Member Reviews
Okay I loved loved loved the Heathcliff chapters of this book— his whole plot line, his character arc, his growth— BUT every chapter from Cathy’s perspective was a battle to not just skip. Heathcliff is made so likeable, complex, interesting, while Cathy is just unlikeable, annoying, and worst of all, her plot is boring. Heathcliff is having what feels like real adventures and changes; Cathy is in her house, thinking about Heathcliff. Her growth is so internal and so small while his is so external and enormous, it makes it a bore to read her perspective.
I like the timing of the book a lot! Where we start in the plot is great and where it ends up makes sense, even though I was not expecting a happy ending (and honestly, I don’t buy that this version of Cathy rly deserves this version of Heathcliff, but I digress).
I don’t know— I liked the Heathcliff bits so much, I would probably include this in an adaptations curriculum alongside the original, but I think ultimately this reads like an alternate ending fanfic for people who loved the original love story but didn’t like the ending.
‘What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix’ is the newest addition to The Remixed Classics from Feiwel Friends (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group) and it is simply amazing. A true remix instead of a retelling, it’s as amazing as anything Tasha Suri has ever written (which is everything). Wuthering Heights is already full of deep, intense writing and Tasha Suri only adds to the intensity. She makes it magical. It was truly a delightful, emotional read. The addition of racial and cultural tensions and the realities of the time in British history were excellent and important. I already knew I’d read anything Tasha Suri wrote and this only adds to it that conviction!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unlike the others in the classic remix series, What Souls Are Made Of is not a re-imagining of Wuthering Heights so much as an alternate ending for the classic novel. Those who have not read the Bronte original will be lost, though fans of the classic novel will find much to love in Suri's version. Drawing on the history of the British East India company and the horrors they inflicted on the population of India, Suri creates an Earnshaw Sr. who brings home Heathcliff in an attempt to assuage his guilt and hide that his children are also of Indian descent from the racist high society in which they live. Dark, lush, and romantic, What Souls Are Made Of gives fans of Heathcliff and Cathy a happy ending true to their characters without ignoring the haunted atmosphere of the original
This book is going to have a very specific audience. When I mention how much I love Wuthering Heights I always feel I am in the minority. But if you are one of those people who also love it, this book is for you! The author captures Brontë’s atmosphere of the moors and the intense feelings Cathy and Heathcliff have. The writing, descriptions, and characters feel authentic to the original. I highly recommend this remix. I also highly recommend reading the original text first to ensure more enjoyment. I will be adding this to my Brontë/Wuthering Heights collection.
To start with, the author’s love for Wuthering Heights is evident and I can appreciate that because I love it too. I feel like it did rely too heavily on the plot of Wuthering Heights and even though there were some changes it didn’t let the story stand on its own. I think someone would already have to either have read or be a fan of WH to really appreciate and understand the book and what it’s trying to accomplish. Also, the pacing seemed entirely too slow and it became a slog to get through.
While I think this one was a wonderful remix to the original, unfortunately they confusing elements of the original remain - Catherine vs. Cathy and their relationships with Healthcliff.
Overall I think true Wuthering Heights fans will go mad for it, but if you're hoping for a full refresh its not quite there.
I liked a lot of things about this book, but the pacing was not one of them. However, other than that, I thought this book was an enjoyable enough read. I loved Wuthering Heights except I couldn’t stand how self absorbed they were. and this book took that self absorption and made it more optimistic. I loved how they were given space to grow, rather than stuck in their immaturity like they were in the original.
I loved this. To be fair, I also love Wuthering Heights (though it's been a minute since I did a sneaky re-read), so I had high hopes for this remix. I've also adored the two previous remixes in this series that I've read, so I also had high hopes in that regard.
Suri did not disappoint in this remix. We encounter both Heathcliff and Cathy, in alternating POV chapters, exploring and discovering themselves apart after Heathcliff has overheard Cathy saying she couldn't marry him and leaves the moors. Heathcliff and Cathy are Indian in this book, with Heathcliff visibly so and thus more of an outcast, but Cathy fairer and thus able to "pass" more easily, to the point where she doesn't even remember that she had "another mother" until she feels haunted and Hindley reminds her of their early years. Suri has managed to infuse this story with new life, confronting the evils of colonialism, imperialism, colorism, and prejudice. But much like Morrow chose to do with her remix of Little Women, Suri has amended the tragic circumstances that sent Heathcliff and Cathy spiraling in the original text in favor of a more hopeful ending. Perhaps most impressively, she has captured the writing style in such a perfect manner, with such beautiful and timely prose. Highly recommend.
Full disclaimer: I did not make it through reading the entirety of this text. However, that is absolutely only due to time constraints, and not a reflection on my interest in or enjoyment of the book. From what I did read, it is my opinion that the author has done a superb job of mirroring the language/setting/VIBES in general of Bronte's original work. I am also extremely passionate, personally, about the MO behind this entire series, "remixing," classic literature with more (read: ANY) diverse characters, and I think there definitely is, and should be a place for that in the YA sphere. However, and very unfortunately, I do not picture that being the case for my library and our, albeit smaller, collection. Even so, I can't emphasize enough that this would be a definite purchase for myself personally, or if I was buying for the collection of a larger library.
The last 20% or so was the best part of this book. I feel like 4 stars is generous given that I was sort of moving through this moderately bored the whole time, but the pacing of the story was good and I was somehow compelled to keep reading. I did love the way that the story changed from the original... there were better, more empowering choices made and the ending was significantly different as a result, but the getting there was a struggle for me. I do feel like this would be hard to enjoy if you were not already familiar with Wuthering Heights. I love YA retellings of classics, but they have to stand on their own without knowledge of the original to work, and I feel like this one fell short of that.
Honestly? 5/5 stars. I absolutely adored this. Any fan of Wuthering Heights will enjoy this retelling. What Souls Are Made Of gives us Cathy and Heathcliff's story, but this time they are the ones telling it. In Wuthering Heights, we learn through stories and journal entries that Heathcliff left for three years after Cathy became engaged to Edgar. We learn that Heathcliff and Cathy had been inseparably in love, but no amount of love had stopped her from becoming engaged to Edgar, and saying that Heathcliff was beneath her. We see how Heathcliff's anger and bitterness destroyed everything he touched, and how Cathy's grief over losing him killed her.
This story takes place during the time Heathcliff is away, except it gives Cathy and Heathcliff a happy ending. Their separation shows them that nothing else matters as long as they are together.
Having the dual POV with Heathcliff and Cathy as narrators gives us such heartbreakingly beautiful insight into their hearts and minds. It shows us how they were truly two souls bound as one. Suri provides Cathy and Heathcliff with a past, a history, a story that tells us who they are.
This is by far one of the best retellings I've had the pleasure of reading. I literally could not put it down. The story is beautiful, the prose was breathtaking, and it renewed my love for Wuthering Heights.
This retelling makes me desperately wish I reread Wuthering Heights before reading. I'd love to see the comparisons. This story is beautifully told and brilliantly adapted. I'm very impressed!
4.5–
Loved! I was interested in this YA because of the authors previous adult works and wasn’t disappointed! Definitely give a read!
I feel the need to preface my review with the truth—Wuthering Heights is a book I loathe. The classic has never been a title I enjoyed reading, but I slogged through it in my high school English class with gritted teeth and many a snarky comment. The blurb for this novel piqued my interest—a remixed version? Yes, please.
I was DELIGHTED. This book holds all the gothic, isolated atmosphere of the moors and Wuthering Heights, the complicated family and childhood trauma and truly connected the dots for me, smoothing out and crafting a much more compelling narrative. I was transfixed by the writing style—the prose is gorgeous, I will never look at feathers the same way again—and the characters swept me up against my will. I WISH this had been the book I read in high school.
The honest look at history, and the masterful way it was twined into the central plot of the story was my favorite part. I really loved that Heathcliff and Cathy both had choices that reflected the original text, and *made their own choices* and how those decisions can change the course of someone’s life.
I could rave all day.
This book felt like the true version of the story of Cathy and Heathcliff, to me. This is now canon in my brain.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
This is an absolutely gorgeous reimagining. From reading Wuthering Heights as a teen, I can't say I remember much of the exact story, but I did remember the characters, and most importantly, the atmosphere. This book really captured that, and I loved the twist the author added to the story. It's absolutely beautifully written, and I could easily see this being taught in schools alongside or instead of the original novel.
This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.
I adore unique fiction, and this is such an interesting premise. I recommend because of the story itself, writing style, and its ability to transport you into a different world.
This remix is gorgeously told and beautifully rendered. Excellent worldbuilding. The writer has a vividly lyrical style that really draws you in.
Thank you so much, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, for allowing me to read this story early!
Wuthering Heights is not exactly the most beloved Brontë book by students, to say the least. And maybe we shouldn’t let teens read stories where no one ends up happily. To be honest, I always loved Kate Bush’s song more than the book itself. So, when I found out there would be a remix of the original, I was curious how the author would handle it. And she did so well! The dual narrative, the writing, the hope that comes from this story, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I believe students will appreciate this story far more than its original, and I will highly recommend it to them.
First off, I just want to say that whether or not you have read "Wuthering Heights," "What Souls Are Made Of" is a must read.
When I started reading, I wasn't sure how I was going to like a more internal, character driven story rather than a plot driven one but I found myself thoroughly engaged in Cathy's and Heathcliff's separate but parallel journeys. I loved hearing both of their voices side by side as they learned about themselves and who they wanted to be. And I very much enjoyed the hopeful ending, a stark change from the original. Suri's writing style was gorgeous as well. I don't think I will be forgetting about this version of Cathy and Heathcliff anytime soon.
I read "Wuthering Heights" for the first and only time back in my junior year of high school (about 5-6 years ago). Unfortunately, I never enjoyed the story, but I do have fond memories of the entire class trying to figure out the messy family tree of who married who, who's in love with who, and which child belongs to who. But "What Souls Are Made Of" helped me look at the original classic in a different light, which I wasn't expecting at all but do appreciate.