Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Blind Assassin

This book is a multi-layered story of a family: the bonds between spouses, parents + their children, and especially sisters—and how these bonds can twist, bend, and break. It took me about 100 pages to get the hang of this one, due to the structure and pace: the narrator takes her time describing things, and the story-within-a-story-within-a-story format will leave you with many questions. However, as I read on, I found my initial assumptions challenged as I was drawn into this moving story of regret and the passage of time.

Content Warnings

benjaminj1996's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

In a word - masterpiece. In some longer sentences:

This is a LONG book with lots to it, and it took me a long time to read. It wasn't always easy to read, even enjoyable, or easy to understand, but it was somehow always really engrossing and exceptional.

I don't want to spoil anything about the plot, because you just have to experience it, but there are stories within stories, layers upon layers, and Atwood masterfully controls a tangle of threads, plotting secrets and reveals in such an ingenious way. The book itself relies on the ambiguity of objective truth both in its plot and construction, meaning it's cohesive in its complexities. I did guess something that I was perhaps not supposed to know quite early on, but there was plenty more to it, and on reflection I wonder if this was actually by design of the author anyway.

This is clearly a literary (but very readable) book - it relies on the fact that you know you're reading a book to work properly (the opposite approach to, say, Patrick Gale, who aims for his readers to forget they're reading a book and just get lost in the characters and story), and while Atwood's writing is very 'writerly' with lots of very dark and lavish metaphors, somehow she's absolutely mastered the craft to the point where this isn't annoying and does actually add to the book and the authentic narrative voice.

There's just so much here that's presented so excellently. A steady unwind of information with purposeful ambiguity before you know what you need to know, a pace that grows exponentially towards the ending, and an ending so deftly realised that it almost slaps you across the face with a dark brilliance.

A true work of genius from one of the best living novelists.

Content Warnings

thetatteredowl's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely blindsided me. The fictional account of an aging heiress as she recounts the events that led her sister to commit suicide shortly after the end of WW2. Dark and cruel, compelling and profoundly affecting. Enjoyed this so much more than The Handmaid's Tale - Atwood remains at her best with her piercing observations of misogyny, yet within a 20th century context, her knife-twisting is even more delicious

Content Warnings

yooniereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad 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

4.25

This book leaves a pit in your stomach in the best possible way. Atwood proved herself to be a chameleon in storytelling; the seamless shifting between mediums, the distinct voices, and the individuality of the characters- all of these made the story so visceral. I loved Iris because she was so flawed, and the conflicts she endured was so palpable.

It takes a lot for me to feel the emotions an author intends with their work (part of the reason why I didn't cry over A Little Life), but the sense of languishing, regret, nostalgia, and exhaustion felt quite real in this one. The only reason I won't be giving it five stars is because it dragged on for quite a bit. But other than that, it's the kind of novel I'll be thinking about for some time.

Content Warnings