A review by mermerdundun
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

2.0

I remember really liking Oryx and Crake when it came out and didn't even realize there was another book that was a continuation of this world (or simply related, to be more specific). But, The Year of the Flood disappointed me greatly. Atwood seemed too focused on creating the future world and its new technologies instead of creating the characters and eliciting any emotions in the reader. I love when "speculative" books include things that make you go "Omg I could SO see that happening," but TYOTF did not make me say that. Instead I was thinking that Atwood got way too carried away with some things that they in fact lost their plausibility and tore me away from the book. Like NO I don't think the demand for crazy-colored wigs will become so out-of-control, EVER, that scientists will create a special sheep-like animal especially for cultivating the wigs. NO I don't think men would ever want to fuck or watch women strip or dance who are dressed like giant birds or lizards at a place called Scales and Tails, nor do I think that legalized prostitution would eliminate any back-alley transactions (after all, the dirty thrill is part of the allure, right?)

I think if I had read Oryx and Crake just before reading TYOTF, I would have had more joy in connecting the dots between the two (although I don't think TYOTF relies on any knowledge of O&C to make sense) but I didn't. And finally, wtf are violet biolets? I couldn't envision this new kind of toilet and... that upset me.