Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

14 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

bobbijo104's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse and Death of parent

Minor: Religious bigotry

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

sarah_zaffiro's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad

• Loveable characters? No

3.0

honestly not sure why people love this book so much.. or why Heathcliff is as romanticized as he is; hella problematic person. Also we’re just okay with first cousins marrying each other as well ? 
It’s an easy read & has fairly good pacing, but I also found it difficult to ascertain which character (Lockwood or Nelly) was speaking in the first person since so much of the story is told from Nelly’s point of view.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Incest, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Sexism

wuthrinheights's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I first read this book a year or two ago, and I now hold two physical copies of it. This is a reread and I still harbor so much love for this story. When I was getting nearer to the ending, I was half glad, half saddened. I was excited to be finished with it so I could go on to read other books but I also didn't want to say goodbye to these characters. Seeing the story spread out for 20 years, I grew attached to them as if I was also a part of the moors. 

Although I do not condone their behaviours, I was still so fascinated and amazed by the intensity of the love held between Catherine and Heathcliff. They were wild and reckless and passionate, which hurt not only each other but the people around them and others that came after them. My favourite parts of the book were their love confessions spoken to Nelly. It was so intense and agonising, it plays so vividly if I were to think back on the book. 

My favourite character was Nelly. Everyone was always dramatic and taken by emotions, but Nelly was always cool and focused. Her deadpan deliveries cracked me up, which gave a lighter tone amidst the gloomy setting of the Heights. She often spoke the truth and would strive to do the right thing, even if her master(s) didn't like to hear it. 

It is still so mind-blowing that despite being written hundreds of years ago, Brontë was able to pen a story that covers abuse running through generational lines, when it probably wasn't that well studied back in those days. Emily was way ahead of her time and it's a shame she never got to see how well her book was loved after the publication. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

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

accidentallyinlovefromshrek2's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.0

I read this for my ISU for my English class, but I don't regret the choice despite the grueling task of finally getting back into reading.

Brontë's narration choices through Lockwood and Nelly (while annoying, as they are both unreliable and biased) was enjoyable and telling of her talent in writing.

The characters were compelling, three-dimensional, complex, and extremely flawed, which was all very refreshing. Brontë didn't fear outward societal commentary on race, class, and gender; nor did she fear creating characters that were unlikable or at least heavily flawed. Her characters were REAL.

Volume II was a struggle to get through, as I finished most of it in an exhausted (and, sometimes bored) daze at two in the morning, as I hurriedly finished it by the deadline for class. There was simultaneously too much information and too much time spent dwelling on this information for me to want to put effort into reading most of the second half.

Overall, I will revisit Wuthering Heights to re-read it, as I enjoyed it heavily. As soon as I recover from the onslaught of emotional damage it has run me through. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child death, Death, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Racial slurs, Violence, and Religious bigotry

kierasreadingjournal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Chronic illness and Kidnapping

headachesince03's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder and Religious bigotry