Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cumbres borrascosas by Emily Brontë

80 reviews

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

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent

issyd23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

Holy fucking shit this nocked my socks off! The prose are phenomenal & moving. Not bad for a virgin with no friends who died at 30 from TB 5🪦

Joanne Froggatt also fucking slayed the audiobook 5🪦

NB Nelly doesn’t get paid enough to deal with all the BS from the Lintons + Earnshaws - get a better employer girl! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

redheadorganist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness and Pregnancy

emmonsannae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

Rereading this for the second time (the first 6 years ago), I was surprised at how much more I enjoyed it. Most of the story is a dumpster fire: the characters are terrible and only get worse, the drama is excessive, and the Victorian depravity is unending; but the prose is witty and vivid and it’s a dumpster fire I couldn’t stop watching. I really appreciated the story’s ending, after 400 pages of sheer brutality—it was a relief to able to watch the only pitiable characters in the novel consciously break every cycle of evil and choose goodness. (It gets bonus points for being a perfect gothic “ghost” novel which ends up having much more to say about the ghosts we make for ourselves.)

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Death of parent, and Classism

tammykuffo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? N/A

4.0

Everyone is miserable 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

theimposter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism

pau_line's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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? It's complicated

2.25

Halleluja, ich habs endlich geschafft.
Was soll ich sagen, nh...ich hab das buch gekauft, weil ich mal wieder einen klassiker lesen wollte und es schön aussah, aber das buch hat mich schon fertig gemacht.
Ich glaube, ich habe selten ein buch gelesen, in dem ich so gut wie alle hauptchaaktere nicht ausstehen konnte, aber so wars :/
Aber erstmaaal das positive: warum ich das buch weiterlesen wollte, lag mitunter an der "Verpackung" der Geschichte. Ich mochte die Sprache und den Schreibstil, obwohls ein Klassiker aus dem 19. Jahrhubdert ist und auch den Rahmen der Erzählung, die Erzählperspektive wurde interessant gewählt, die Location ist cool, etc

Was das Buch so furchtbar macht, sind die Charaktere. 
Nelly (die Erzählerin) handelt und verhält sich oft so, dass man sie am liebsten schütteln will und ist mitunter verantwortlich für so viel dummes, was passiert, was sie sich da nicht mal eingestehen will.
Catherine und Heathcliff: was soll ich sagen...deren Beziehung ist so giftiig, die sind irgendwie voneinander bessessen (v.a. Heathcliff) und zerstören sich gegenseitig. Catherine ist so oft einfach richtig böse, ich hab sie so NULL verstanden. Und Heathcliff ist noch 100× schlimmer. Trotz der Tatsache, dass man weiß, wieso er sich so entwickelt, konnte uch angesichts seiner Handlungen absolut kein Mitleid haben. Et ist wie so ein Parasit, der alles aus dem inneren zerstört, worunter noch die Generation nach ihm leiden muss, die NICHTS DAFÜR KANN, dass Catherine sich gegen ihn entschieden hat udn Hindley so ein Trottel war. Man, es hat mich so sauer gemacht.
Isabella mochte ich eigentlich ganz gerne und auch Cathy (die Jüngere) war überwiegend okay, auch wenn beide so ihre Momente hatten,bei denen ich so dachtee...was ist mit euch...Manche Charaktere haben sich noch bisschen positiver entwickelt udn das Ende war dann doch zufriedenstellend.

Trotzdem muss ich sagen, es ist supernervig, 400 Seiten zu lesen mit dem einzigen Wunsch, dass die Charaktere doch endlich sterben mögen und man seine Ruhe vor denen hat :((  
Andererseits ist das wahrscheinlich so gewollt und ich fand die Geschichte interessant, in Hinblick auf dieses Dunkle, das zeigt, wie zerstörerisch und rachsüchtig Menschen werden können, wie viel Einfluss andere darauf nehmen können und wie sehr auch andere unter diesem einen giftigen Menschen bzw Zusammenspiel aus zwei Menschen leiden müssen.

OH UND ich weiß, das Buch ist alt, aber es ist abartig, wie viel physische und auch emotionale Gewalt vorkommt, auch zwischen den Erwachsenen, aber auch gegen die Kinder...das war schon sehr erschreckend teilweise

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

mrbean's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

A dreadful nightmare full of unutterable inhumanity, insufferable characters, abject misery, relentless vengeance and wanton cruelty, Wuthering Heights lays bare the diabolical aspect of human nature. With a piercing insight into the darkness within, Brontë realistically explores intergenerational trauma, dysfunctional relationships, and obsessive love with a depth of psychological resonance reverberating into the present. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, and Grief