Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

184 reviews

goodolnicole's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, and Physical abuse

coralyn_x's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

This book ripped my heart out. So heart-breaking, so devastating. Heathcliff being a dark-skinned taken-in orphan is certainly a move. I loved his character although I hated him as a person. He has an immense amount of passion, although it's mostly transformed into utter hatred, bitterness and desire for revenge. 

I think that people miss the point of this book when they complain that it's pure suffering. Of course it's terrible! I feel like it's more about family trauma than love, sort of a study of the many forms of child abuse. Plus all the characters are stuck in the middle of nowhere, trapped in the never-ending cycle of trauma, of course they all act horrible. I mean, who wasn't abused in this book? Some would argue that Edgar Linton loved his daughter deeply but keeping your daughter secluded for the first 13 years of her life or so is definitely abusive if not highly problematic in my book. This girl literally never talked to anyone her age, of course she falls for the worst person in the vicinity.

I've read it in Czech and was surprised how easy it was to read. The words flowed very smoothly. Even though I love classics, I gotta say that's a rare quality.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Racism

jessamcelwain's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

This is the iconic Gothic love story. Definitely a classic--it's passionate, wild, and will destroy you utterly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Mental illness and Physical abuse

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

renorsomethin's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

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

tokagelizard's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

3.75

This is so often compared to Jane Eyre because the authors are siblings. Before picking this up I was under the impression it was a romance. You could say it is, in a twisted way.
I've never read a classic with such fucked up characters who hate each other so much with such petty drama. Characters who are also dying off every other page over their drama and nerves. It was quite awesome. Heathcliff is the most unredeemable asshole you could imagine. These people are pulling each other's hair and snipping at each other and crying on stairways. It's more entertaining than romance, but be warned they do this for the entire book.
Still, props to Emily for letting these creatures loose on the world. I hope the last two standing find some happiness together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse