alexandramrtin's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
4.75
atwood had a big task of turning a fact into fiction, and she nailed it. she added just enough fictitious elements to embellish the history, while still keeping the ambiguity as to the truth of the matter.
the imagery is beautiful. i don’t know if i’m primed to pick up on motifs and ideas in atwood’s work as we went very in depth in handmaid’s tale for IB, but i’m getting it. everything makes sense, everything is so well crafted.
story itself is good. the premise/skeleton of the story is fascinating, especially giving the fact that it really happened! as for the added fictitious details, they felt so real and were so well embedded that the book felt both like accurate reality, or a brilliant work of fiction.
i would definitely read it again, as i’m sure i missed some details!
the imagery is beautiful. i don’t know if i’m primed to pick up on motifs and ideas in atwood’s work as we went very in depth in handmaid’s tale for IB, but i’m getting it. everything makes sense, everything is so well crafted.
story itself is good. the premise/skeleton of the story is fascinating, especially giving the fact that it really happened! as for the added fictitious details, they felt so real and were so well embedded that the book felt both like accurate reality, or a brilliant work of fiction.
i would definitely read it again, as i’m sure i missed some details!
Spoiler
only reason i removed 0.25 is because grace marks does not end up with who i was rooting for the whole while but alasSpoiler
Graphic: Abortion, Classism, Alcohol, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
jolibon4e's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Rarely is there such an unreadable and boring book. To be honest part of it may have been that I had completely different expectations but I am very disappointed. Truly I have no idea why the points of view were constantly changing, why was there so much description of random stuff that did not amount of anything. Like, the only thing I get from the book is that men are inherently sleazy and evil and all women ever do is suffer. Sure, but I don’t need 400 pages of this, there is nothing profound in that?
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy, Rape, and Abortion
Minor: Fatphobia
alannah_m's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would! Although it could easily have been a book of half the length I think. I went back and forth with the core mystery throughout the narrative, but I actually spent more time reflecting on Grace's upbringing and her narrative voice, which is really strong.
Pet Theory for this book: MARY WHITNEY ISN'T REAL
Pet Theory for this book: MARY WHITNEY ISN'T REAL
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Misogyny
Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization
rebekalanska's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Rape and Violence
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