Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Expiation by Ian McEwan

26 reviews

_juju's review against another edition

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dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A lot of flourish language that makes the story hard to follow, in my opinion, even after being familiar with the story through the movie. really slow pace but split into three parts to make it easy to know what stage you were at. the first part was very unique and set the seen well. the ending and narrator reveal felt rushed.  
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stuckduck's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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hunkydory's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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dinbooks's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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mengzhenreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this book caused me so much emotional distress and for what. really enjoyed it though, very complex characters that had a lot of heart and nuance.
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annylein's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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lostinthelibrary's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the best character study books I have ever read. The characters all do things on the scale from questionable to awful but they are so well developed that you understand their multi-layered motivations. 

The atmosphere is also incredibly immersive whether in a sleepy summer country house, a busy hospital or the banks of Dunkirk. Each setting is powerfully evoked in, at times, uncomfortable ways and this combined with the characterisation, really put you in the perspective of the characters. 

Finally, the writing was just so perfectly crafted and changed throughout the book to mirror the characters and their perspectives. Descriptive sections were used sparingly but effectively and it was overall a joy to read.

A worthy classic and my first 5 star book of the year!
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bvrealis's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sophie42's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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beloved_bridget's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I have to stop reading reviews, they made me very scared to read this book. A friend recommended this book to me, and I'm glad I gave it a chance. the first half was a bit weird, I am really not a fan of how the romance between robbie and cecilia was presented. I felt that I wasn't supposed to root for them, and felt very disoriented with the major jump-cut to WWII and we're just supposed to believe that their romance is perfect. even before that, I just didn't really feel that cecilia's feelings for robbie made sense. 
I was really surprised that the second half of the book was dedicated to the war, felt like I was reading a completely different book. it was still a good book, but felt that the second half was very disconnected from the first.
overall, the language can sometimes feel a little much at times, like he's writing just for the sake of writing. but I really liked it
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