Doesn't it seem like a long time ago since my last book review? That was Brighton Rock in August (go and take a look). I was on holiday last week and I took a couple of books, if you want to see them all you can either wait for my reviews or for a quick look read my latest blog post Holiday Reads!

Wuthering Heights was the first book I chose to read, I wasn't actually planning to take this but then I threw it in just in case, actually I'm so glad I did. This was a fabulous read, I can't explain it. I've never read any Bronte before but now you can bet I will. I know I need to read more classics before uni and Wuthering Heights has encouraged me to.

Basically, the story is kind of a Romeo and Juliet vibe with a much more Gothic feel to it, also Cathy and Heathcliff aren't stopped by family feuds they stop themselves (well Cathy does). Here's my brief summary before we get to my main points:
So Wuthering Heights is the story of the passionate yet infernal love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff- a gypsy boy taken in by her father. Cathy's father really likes Heathcliff and I suppose life is all well and good until he dies, following this Cathy's brother (Hindley) makes Heathcliff's life hell; he embarrasses and bullies Heathcliff who also believes that his feelings for Cathy aren't mutual. Heathcliff flees for a few years and returns later, transformed into a polished, wealthy gentleman- his wealth allows him to exact revenge on those who left him miserable. The story is an absolute whirlwind...you'd need to read it. Now, let's move onto the good stuff.

At first, I really struggled to get into the book. It begins with Mr Lockwood who ends up renting Thrushcross Grange, he heads over to the 'Heights' to see his landlord who happens to be Heathcliff. If I'm right, it's on his second visit that he sees something unnatural in the guest room after having to stay over because of a snow storm. Our story is told through Mr Lockwood (in the beginning and later stage of the book) and Nelly Dean who was the housekeeper at Wuthering Heights and now Thrushcross Grange. It was a bit challenging because I honestly thought we just jumped straight into the tragedy of Cathy and Heathcliff but I wasn't correct.

My fave character in the book was no doubt Heathcliff, he reminds me of Jace from Mortal Instruments but I have no idea why, Heathcliff is essentially the villain in this book. I don't know whether it's the whole exotic, gypsy thing or just the really terrifying way of loving Cathy. Notes I made on holiday actually say Heathcliff is Jace in the olden days with much less sarcasm and a wicked side. Honestly, I did feel a lot of sympathy for our Heath (his new nickname on this blog), we're introduced to him as an innocent, homeless gypsy boy who's hated by his adopted family (well Hindley). To top it all off, he hears Cathy confess to Nelly that Edgar Linton has proposed marriage and she's accepted. Even though her love for Edgar is in no way comparable to her love for Heath she can't marry him due to his social status. I have to be honest at this point I was like, oh Cathy just forget about class and reputation, you love him and he loves you; at that time that wasn't the way. Guys, I understand that after Heath returns he's a real fiend, well and truly quite evil. However, I feel like this is all a consequence of his broken heart, toxic love and the tragedy that surrounds his life. Marrying Isabella was totally the wrong thing to do, this I still don't get as well as his treatment of people he should love.

Let me move on to Cathy, personally just not a fan. Cathy is the femme fatale in this novel, she is Heath's downfall, if he hadn't met Cathy or maybe just not even fell in love with her all would of been good- if he didn't we wouldn't have such a wonderful piece of literature though. What really struck me was the neglect of Cathy's prominent mental illness, don't get me wrong I get that back in the day things like this weren't taken seriously or understood- I mean it's even evident in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar- it's just so sad. Cathy has a mental illness, I get it, but still she's so temperamental and angry, her moods give me whiplash- they change so quick and drastically. After all this, Cathy is extremely irritating but I still kind of like her, my favourite part in the book is at Christmas; Heath goes for Edgar and she still defends him. Sometimes her effort to be fake, hiding her emotions from Edgar, annoyed me but I have to say she was still cool, I think it's her feisty personality. Even at the very worst she still has that spark, I like that in a person.

Next is the Linton's, now at first I didn't like Edgar at all. I think his character just seemed uptight and snobby, but as he grew older and his character progressed I just thought he was too cute. My hunch is that we weren't meant to be on Edgar's side when we first met him, our team would be the one shouting HEATHCLIFF! As we got further in, you move slightly over then eventually (if you're more like me) you're on Heath's side as well as Edgar's Edgar was there when Heath wasn't, him and Cathy had a nice little life in Thrushcross with Isabella (his younger sister) until Heath rocked back up. When little Cathy came along and OG Cathy died he became a recluse, I get this I mean of course he loved his little girl but at the same time Cathy had died- he was grieving. As a dad though, come on, how sweet. Little Cathy made me incredibly happy, she was what I imagined her mum to be if she was the best version of herself.

You may know this book is a Gothic story, if you don't then here's why it is. Remember before I mentioned Heath's complexion? This is a pointer of some Gothic stories, the dark skin makes him seem exotic which brings a sense of mystery and makes you think he's good looking (which isn't the point). The books set in Yorkshire, they're muddy, but they're where Cathy and Heath escape together- they're practically endless when you're in the middle of them and that can be spooky. The supernatural comes with Cathy's ghost at the beginning of the book, which actually crept me out. A ton of pathetic fallacy (weather), rain, wind and snow etc etc. I don't know about this one but the dogs, in the Heights; they sound like monsters rather than mans best friend. There's more but I'm not going to bore you with that.

Well guy's that's my Wuthering Heights review, let me know you're thoughts if you have read it (obviously this won't happen because I never get comments, just putting it out there) and talk to you in my next post which will most likely be PLL related.