Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Cat's Eye

This novel has Atwood’s signature beautiful prose and lovely recurring imagery. Like many of her other books, the protagonist is angry at a lot of things, mostly other women. Probably 250 pages too long.

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teh_niarr's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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gvstyris's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

2.5

The world is being run by people my age, men my age, with falling-out hair and health worries, and it frightens me. When the leaders were older than me I could believe in their wisdom, I could believe they had transcended rage and malice and the need to be loved. Now I know better. I look at the faces in newspapers, in magazines, and wonder: what greeds, what furies drive them on?

After trudging through Cat’s Eye and DNFing Oryx and Crake, I think it’s time for me to accept that The Handmaid’s Tale is the exception, not the rule, when it comes to my taste in Atwood's novels. While I picked up on the social commentary hidden amongst Cat’s Eye's depressing tone and unlikeable characters, Elaine’s internalised misogyny (and straight-up cruelty!) rendered this novel pretty insufferable for me. Perhaps I’m just a couple decades too young to appreciate it properly -- I can see where the portrayal of female bullying would’ve been revolutionary in the 1980s.

My main highlights were Atwood's writing style, as always, and Elaine's relationship with her art. Atwood also portrays childhood both realistically and with sensitivity, which is difficult to pull off. I'm curious about the autobiographical elements of this novel, and will definitely be doing some digging.

Primarily, though, I've come away with an increased fear of one day being a middle-aged white woman myself...

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lay_kone's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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dreamofbookspines's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

Extremely long winded, in the way Atwood sometimes can be. Horrifying depictions of bullying. Whole book felt like it should have been two or three separate ones, or that there should've been less jumping between past and present.

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eg_demps's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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daria_reading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

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alison_massey's review

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

This was a slow read, which isn't necessarily surprising from Atwood and isn't necessarily a problem. While there were aspects that enjoyed (which were mainly down to just enjoying Atwood's way of writing), I did feel a bit like the book wasn't really going anywhere, and I wasn't satisfied by the conclusion of the relationship between the main character and her "friend / tormentor", which the blurb positions as the main concern of the book. Overall, I liked it, but I wouldn't recommend it to someone who isn't already familiar with / a fan of Atwood.

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