It‘s Hardy so this is still bleak and dramatic, though not as enraging as Tess nor as depressing as Jude. There are no clear villains here, just unfortunate circumstance. (Tbh I didn‘t care for Clym or Wildeve.) Also leave it to Hardy to have a minor character develop a catastrophic gambling problem in one evening only to be cured by it the next day. Wish Eustacia and Thomasin had ditched their subpar men and run away to Paris together instead.