Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

41 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

toonkatie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Xenophobia

elocinrhom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

2.5

What in the overrated classic did I read?  I let it sit for a couple of days before reviewing, thinking maybe I would calm down and be able to appreciate it more.  Nope.  There wasn't a single redeeming person in the entire novel (apart from maybe young Cathy but she had her haughty moments).  Even the two narrators are just gossips.  Joanne Froggatt's narration was superb and the writing was nice, but the plot was seriously lacking.  I felt like I was watching a bad reality show full of toxic people.  I will be donating the novel to get it off my bookshelf as I don't intend ever to reread this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

andysanzz_'s review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

uselesspirateraven's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Classism

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

maayanaravot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

4.25

This book is a total adventure to read. It has very dark themes of abuse and is filled with hate and revenge. Even so, the book is written so well and i found it enjoyabke to read. After i fished it, i didnt know what to make of it, what was the point? I wasnt sure how much i liked it. But over time ive grown to like the book more and see how it explores trauma and clinging to the past. Idk if id reccomend it to anyone tho, cuz its very tense. 

The only character i really liked is edgar, he deserved better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

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

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

kjboldon's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

4.5

Emily had a plan for this book but even after several readings, I'm not sure what it was. But it was precise and high minded, however debased her characters got. This one is definitely not for those who need a likes le character. Did she carry the Byronic ideal to its logical, ironic, conclusion?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol