Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

O Monte dos Vendavais, by Fernanda Pinto Rodrigues, Emily Brontë

28 reviews

emtees's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The writing in this book is gorgeous.  The descriptions, the setting, the tone, the delineation of character traits and emotional arcs, all incredible.  I’m saying this up front because I didn’t really like the book, but I can’t rate it down when it is so beautifully written.

The story is… honestly kind of ridiculous, until you remember that this is the gothic genre, and compared to most gothics, the story here is pretty straight-forward.  What made me dislike it was that I didn’t care for any of the characters or worry about what would happen to them.  I don’t mean that the characters were flawed or even bad people - they were, but that’s to be expected in gothics - but that they were just frequently very annoying.  They all had occasional moments where you could feel sympathy with them for the ways they seemed trapped by the circumstances of their lives, but then they would do something cruel or malicious for no good reason and that sympathy faded fast.  Usually in a story like this I would expect to have at least one character I latched on to, but that didn’t happen here.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism

maryy19's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Incest, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Classism, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Minor: Racism, Body shaming, and Fatphobia

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

The start of the novel wasn’t what I expected but I was drawn into the story. It was an enjoyable read, and I loved the prose! The characters could be annoying and most of them are unlikeable but the story and writing kept me reading.

I skimmed over Joseph’s dialogue every once in awhile because I couldn’t understand what he was saying 😂 and it slowed me down.

I have many tabbed pages and highlighted passages! I’m glad I finally read this classic and now I’m curious to read more from Emily Brontë.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Alcoholism, and Bullying

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicidal thoughts

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.5

Great book. Emily Brontë’s writing is so gorgeous at some points that it takes my breath away. Trying to read Joseph’s dialogue gives me a headache though. 

Spoiler

Wouldn’t necessarily say she ending is unsatisfactory but it is frustrating how Mr. Lockwood’s character was truly obsolete all along. Nelly is also kind of a frustrating character because she’s such a passive narrator. Her will never influences the outcome of the story. I know it’s because she’s a servant, but you’d think she’d have at least some influence over her own actions. Her primary purpose really IS to just be there and observe, and occasionally be used as a tool to move the plot along. Kind of depressing for a character who’s dialogue narrates literally the entire book.
Also, most of the characters are extremely unlikable but you’ll love it if you know that already going in. 

Final note; I disagree with the general  consensus that this book is slow-paced. Someone dies or gets married nearly every chapter, and there’s several years long time jumps… I don’t know how much faster it can really get. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Gaslighting, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Incest, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

leapyear_reader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.0

i absolutely adore the descriptions of the moors. i got to say that emily brontë is an absolute genius at setting the tone by describing emotions in faces when there are no dialogues. there is not one person i like in this book even though i greatly empathise with each and every one of them. A MASTERPIECE OF WRITING! 
now, the things i didnt love about the book: the part of the book where the affair between catherine linton and linton is dealt with is just dragged on for too long…they should have been left side characters rather than create a new generation of protagonists. also, heathcliff is literally an abomination of a human and his violence really made me cry, BUT THEN every time he talks about catherine i see him as a person again. damn your genius miss brontë.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Confinement, Death, Grief, Incest, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Bullying, Classism, and Alcoholism

tonihdd3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Bullying

Minor: Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Physical abuse

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexism, Stalking, Alcoholism, and Toxic relationship

bronbaewr's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

You've got to read it like you watch messy reality TV. Its bad people doing bad, messy stuff in the middle of nowhere. Some very beautiful prose and descriptions that are really nice to read, but mostly frustrating. Like Why would you do that?? That's the stupidest reaction I've ever heard of!! but in a fun way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Grief, and Incest

lotus440's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Classism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Terminal illness, and Emotional abuse

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This book is completely wild. Maybe I needed to read it when I was younger to cut through all of the child maltreatment and threats against other people and see the supposed love story? I am. Confused. I had to SparkNotes this because I could not remember who was relaying the story. Whew - a trip, and not necessarily one that I would go on again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, Child death, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Confinement, and Physical abuse