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Wuther
This new adult retelling of Wuthering Heights is intended for mature readers due to explicit sexual content and coarse language.
Instead of storms tearing through Yorkshire moors, the sounds of ‘90s grunge rock whisper through backwoods American cornfields… And give new life to the Bronte characters you love to hate.
A gypsy orphan, Heath Galloway adores Cathy Earnshaw, his childhood sweetheart. He would do anything to protect her from her drunken, abusive father--even push the man down a flight of stairs to stop him hitting her.
But with her father dead, Cathy's older brother Matt runs the Earnshaw farm and both of their lives. And Matt despises Heath. Forced to drop out of school and work the fields, Heath is separated from Cathy and the two begin to drift apart.
When Cathy meets the rich, blond, and suave Eli Linton, she finds herself torn between Eli's charm and Heath's brute potency.
Fiercely proud and stubborn, Heath doesn't take well to being brushed aside. He'll get what he wants, or he'll get revenge. No matter how long it takes.
Instead of storms tearing through Yorkshire moors, the sounds of ‘90s grunge rock whisper through backwoods American cornfields… And give new life to the Bronte characters you love to hate.
A gypsy orphan, Heath Galloway adores Cathy Earnshaw, his childhood sweetheart. He would do anything to protect her from her drunken, abusive father--even push the man down a flight of stairs to stop him hitting her.
But with her father dead, Cathy's older brother Matt runs the Earnshaw farm and both of their lives. And Matt despises Heath. Forced to drop out of school and work the fields, Heath is separated from Cathy and the two begin to drift apart.
When Cathy meets the rich, blond, and suave Eli Linton, she finds herself torn between Eli's charm and Heath's brute potency.
Fiercely proud and stubborn, Heath doesn't take well to being brushed aside. He'll get what he wants, or he'll get revenge. No matter how long it takes.
260 pages, ebook
First published June 3, 2013
3 people are currently reading
401 people want to read
About the author
V.J. Chambers
104 books463 followersV. J. Chambers writes about being inexplicably attracted to the dangerously alluring. Her works span mundane settings and fantastic ones. She writes about serial killers, cult leaders, werewolves, witches, for-hire assassins, zombies, space pirates, and regular everyday people.
She lives in Shepherdstown, WV, with her boyfriend Aaron and their cat Isis.
She lives in Shepherdstown, WV, with her boyfriend Aaron and their cat Isis.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 21, 2018
all i wanted to do with my labor day was to stay in bed all day and read a silly book. success!!*
i fully expected to hate this book. i mean, come on:
Instead of storms tearing through Yorkshire moors, the sounds of '90s grunge rock whisper through backwoods American cornfields…
ohhhh - grunge! heathcliff in flannel! cathy in a knit hat!
hilarity.
and what the hell is up with that cover?? why is heathcliff sitting around shirtless getting his trousers all wet in… a lake??? a crick??? in west freaking virginia with his tummy-dent and … shavedness??
but despite "thera" (young catherine) coming out with sentences that are flat-out lies:
Almond milk was just as good as cow milk in coffee. It was even vanilla flavored.
incorrect. almond milk is fine in many things, but coffee ain't one of them. and making your dad drink vanilla flavored almond-coffee is really cruel. but she gets that cruelty from her moms…
so - despite that - this wasn't terrible. yeah, it's eye-rolly at times, but it was not the train-wreck i had been hoping would entertain me throughout my lazy day-off.
here are some of the rollies, for your pleasure:
Nobody's more attractive than Kurt Cobain.
hey! grunge-rock references! i am old!
and young cathy, (not catherine's) first meeting with heathcliff:
He began to descend the steps. He was wearing leather pants and a black button-up shirt. There were silver rings on his fingers. He looked like an aging rock star. He looked like a harbinger of the apocalypse. He looked like a vampire from one of those shows on the WB. All he was missing was a flowing cape.
hey, i'm heathcliff! (heath) i'm a d-bag!
yeah, that's what heathcliff wears just to hang around his house… in rural west virginia. suuuuuure. but whatever- WH is a melodramatic book, so it doesn't not work to have heathcliff chilling in leather. and be a former roadie for counting crows. no one knows what heathcliff did during his away-years. he coulda been a roadie.
and it also has these scintillating modern-type conversations, this one coming from "eli" the edgar linton character:
"Oh, man. Cathy, you're going to fuck me up, aren't you?"
oh, yes. cathy will be doing that.
but she is also nearly a poet, with her appreciation of eli:
She looked into his eyes. They were beautiful. He was beautiful. He was like a Ken doll.
soooo, yeah. whatever, she's sixteen.
and kind of a bitch, the way cathy ought to be. eli, again:
"I dream about you, you know that? I have these dreams where you're ahead of me, and you're running. You're wearing this white dress. It's all flowy. And you're laughing. It's like music, the way you're laughing. And I'm running after you, running and running. But before I can catch you, I always wake up."
She rubbed her neck. "Dreams are weird, right?"
dude, so cold! but also, eli's lame-ass symbolically-clumsy dream is kind of like this:
which is awesome.
and there is philosophy! chillingly accurate premonition-philosophy:
She bit her lip. "People die. It sucks. but it happens."
He rolled over on his side, facing her. "Right. Everybody dies. I'm going to die. You're going to die. My parents are. Isabella. Everyone."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"No, really. It's like guaranteed or whatever.
IT'S LIKE GUARANTEED OR WHATEVER!!!
killed me.
and here's the last thing i am going to giggle on, because this book was really not terrible - i just like to point out things that make me crack up. there is no reason why the cathy in this story should be attractive to anyone. she is rarely given an opportunity to demonstrate what makes her so appealing in her doomed love triangle. this is the only real speech she gives, the rest of the time she is simply reacting to stuff. but it's a doozy:
When I think about Heaven, I think about being free. And I think that if i was trapped in some place where people were happy all the time, it would drive me crazy. If all they did was smile and be nice to each other and walk by pearly gates and things, I'd start throwing tantrums. I'd tell whoever was in charge that wanted to be set out, back to earth. And then… I'd like to be the wind. I'd go wherever I wanted. Blow through things, blow around things. Have no shape. Just fly, free and bodiless, over the entire world. That's my idea of Heaven."
"Whoa." Eli was quiet, gazing at her with something like adoration.
She hid her face, embarrassed.
"That's really beautiful," he said. "That's how I think of you, too. You're too wild to be contained, Cathy. Like the wind."
"Whatever. I was only saying stuff."
…
She closed her eyes. She bet the wind never felt guilty, even if it ripped the limbs of trees or the siding off of houses. If she was the wind, kissing Eli wouldn't make her feel this way.
which i guess is what passes for deep thoughts among fairly sheltered teenagers, but it cracks me up. like, whoa
but i read the author's afterword, and even if i hadn't, grudgingly, been entertained if not completely wowed by the book, i liked her points. she looooves wuthering heights, and taught it for 6 years to AP english high school seniors, but even though she loves it, she recognizes it is a flawed book, for a number of reasons. for example:
...in the universe of Wuthering Heights, people seem to simply be able to will themselves to death. It's very gothic of them.
and also the awkwardness of the framing device, and the treatment of cathy's pregnancy, etc etc. i love WH, too, but i recognize its shortcomings.
on reading other (notably, all YA) retellings of wuthering heights, she laments:
But I began to get frustrated. No one seemed to be doing it right, I thought. For one thing, I was annoyed that the modernizations tended to overly demonize the Hindley character (Matt in my incarnation). I thought that Hindley was a complicated character, but that he was ultimately pitiful. Too often, he came across as the villain in the books.
Similarly, I wasn't finding that Cathy and Heathcliff were demonized enough. I found that they were too sympathetic, when they were meant to be vicious, selfish characters.
In fact, all of the main characters in Bronte's novel seem to be horribly flawed in various ways.
I wanted to capture the flaws.
…I changed some names for clarity. I cut a lot of boring stuff.
And Linton turned into a sociopath.
and i totally appreciate that. cathy and heathcliff are terrible, selfish characters, and too frequently, the impulse is to make apologies for their behavior in the light of their doomed passions. which is fine, but part of the allure of WH is the very fact that cathy and heathcliff are such assholes. this book makes that perfectly clear, which is refreshing.
and the additions and new complications chambers tosses in are handled well and give a little clarity to the story, and the necessary changes to it to make it more modern work fine.
it's perfectly fun, and a whole lot better than some other adaptations/retellings i have read. it's silly, escapist fun and nowhere near the flawed masterpiece of the source material, but it was a whole lot better than i expected.
thanks for the birthday treat, elizabeth!!!
*floating this because my picture got eaten and i fixed it - i know TODAY is not labor day
come to my blog!
i fully expected to hate this book. i mean, come on:
Instead of storms tearing through Yorkshire moors, the sounds of '90s grunge rock whisper through backwoods American cornfields…
ohhhh - grunge! heathcliff in flannel! cathy in a knit hat!
hilarity.
and what the hell is up with that cover?? why is heathcliff sitting around shirtless getting his trousers all wet in… a lake??? a crick??? in west freaking virginia with his tummy-dent and … shavedness??
but despite "thera" (young catherine) coming out with sentences that are flat-out lies:
Almond milk was just as good as cow milk in coffee. It was even vanilla flavored.
incorrect. almond milk is fine in many things, but coffee ain't one of them. and making your dad drink vanilla flavored almond-coffee is really cruel. but she gets that cruelty from her moms…
so - despite that - this wasn't terrible. yeah, it's eye-rolly at times, but it was not the train-wreck i had been hoping would entertain me throughout my lazy day-off.
here are some of the rollies, for your pleasure:
Nobody's more attractive than Kurt Cobain.
hey! grunge-rock references! i am old!
and young cathy, (not catherine's) first meeting with heathcliff:
He began to descend the steps. He was wearing leather pants and a black button-up shirt. There were silver rings on his fingers. He looked like an aging rock star. He looked like a harbinger of the apocalypse. He looked like a vampire from one of those shows on the WB. All he was missing was a flowing cape.
hey, i'm heathcliff! (heath) i'm a d-bag!
yeah, that's what heathcliff wears just to hang around his house… in rural west virginia. suuuuuure. but whatever- WH is a melodramatic book, so it doesn't not work to have heathcliff chilling in leather. and be a former roadie for counting crows. no one knows what heathcliff did during his away-years. he coulda been a roadie.
and it also has these scintillating modern-type conversations, this one coming from "eli" the edgar linton character:
"Oh, man. Cathy, you're going to fuck me up, aren't you?"
oh, yes. cathy will be doing that.
but she is also nearly a poet, with her appreciation of eli:
She looked into his eyes. They were beautiful. He was beautiful. He was like a Ken doll.
soooo, yeah. whatever, she's sixteen.
and kind of a bitch, the way cathy ought to be. eli, again:
"I dream about you, you know that? I have these dreams where you're ahead of me, and you're running. You're wearing this white dress. It's all flowy. And you're laughing. It's like music, the way you're laughing. And I'm running after you, running and running. But before I can catch you, I always wake up."
She rubbed her neck. "Dreams are weird, right?"
dude, so cold! but also, eli's lame-ass symbolically-clumsy dream is kind of like this:
which is awesome.
and there is philosophy! chillingly accurate premonition-philosophy:
She bit her lip. "People die. It sucks. but it happens."
He rolled over on his side, facing her. "Right. Everybody dies. I'm going to die. You're going to die. My parents are. Isabella. Everyone."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"No, really. It's like guaranteed or whatever.
IT'S LIKE GUARANTEED OR WHATEVER!!!
killed me.
and here's the last thing i am going to giggle on, because this book was really not terrible - i just like to point out things that make me crack up. there is no reason why the cathy in this story should be attractive to anyone. she is rarely given an opportunity to demonstrate what makes her so appealing in her doomed love triangle. this is the only real speech she gives, the rest of the time she is simply reacting to stuff. but it's a doozy:
When I think about Heaven, I think about being free. And I think that if i was trapped in some place where people were happy all the time, it would drive me crazy. If all they did was smile and be nice to each other and walk by pearly gates and things, I'd start throwing tantrums. I'd tell whoever was in charge that wanted to be set out, back to earth. And then… I'd like to be the wind. I'd go wherever I wanted. Blow through things, blow around things. Have no shape. Just fly, free and bodiless, over the entire world. That's my idea of Heaven."
"Whoa." Eli was quiet, gazing at her with something like adoration.
She hid her face, embarrassed.
"That's really beautiful," he said. "That's how I think of you, too. You're too wild to be contained, Cathy. Like the wind."
"Whatever. I was only saying stuff."
…
She closed her eyes. She bet the wind never felt guilty, even if it ripped the limbs of trees or the siding off of houses. If she was the wind, kissing Eli wouldn't make her feel this way.
which i guess is what passes for deep thoughts among fairly sheltered teenagers, but it cracks me up. like, whoa
but i read the author's afterword, and even if i hadn't, grudgingly, been entertained if not completely wowed by the book, i liked her points. she looooves wuthering heights, and taught it for 6 years to AP english high school seniors, but even though she loves it, she recognizes it is a flawed book, for a number of reasons. for example:
...in the universe of Wuthering Heights, people seem to simply be able to will themselves to death. It's very gothic of them.
and also the awkwardness of the framing device, and the treatment of cathy's pregnancy, etc etc. i love WH, too, but i recognize its shortcomings.
on reading other (notably, all YA) retellings of wuthering heights, she laments:
But I began to get frustrated. No one seemed to be doing it right, I thought. For one thing, I was annoyed that the modernizations tended to overly demonize the Hindley character (Matt in my incarnation). I thought that Hindley was a complicated character, but that he was ultimately pitiful. Too often, he came across as the villain in the books.
Similarly, I wasn't finding that Cathy and Heathcliff were demonized enough. I found that they were too sympathetic, when they were meant to be vicious, selfish characters.
In fact, all of the main characters in Bronte's novel seem to be horribly flawed in various ways.
I wanted to capture the flaws.
…I changed some names for clarity. I cut a lot of boring stuff.
And Linton turned into a sociopath.
and i totally appreciate that. cathy and heathcliff are terrible, selfish characters, and too frequently, the impulse is to make apologies for their behavior in the light of their doomed passions. which is fine, but part of the allure of WH is the very fact that cathy and heathcliff are such assholes. this book makes that perfectly clear, which is refreshing.
and the additions and new complications chambers tosses in are handled well and give a little clarity to the story, and the necessary changes to it to make it more modern work fine.
it's perfectly fun, and a whole lot better than some other adaptations/retellings i have read. it's silly, escapist fun and nowhere near the flawed masterpiece of the source material, but it was a whole lot better than i expected.
thanks for the birthday treat, elizabeth!!!
*floating this because my picture got eaten and i fixed it - i know TODAY is not labor day
come to my blog!
January 22, 2016
Esto es puro melodrama, o sea, del tipo de las novelas de la tarde (de la mañana, noche, el horario que sea) que dan en la tele. Parecido a los clásicos como "no toques a mi hombre, inválida del demonio"...pero no tan ridículo, no tanto como para reirse. En realidad, lo contrario, es ridículo pero atrapante, creo que hasta te lo podés tomar en serio.
Es la esencia de Wuthering Heights sin la prosa maravillosa de Emily Brontë (duh). Me pareció que los personajes, a pesar de la pavada, los diálogos ridículos (no puedo parar de decir "ridículo") y las situaciones de soap opera yanqui (creo firmemente que los novelones estadounidenses son los peores del mundo: days of our lives, por ejemplo-- alguna vez vieron una escena de esa novela?? ¡Por favor! se burlan de las novelas mexicanas- THE SOUP, JOEL MCHALE- pero las que producen ellos son mucho peores!)...en fin, a pesar de todo, se nota que quien escribió este libro conoce a los personajes de WH mucho mejor que la mayoría de quienes han tenido la vergüenza de recrearlos en otros libros.
No se asusten por la portada cursi ni la manera de escribir porque, (y acá les hablo como fanática de las hermanas BRONTË que me afano de ser) de los muchos (muchos) "romances" "inspirados" en "Cumbres Borrascosas" que he leído, este es sobresaliente (y aclaro "romances" porque hay otros libros de ficción como Here on Earth que entienden Wuthering Heights a la perfección...y en un modo mucho más serio, sin romance de por medio.)
Está mal escrito, pero es soportable. Es muuuuy entretenido y bastante fiel a los personajes originales (dentro de lo que se puede ser cuando lo que se quiere es escribir un 'romance')
Me gustó más de lo que esperaba.
Lo recomiendo para los seguidores del género...al menos para los que disfruten del melodrama.
Es la esencia de Wuthering Heights sin la prosa maravillosa de Emily Brontë (duh). Me pareció que los personajes, a pesar de la pavada, los diálogos ridículos (no puedo parar de decir "ridículo") y las situaciones de soap opera yanqui (creo firmemente que los novelones estadounidenses son los peores del mundo: days of our lives, por ejemplo-- alguna vez vieron una escena de esa novela?? ¡Por favor! se burlan de las novelas mexicanas- THE SOUP, JOEL MCHALE- pero las que producen ellos son mucho peores!)...en fin, a pesar de todo, se nota que quien escribió este libro conoce a los personajes de WH mucho mejor que la mayoría de quienes han tenido la vergüenza de recrearlos en otros libros.
No se asusten por la portada cursi ni la manera de escribir porque, (y acá les hablo como fanática de las hermanas BRONTË que me afano de ser) de los muchos (muchos) "romances" "inspirados" en "Cumbres Borrascosas" que he leído, este es sobresaliente (y aclaro "romances" porque hay otros libros de ficción como Here on Earth que entienden Wuthering Heights a la perfección...y en un modo mucho más serio, sin romance de por medio.)
Está mal escrito, pero es soportable. Es muuuuy entretenido y bastante fiel a los personajes originales (dentro de lo que se puede ser cuando lo que se quiere es escribir un 'romance')
Me gustó más de lo que esperaba.
Lo recomiendo para los seguidores del género...al menos para los que disfruten del melodrama.
June 14, 2013
OK, I'll be completely honest and say I picked it up because of the cover. I mean, look at it. Yum!
The cover captured my eye but the blurb made me read it then and there. It's a Wuthering Heights retelling set in 90's. It sounds cool, right?
The first half of the book was all about Cathy and Heath growing up, falling in love and finding out love is not enough when it comes to people who want 2 entirely different things.
The second half of the book was so intense and mind-blowing! Cathy and Heath were true antiheroes. They ruined other people's lives but they mostly made an even bigger mess of theirs.
I would like to say that this is the first retelling I truly loved. I've read a couple of Austen and Bronte retellings but this one is truly a the only standout novel. Author added some twists and sexy scenes which made the book unputdownable.
Wish I could properly explain why Wuther was such an incredible novel. I want to recommend it to everyone but I know how some people look down upon on retelling and they are even worse when it comes to indie ones.
I'll write a longer review soon.
The cover captured my eye but the blurb made me read it then and there. It's a Wuthering Heights retelling set in 90's. It sounds cool, right?
The first half of the book was all about Cathy and Heath growing up, falling in love and finding out love is not enough when it comes to people who want 2 entirely different things.
The second half of the book was so intense and mind-blowing! Cathy and Heath were true antiheroes. They ruined other people's lives but they mostly made an even bigger mess of theirs.
I would like to say that this is the first retelling I truly loved. I've read a couple of Austen and Bronte retellings but this one is truly a the only standout novel. Author added some twists and sexy scenes which made the book unputdownable.
Wish I could properly explain why Wuther was such an incredible novel. I want to recommend it to everyone but I know how some people look down upon on retelling and they are even worse when it comes to indie ones.
I'll write a longer review soon.
July 17, 2014
This story is inspired from the book, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I wish I could say I’ve read but I haven’t, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. However, I can tell you that I loved this twisted and dark story; it’s an absolute page turner and will keep you up all night long! Yes, it’s that good!!
I had no idea what to expect from this story and I stumbled onto this book purely by accident on Amazon; I’m not sure if it was the blurb, the cover or both that attracted me to this book but this is a love triangle that will make you throw your e-reader out the window Bradley Cooper style!!!
We are a product of our environment and it’s up to us to figure out if we will remain that way or change. This is that story and the majority of pivotal characters are deeply flawed. The most complicated of love-triangles exists in this very book and it stressed me out the entire time!!
Cathy is the heroine and in the beginning I wasn’t sure how I felt about her but as her character slowly developed, I liked her less and less because I found her to be quite selfish. I wasn’t clear about why she did the things she did and I suppose if I understood that more I could have felt more empathy for her but I didn’t. Eli, the kind and generous soul was too good for his own good and he was competing for Cathy’s affections but he was no contender, in my eyes, against the dark and brooding Heath.
The only time we saw good come from Heath was in his affections for Cathy and it’s as if the light began to overpower his darkness making him very lovable. On the flip-side of that he does things which are so heinous and calculated that it gives you a certain amount of heartburn! I absolutely loved Eli but the poor guy needed to grow a steel pair because he was being taken advantage of in a way I’ve never seen happen in a book before.
“Heath and me are forever,” she whispered. “I think that whatever souls are made of, his and mine are made of the same stuff. We’re the same.”
The story is weaved with the past and present and the writing is absolutely fantastic. There’s romance, mystery, a sociopath and so many twists and turns that this book will render you absolutely speechless. My review is touching on just a few of the characters but there are so many more that are worth getting to know and I’m not fond of re-telling what the story is about because that’s in the blurb but what’s important to know is…this is a must read! If you want something dark, edgy and twisted…this is it! ;)
I had no idea what to expect from this story and I stumbled onto this book purely by accident on Amazon; I’m not sure if it was the blurb, the cover or both that attracted me to this book but this is a love triangle that will make you throw your e-reader out the window Bradley Cooper style!!!
We are a product of our environment and it’s up to us to figure out if we will remain that way or change. This is that story and the majority of pivotal characters are deeply flawed. The most complicated of love-triangles exists in this very book and it stressed me out the entire time!!
Cathy is the heroine and in the beginning I wasn’t sure how I felt about her but as her character slowly developed, I liked her less and less because I found her to be quite selfish. I wasn’t clear about why she did the things she did and I suppose if I understood that more I could have felt more empathy for her but I didn’t. Eli, the kind and generous soul was too good for his own good and he was competing for Cathy’s affections but he was no contender, in my eyes, against the dark and brooding Heath.
The only time we saw good come from Heath was in his affections for Cathy and it’s as if the light began to overpower his darkness making him very lovable. On the flip-side of that he does things which are so heinous and calculated that it gives you a certain amount of heartburn! I absolutely loved Eli but the poor guy needed to grow a steel pair because he was being taken advantage of in a way I’ve never seen happen in a book before.
“Heath and me are forever,” she whispered. “I think that whatever souls are made of, his and mine are made of the same stuff. We’re the same.”
The story is weaved with the past and present and the writing is absolutely fantastic. There’s romance, mystery, a sociopath and so many twists and turns that this book will render you absolutely speechless. My review is touching on just a few of the characters but there are so many more that are worth getting to know and I’m not fond of re-telling what the story is about because that’s in the blurb but what’s important to know is…this is a must read! If you want something dark, edgy and twisted…this is it! ;)
June 8, 2013
What fun!
In this edgy, stylish adaptation of a beloved classic, Chambers takes the iconic love triangle of Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar to new levels. Without losing the spirit of the original characters, Chambers reinvents many of the situations that the characters find themselves in, in order to both reconcile with the changing times, and to resonate with a contemporary audience.
Wuther also takes bold risks-Linton as a sociopath-ic "kissing-cousin", Catherine as a grunge-loving 90's teen, Isabella as a Cali-girl, etc.-that pay off. These new twists add mounds of suspense, heated loves scenes and, most importantly, separate this novel from other "true-to-the-original" knock-offs. Instead, Wuther stands alone as an original work, only vaguely hinting at the story that we remember, which is delightfully refreshing, modern, and fun.
P.S. Loved the pool scene :0)
In this edgy, stylish adaptation of a beloved classic, Chambers takes the iconic love triangle of Catherine, Heathcliff, and Edgar to new levels. Without losing the spirit of the original characters, Chambers reinvents many of the situations that the characters find themselves in, in order to both reconcile with the changing times, and to resonate with a contemporary audience.
Wuther also takes bold risks-Linton as a sociopath-ic "kissing-cousin", Catherine as a grunge-loving 90's teen, Isabella as a Cali-girl, etc.-that pay off. These new twists add mounds of suspense, heated loves scenes and, most importantly, separate this novel from other "true-to-the-original" knock-offs. Instead, Wuther stands alone as an original work, only vaguely hinting at the story that we remember, which is delightfully refreshing, modern, and fun.
P.S. Loved the pool scene :0)
June 26, 2013
I had to force myself to finish this book. A lover of Wuthering Heights, I thought this would be right up my alley. I was wrong. The amateur writing made me cringe. This author is a high school English teacher? This book read like one if her students' essays.
July 17, 2013
2 or 3 stars. Hmmm, trying to decide...
I liked this book. I also did not like this book. It had promise, but it fell short for me.
The writing was very choppy, more so in some parts than in others. There were times when I was pulled right out of the story because of the stilted sentence structure. I felt as if the sex scenes in particular were being thrown at me, sentence by choppy unnatural sentence. It needed...more. More feeling. More emotion. More more. I usually disappear into a book, but that was not the case throughout much of this one.
Heath and Cathy were watered down and more human versions of Heathcliff and Catherine. That is fine if it was the author's choice. I can respect the desire to add some humanity to those two characters. Personally, part of what I love about Wuthering Heights is the raw selfishnes combined with a complete lack of conscience that the two main characters display. WH makes me feel torn. I want Heathcliff and Catherine together; not necessarily because I want them to be happy (let's face it, they are both pretty terrible people), but more because I want to avoid the torment they will cause everyone around them when they are apart. In Wuther, I kind of want Heath and Cathy to be together because I just want them to be happy. I don't get the same sense of pure selfishness and the undertone of evil that I get from WH.
Also. I just have to say this once. No offence intended to anyone with the name, but Thera is one ugly-ass nickname for Catherine. There are other possible nicknames that don't sound like Catherine or Cathy. Cat. Cate. Catie. Rinn (this would have been my personal choice for Thera's character, as it's the least like Cathy). Of course, this is just my opinion. Someone might read this book and name her daughter Thera because of it. Stranger things have happened (*cough*Renesmee*cough*).
Overall, I felt it was a bit watered down (when compared to WH) and much of the book was choppy and stilted. On the other hand, it was an fairly easy read with a lot of potential and it definitely held my interest, so I guess that makes it more of a 3 star for me.
However, if anyone knows of a modern day WH-retelling that is angsty and dark and bone-chilling (like, can we focus more on the grave-digging, please? that's some messed up stuff right there), without all of that extra shit Emily Bronte had in there (love WH, but reading some boring dude's diary is just too much at times), please tell me about it. I'd love to read it.
(I'd also be cool reading a book where H & C end up as decent people who get their HEA in the end. I'm admittedly a sucker for romance and happy endings.)
I liked this book. I also did not like this book. It had promise, but it fell short for me.
The writing was very choppy, more so in some parts than in others. There were times when I was pulled right out of the story because of the stilted sentence structure. I felt as if the sex scenes in particular were being thrown at me, sentence by choppy unnatural sentence. It needed...more. More feeling. More emotion. More more. I usually disappear into a book, but that was not the case throughout much of this one.
Heath and Cathy were watered down and more human versions of Heathcliff and Catherine. That is fine if it was the author's choice. I can respect the desire to add some humanity to those two characters. Personally, part of what I love about Wuthering Heights is the raw selfishnes combined with a complete lack of conscience that the two main characters display. WH makes me feel torn. I want Heathcliff and Catherine together; not necessarily because I want them to be happy (let's face it, they are both pretty terrible people), but more because I want to avoid the torment they will cause everyone around them when they are apart. In Wuther, I kind of want Heath and Cathy to be together because I just want them to be happy. I don't get the same sense of pure selfishness and the undertone of evil that I get from WH.
Also. I just have to say this once. No offence intended to anyone with the name, but Thera is one ugly-ass nickname for Catherine. There are other possible nicknames that don't sound like Catherine or Cathy. Cat. Cate. Catie. Rinn (this would have been my personal choice for Thera's character, as it's the least like Cathy). Of course, this is just my opinion. Someone might read this book and name her daughter Thera because of it. Stranger things have happened (*cough*Renesmee*cough*).
Overall, I felt it was a bit watered down (when compared to WH) and much of the book was choppy and stilted. On the other hand, it was an fairly easy read with a lot of potential and it definitely held my interest, so I guess that makes it more of a 3 star for me.
However, if anyone knows of a modern day WH-retelling that is angsty and dark and bone-chilling (like, can we focus more on the grave-digging, please? that's some messed up stuff right there), without all of that extra shit Emily Bronte had in there (love WH, but reading some boring dude's diary is just too much at times), please tell me about it. I'd love to read it.
(I'd also be cool reading a book where H & C end up as decent people who get their HEA in the end. I'm admittedly a sucker for romance and happy endings.)
June 9, 2014
Dark, cruel characters and weak, shallow characters - somehow the writer finds the balance where you're interested in each of them. This book kept me guessing. I haven't read Wuthering Heights so I have no frame of reference. If you're looking for a twisted read this Summer, this book is for you. It's not a feel good, happily ever after kind of book.
June 19, 2013
If Zemira says this is good I will give it a try! :)
Read
August 4, 2021This is so so bad. This reads like it was written by a high school student who tried to modernize a classic for a school essay. Modern day Cathy doing sexual favours for money? Heath being the douchebag boyfriend who says he doesn't want to hurt her yet when they sleep together he "hopes she doesn't make him stop even if it hurts her because it feels so good for him", Isabella a "Cali girl" and honestly this was the first time I actually rooted for Edgar. The writing is so choppy and without feeling, there's no strong bond of love or spiritual connection just two teenage kids dating in the farm. There's nothing special or alluring or magnetic about this Heath, yes there are some sweet moments with him and Cathy that I do love but that's about it with this book. There are some ridiculous bits that indicate to me that the ending was rushed and sloppy. Again, we have another modern retelling trying to push the idea of a Heath who tries to sleep with women to get over Cathy, while I understand how in a modern setting it's the most "go-to" assumption, it just isn't Heathcliff: a man who desired no one but Cathy and spent the rest of his years after her death doing everything to get one glimpse of her again - changing that changes Heathcliff and he is not Heathcliff anymore. Also, the parts that show Heath being violent seemed to be an afterthought, as if the author wrote the whole book first then quickly remembered she had to make Heath have a violent side too and just tried to slip it in. I did appreciate the humanity she have Heath and his ability to recognise his actions and how they made him feel, which was new and refreshing. Other than that, I was disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 21, 2020
Wuthering Heights is my favorite novel of all time. So it's really difficult to read adaptations without bias. However, Chambers' take on it is perhaps the best I've read so far.
Wuther stays true to the essence of Heathcliff, Cathy, Edgar, Hareton, & Catherine especially. And while Chambers did take some creative license with the rest of the ensemble, it still works.
The flips of the script were in tune with societal change, and yeah, it's a good modern adaptation.
Wuther stays true to the essence of Heathcliff, Cathy, Edgar, Hareton, & Catherine especially. And while Chambers did take some creative license with the rest of the ensemble, it still works.
The flips of the script were in tune with societal change, and yeah, it's a good modern adaptation.
August 23, 2013
I have never read "Wuthering Heights" so can't really compare the two. Each time I think about this book - I still cannot decide if I liked it or not. It started out just fine and then kinda descended into a bit of chaos. Catherine as portrayed in this book pretty much prostituted herself in the name of love, tried to justify it and then convinced herself that she truly loved Eli and maybe she did eventually. And Heath...wow..what a train wreck he turned out to be - continueing the vicious cycle of abuse that was dished out to him onto his own son. It was a crazy ride and now I'm standing on the side of a trashcan feeling nauseous and deciding whether or not to throw up.
June 19, 2013
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Just as haunting and twisted as the original but she managed to make it her own.
July 8, 2013
I really enjoyed this telling of WH. I'm a fan of the Bronte story and reading a modernized version made for a brilliant page turner. :)
July 9, 2013
Emily Bronte meets V.C. Andrews ...
Want to read
September 11, 2013Considering I didn't like Wuthering Heights, why am I bothering to read this? Oh right. Shirtless guy.
August 16, 2015
I was a little disappointed with this story. Defiantly not one i will ever read again.
January 24, 2015
I enjoyed this very dark modern version of one of my favorite books, Wuthering Heights.
own-under-diff-title-or-anthology
May 28, 2015Red Hot Bikers, Rock Stars, and Bad Boys (11 Contemporary Romance Books by Bestselling Authors) (Red Hot Boxed Sets)
June 24, 2015
Book 9 by V.J. Chambers, I'll have to give a 0. If it was a movie like the Notebook, I might be able to follow along. It's not & so I'm unable to.
June 21, 2015
Messed up page turning drama that is utterly compelling, a modern twist on Wuthering Heights which is well worth a read.
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