Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

15 reviews

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

parkbenj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-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

3.5

Like many others the only other Margaret Atwood book I have read is Handmaid’s Tale. Unsurprisingly Oryx and Crake is also deeply disturbing, with multiple chapters containing unnecessarily graphic descriptions of the physical and sexual abuse of children. I say unnecessary because I skipped over these scenes and did not feel like I’d missed anything important. Especially as the abused child in question (Oryx) has zero character development and seems to only serve as a plot device to move Jimmy/Snowman’s story forward.
That being said Margaret really is a beautiful writer and as she said of Handmaid’s Tale “nothing went into it that had not happened in real life somewhere at some time.”
I don’t agree with the reviews that say this book is slow and boring, her descriptions and storytelling are truly captivating.
I think this book is worth a read as long as you go in prepared to read many deeply disturbing scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

trankz's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Trafficking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

allydee's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

smeagol357's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book so much. It dragged me over broken glass, put me on soft mattresses, and then whacked me in the head unexpectedly. Has to be one of the best books I’ve ever read. Strongly recommend to everyone. Do not ignore the trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

ac_rva's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

aylaravenstar's review against another edition

Too dark and slow paced for me at this juncture.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, and Torture

bethanharcourt's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.25

I wasn't really expecting a lot of the things Jimmy got up to as a teenager. I felt quite confused about that section of the book, can see how it was a plot point, but still. The way the story was told narrative wise I enjoyed, and a glimpse into a possible future was an interesting perspective too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail