Reviews with content warning for War - Atonement

Reviews tagging 'War'

Atonement by Ian McEwan

100 reviews

floralvinyls's review against another edition

4.5

beautifully written, but i think i preferred the movie (i know, i'm sorry). didn't know i could hate a 12-year old child this much, but here we are.

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librayrian's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

1.5

i hate kids

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eleanormia96's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-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

I really struggled to get into this at first. The prose is quite heavy at times and I couldn't quite see the thrust of McEwan's story (even though I have seen the film and knew what happens). But, once the "event" takes place I was hooked by its depth. This book is a harrowing reflection on the nature of personal responsibility, guilt and forgiveness - as well as the nature of storytelling.

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athenacomplex's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

3.5

Rich with food for thought, but often too slow-paced.

"Yes, she was just a child. But not every child sends a man to prison with a lie."

Or, in which jealous teenager Briony Tallis walks in on her older sister Cecilia having a romantic tryst with gardener boy Robbie Turner. Briony, a writer with an overactive imagination, assumes Robbie sexually assaulted Cecilia and their cousin Lola. Briony reports this to the police, and chaos ensues.

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ar_jun's review against another edition

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reflective slow-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

2.25

McEwan is a middle aged white man writing about a 13 year old girl's perspective, and I find that he does it quite poorly. All of the women in the book are stereotypical and have no real character development. I also personally did not enjoy the tone or writing style of the author. If you want a book that is truly about atonement and resolving mistakes, there are others that communicate that message better - with better characters, plot, narrative structure, and everything else.

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em_1920's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense 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

5.0

DRAMA. Oh you will be so mad at the end.

FUCK Briony she’s the literal worst. At first when I read this I was a bit confused who the narrator was because they seemed to be omniscient and the tone was that of an adult. But it was seemingly telling to story mainly through a little girl’s perspective. And I was SO confused why Cecilia and Robbie had NO chemistry in the beginning. By the end though it was clear that Briony was jealous and selfish not only for what she actually did to Robbie, Cecilia and Lola in real life but then USING their story and trying to justify her actions.

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