Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

50 reviews

mousecat's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism

m4rtt4's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.25

this differed a lot from my expectations, the gothic stuff was surprising but in a positive way... unlike all the marriages. So much death and almost everyone was an asshole in their own way and the love stories didn't feel believable enough so that I could have cared for the characters.

also you can never make me root for a marriage between CHILDREN that are COUSINS and make it happen multiple times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Bullying, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

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

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

“In every cloud, in every tree-filling the air at night, and caught by glimpses in very object, by day I am surrounded by her image! The most ordinary faces of men and women-my own features-mock me with a resemblance. The entire would is a dreadful collection if memoranda that she did exist, and I have lost her.”
I cannot put into words how much this novel meant to me. It was beautiful, it was heart wrenching, it was horrifying, it was a book I hope to read 1000 times over.  I would highly, highly recommend for any fans of gothic literature, or those interested in themes of love, obsession, and vengance. I will say that this is not a romance, but love is a driving factor for almost everything. Once again, I cannot stress how much I loved Wuthering Heights.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Pregnancy

cepbreed's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

"Time brought resignation and a melancholy sweeter than common joy."

This is a surprisingly consumable classic that I enjoyed very much! I truly appreciate Brontë's commitment to creating unlikeable characters. Through all of the evil acts and biased narration (provided by Lockwood and Nelly) the characters all emerged as feeling particularly human, Heathcliff specifically. He is made out to be this tragic character, a man filled with so much vitriol, yet he has this magnetism you can't help to be attracted to. The same goes for Hareton. Nelly portrayed him in such a negative light when he was first introduced, but you can't help but find sympathy for those types of characters. That said, and with all of the parallels between them, I  am struggling to understand why I was rooting for Hareton and Cathy (jr) with all of my heart, but couldn't find that same enthusiasm for Heathcliff and Cathy. Hareton and Cathy just had so much cute charm (ignoring the incest). Even when Linton was in the way I struggled to find it convincing at all. That said I don't really think of Wuthering Heights as a classic romance novel. The romance is just shrouded in so many layers of grief, class dynamics, etc. I also was surprisingly satisfied with the ending. Cathy and Hareton getting married and Heathcliff (crazy till the end) is able to end up with his Cathy in a way. I was dissatisfied with the lack of ghosts though. I feel like the first few chapters totally misled us...

The second half of the book was my favorite, I feel like it isn't mentioned enough! And why does nobody talk about the fact that Heathcliff isn't a white man!

Songs: 

• Ghosts - James Vincent Mcmorrow
• Knuckle Velvet - Ethel Cain 
• Wuthering Heights - Kate Bush 
• Shades of Cool - Lana del Rey  
• Dark Paradise - Lana del Rey

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Racism and Terminal illness

Minor: Chronic illness and Pregnancy

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

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

canyi's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

Read as part of a buddy read among friends so it’s more recreational/ to mock it as a romance. But my final opinion is that its not a romance to mock because

it’s not a romance but more of a horror, the true romance is not the “main” couple, they’re the source of the horror. The true romance in this book is the end couple, I guess you could look at it as a romance that blossomed from the pure evil doings of Heathcliff but it really doesn’t feel like it’s the main point.

Personally I prefer to read books where I like or enjoy the main characters so honestly it wouldn’t be my go to pick. However once I got past that I found it was actually a really easy/ captivating read once I acknowledged (not a major plot spoiler)

that it was not a romance but more of a horror.

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Despite the slow moving plot I felt compelled to finish it, at least just because I wanted to see if

Heathcliff is ever stopped

. Although I was inclined to give this a one star because I absolutely despised most of the characters, I don’t think I was supposed to like them. Honestly it’s easier to hate a character you’re supposed to hate than not liking a character you’re supposed to like.

3.5 stars because it wasn’t a bad story

just terrible people, although I will admit the rating would be lower if it didn’t have a somewhat happy ending.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

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