Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

37 reviews

tarajsharma's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

A highly prescient novel. Hard to read in parts, but I was never not hooked. I haven’t read The Handmaid’s Tale, but I imagine the overall spirit is the same -  speculative fiction, only about

genetic engineering rather than feminism-eroding religious fervour

.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

joshgroven's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

some uncomfortable stuff happening in here but pretty interesting overall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, 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

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

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

anderska1011's review against another edition

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

khurelchuluun's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I honestly enjoyed it a lot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, and Death

Moderate: Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

trankz's review

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

jwjames's review

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Ableism

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