Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Expiation by Ian McEwan

24 reviews

mezzoanddolce's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

Three stars, the extra half star is for Robbie & Cecilia.

Gosh, I'm a mess. This book is so good. It honestly took me a while to get into it. The beginning is long and my dislike of Briony didn't help contribute to my liking it, but i cant help but think that this book is a masterpiece in some ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Medical content, and War

Moderate: Dementia and Death

milele23's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Cursing, War, and Death

Minor: Blood and Toxic relationship

It is a moderately good book for the study of English Literature, despite the bad language. It contains a lot of high level vocabulary and the narrative shifts often. It can be a bit long winded at times, but stick with it, see it through and decide the verdict for yourself.

milenasbooknook's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, War, and Medical content

Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Cursing

hunkydory's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

Minor: Cursing and Dementia

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.25

Atonment is a book where I can say I have never read anything quite like it. The prose is breathtaking and the storytelling a master class in the field, a modern classic in its own right. That being said, I rated it a 4.25 because my interest in the story ebbed and flowed, and a few sections felt redundant. However, the ending 100% makes up for any slower sections, and I did shed a few tears!
Overall, I would highly recommend Atonment to fans of historical fiction novels with a slower pace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Mental illness, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Confinement, War, Panic attacks/disorders, and Death

dinbooks's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Rape, Confinement, Genocide, War, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

lily_eames's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.5

I went into this book with high hopes and the goal of being of virtuous and reading the book before watching the movie. I have to say, it was a tough read. It’s written in an extremely, almost painfully detailed style and it is incredibly slow paced. I definitely almost DNF’ed during the war chapters. However, I really enjoyed the first part of the book and was absolutely heartbroken by the end. Briony hater for life! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Rape

bvrealis's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and War

Minor: Classism, Gore, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

alexandra_skl's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

4.5

So good and so heartbreaking

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, Death, War, Violence, and Genocide

livruther's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.25

I think the book could have become an entirely new level of impactful if the cast of characters was more diverse. I hated the narration in the first part, and I thought most of the second part was boring, but I enjoyed the third and fourth parts. I thought the imagery of the soldiers in the hospital was really gripping. I thought the part with Luc was really sweet. I also really loved the character of Robbie. Even though it made me angry and sad, I thought the ending was really well done, and it is definitely a book that has stuck with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, War, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Dementia

Minor: Rape, Death, and Grief