Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

17 reviews

jenna_justi2004's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was the hardest book to read. It’s up there with 1984 and brave new world. Generally of worlds, I hope don’t become reality. I understand the message and it doesn’t make it any better. It’s actually so sad and essentially avoidable which is horrific. If you enjoy dystopian this is for you but this book genuinely made me sick at some points. Graphic accounts of CP and trafficking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

startjpw23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This story is set in a not distant future and is told in 3rd person POV by Snowman (aka his given name Jimmy). There are only 2 other main characters (Crake and Oryx). When the story starts, Snowman is trying to survive after an event took place that appears to have ended civilization. The story alternates between the present and Snowman's life as Jimmy from before the event. It starts in his youth and moves forward to various points in his life before the event. Early on, it is apparent that the society Jimmy grew up in was scientifically advanced, but morally bankrupt. The relationship between Jimmy, Crake, and Oryx is gradually revealed as are the circumstances that led up to the event. This is a really good dystopian novel. I found it very believable as a possible (very scary) future. I didn't really like Jimmy or Crake very much. I liked Oryx more. Despite not liking Jimmy, I still found the story compelling. The story is very disturbing at points. Some children are treated very badly. There are brutal security forces. There are no ethics to the science being done. To many of the scientists, people and animals are viewed the same as lab rats. Corporations run things and profits are all no matter who is hurt. Society is very stratified. This is not a happy book. The book is very well plotted and written. Margaret Atwood only writes the minimum details of the most disturbing scenes so that the reader understands what is going on without being unnecessarily graphic. The only reason I rated the book a little below 5 stars is I didn't feel the ending was very good. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a really good dystopian novel. If the issues I mentioned are things that concern you, you may want to avoid the book. Or at least look at content warnings. Be aware that this is book 1 of 3. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Genocide, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Slavery, Trafficking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mthornburg13's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

opossumble's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

violator's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

josiemeyer's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

toniboni's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

earthtomanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. My first full-length Atwood novel, and I am amazed at just how many aspects of humanity she is able to capture. While the plot should seem fantastical, she stays firmly in the plausible and (perhaps) the likely. Many scenes are incredibly graphic though, so tread lightly if that’s a concern — Going through the content warnings, it was hard to find something that wasn’t at least mentioned in this book.

I did struggle with how prominent discussion of sexual abuse towards children was. It was incredibly disturbing. I am still grappling with why that was a necessary inclusion — though it is Atwood, and I’m sure it was not done without some thought. Also, Jimmy can fight me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Murder

julesram's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Slavery

cueba's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

It's interesting but not exactly a story with plot. The book is practically stuck in exposition and it ends after the world was fully explained. The book is really about: "What happened to Oryx and Crake (and the world)?" then we go flashbacks bonanza as Snowman take a short trip (the "a journey, with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake" is not that grand and the Children is not really helping)

It's interesting though! All characters have shit personality (nicely written, don't expect that character development) and I like Atwood's prose (of course). The protag, Snowman, is a good, storytelling narrator (a bit stupid sometimes)

Overall, I like it! Not really bought into the fucking hacking segment (it's pretty stupid) and there's not much intriguing ideas to ponder after reading the book (I find some of them too ridiculous). I liked this book due to how Atwood beautifully presented it, not the ideas themselves. Solid mystery book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault