Reviews

Atonement by Ian McEwan

emiliadontu08's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

goodbyeisabella's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

oh my god this book is phenomenal. i know there’s probably so much symbolism and deeper meaning that i can’t see, but i still love this. i took a long time to read the book because of how slow-paced the beginning is, but that’s not a bad thing. i still loved the whole first part, im just a slow reader which is exacerbated by a slow-paced story. but part two and three really pick up the pace while still remaining true to the reflective, character-driven tone of part one. this book made me feel angry, sad, tense, love. i’m still emotional as i type this because the ending just destroyed me. going into this blind made atonement such an interesting reading experience as the story unfolded in ways i hadn’t predicted. i could say so much more but this book has worn me out. i just love love love! 

ivegonereading's review

4.25

Ian McEwan had a way of writing that will never fit my preferences but his stories match so well with me. The depth and the message he's trying to convey. It's just the inner monologues and the stream of consciousness that I find too much and make me lose interest. 

bookish_skies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

jesslolsen's review

4.0

This is a book that I will appreciate even more the more I think about it in its entirety after it’s finished. I loved this premise of this story and there were so many interesting and clever observations and sentences throughout it was hard not to be charmed. I listened to the audiobook and the reader had such a smoothing voice, and sometimes I found the writing to go off on a bit of a tangent that I would drift off and when I came back to the story after a few seconds, I was confused what was actually going on and had to rewind 30 seconds to catch up and follow again.

fayetree's review

4.0

this book was so beautifully written and amazing but WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET OFF GIVING ME FALSE HOPE THAT THEY MET BACK UP ONLY TO REVEAL THAT ACTUALLY THAT WASNT FUCKING TRUE AND IT WAS ALL A LIE AND THEY BOTH DIED BEOFRE MEETING AGAIN????
what do you MEAN they didn’t grow old together???? so you’re saying, despite knowing each other their whole lives, they both died alone and only ever got to be together through letters???? so basically you want me to kill myself.
i cant even hate briony because she was just a child but it’s all so upsetting and infuriating that robbie died never having his name cleared and never being able to be with the person he loved. i hate everything.

stefmorgan's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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

2.75

eli__123's review

dark reflective sad medium-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

3.25

megw91's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

blondierocket's review

4.0

One of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Atonement tells the story of a young girl, Briony, who witnesses multiple events she does not understand in her young age, that lead her to making the wrong accusation, therefore ruining her sister’s chance of true happiness.

While told mainly through Briony’s point of view, the first part of the book alternates between the characters to give the reader Briony’s idea of what happened but also the real story.

Bound to be a classic one day, this amazing story of mistakes, love, trial and error, and of all atonement, was hard to put down as I kept reading to find out how similiar the movie was to the book, if it evoked the same emotion, and it did. Not very often anymore does a book translate completely in the film, but this one appears to do so, even at the end.