent reading this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Incest, Misogyny, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Racial slurs, Blood, and Kidnapping

lorendushku's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 Wuthering Heights is a story of two people who are deeply in love, but who are also deeply flawed.
Heathcliff is a wild and untamed man, while Catherine is a proud, spoiled and headstrong woman. Their love is passionate and intense, but it is also destructive. They both make mistakes, and they both suffer as a result.

I loved the locations, the moors are a place of beauty and danger, and they reflect the tumultuous relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine.

The characters in Wuthering Heights are not saints or heroes, but real people who make mistakes and suffer the consequences.
I found myself rooting for Heathcliff and Catherine, even though I knew that they were both capable of great cruelty. However, I think that this is part of what makes the story so compelling. It is a reminder that even the most flawed people are capable of love, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

I was surprised when Heathcliff, instead of protecting what Catherine left, bested her. I thought that he would be more kind and forgiving, but he was instead consumed by his own rage and bitterness. This shows that even the most passionate love can be turned to hate.

My favourite scene in Wuthering Heights is when Heathcliff runs away and Catherine says that their souls are the same. This scene shows the depth of their love, even though they are unable to be together. It is a reminder that even when love is impossible, it can still be a powerful force in our lives.

I learned a lot from Wuthering Heights:
I learned that love is a powerful force, but it can also be destructive, and that even the most destructive love can be beautiful.

Wuthering Heights is a challenging and heart-breaking book, but it is also a beautiful and unforgettable one. It is a story that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

nanc_282's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

impla77's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

Not only is Heathcliff a dick, he’s also extremely annoying

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad 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

2.0

This is a book I was assigned to read in highschool.. and that, like every other read I was set, I quit at page 37. I resolved to one day pick it up and digest it in it's entirety. Verdict? Not very filling, a bit dry, not that satisfying. If I hadn't deliberately exerted myself, I wouldn't have bothered to finish it.

The setting is ostensibly spooky. It's a cold and desolate windblown house, with warped trees and harsh weather. The introduction sets the reader ill at ease with a new tenant imposing himself upon the landlord's household, only to meet with dour people and rude manners. Every attempt he makes to act toward them in a warm or overly familiar way is oh so cringeworthy, and disconcerting.

The narrative is told through word of mouth stories. The main narrator on the history of the characters is a maid servant, but yet further detail is fleshed out through recounting the content of letters and anecdotes of others... this method of telling stories inside stories I have seen before in things like Shelley's Frankenstein.

The Classism in this is predictably rampant. The use of a Yorkshire accent is disparaged and laughed at. Frustratingly for me, the narrator of the audiobook couldn't do the dialect any justice and she fumbled through all the parts that are written phonetically in rustic parlance. This took a lot more work for me to interpret than if it were read fluently. Gah! t'th divvel wet ye!

Another recurring theme is the whole cliché of dark and light. A dark haired, supposedly ill-bred orphan is taken to hearth and home, and of course fair haired, light eyed, pale skinned people are seen as morally superior. A bit of vanilla Racism to rub into the literature. Well.. the book is old.. but I don't have to like it.

Honestly confused at what a teacher would hope to gain from getting teens to vivisect a book like this.. the book is pale and dreary, a litany of ills and intergenerational abuse, of slow burning insidious revenge. I mean, I used to be a goth.. I've listened to Kate Bush.. this wasn't even romantic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol