Wuthering Heights

Alright, the first book I am going to review is the British Classic, Wuthering Heights by  Emily Bronte. I know... many people are like 'Ew... classic literature,' and 'Aren't British books really dry and boring?' Well sometimes yes, but I actually enjoyed this book and I wasn't really expecting to. I recently found a list online of fifty books people should read if they want to consider themselves "well read." I chose 25 of those books and I am trying to make it my goal to read all of them by the end of the year. Wuthering Heights was one of those books. I know that many people are forced to read this book sometime in school. Unfortunately, I was not. I went into this book expecting only a romance, but was surprised by the gothic side of the story. The plot of the novel was much more complex than I was expecting also. The very basic plot starts out with Catherine and Heathcliff as children. They grow up together and fall in love as younger teenagers, but Catherine's pride consumes her and pushes them apart due to her thinking that Heathcliff is not good enough. They both lead separate lives, though never forgetting each other. They each have children and their children's lives are very much affected by the love that Catherine and Heathcliff shared. I am usually very good at deciphering romance novels and making predictions (I am usually right about them) but in this novel anytime I even tried to guess what might happen I was mistaken. Sometimes I liked the surprise due to how wrong I was and twisting and turning of the plot and other times it just straight up frustrated me because, I am going to be honest, there really aren't a lot of happy endings in this book. The gothic part of novel comes in around certain people's deaths. There a several people who die in the book (support important characters and some are minor) which leads to ghosts and apparitions, which I was not expecting. There is also a lot of fog and gloom surrounding the story, much of which is the setting. Although I personally thought the gothic parts were slightly strange and disturbing, they do help create and over all feel of gloom to the story which helps ease you into the more depressing parts of the story. Over all I really enjoyed this book and I believe anyone who doesn't like the typical cookie cutter romance could possibly enjoy it. If you like plots that are kind of unpredictable than this book is definitely that: unpredictable. If you don't like a challenge, then don't read this. As a strong reader I found it slightly challenging to get through. Also, if you like really upbeat and happy stories were everything gets resolved perfectly, this book is not for you. I know I just did a review of something very old and a book that is read by many, but I wanted to start with something many people were familiar with. I already know what my next book is and it is new and exciting. It's a new installment in an up and coming series and I think many people will get a kick out of this book! Stay tuned!

There are a lot of really sappy love pictures when you google the book, but I personally thought that this picture would give everyone a better idea of what to expect before reading it.