Reviews with content warning for Trafficking - Oryx and Crake

It's interesting but not exactly a story with plot. The book is practically stuck in exposition and it ends after the world was fully explained. The book is really about: "What happened to Oryx and Crake (and the world)?" then we go flashbacks bonanza as Snowman take a short trip (the "a journey, with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake" is not that grand and the Children is not really helping)

It's interesting though! All characters have shit personality (nicely written, don't expect that character development) and I like Atwood's prose (of course). The protag, Snowman, is a good, storytelling narrator (a bit stupid sometimes)

Overall, I like it! Not really bought into the fucking hacking segment (it's pretty stupid) and there's not much intriguing ideas to ponder after reading the book (I find some of them too ridiculous). I liked this book due to how Atwood beautifully presented it, not the ideas themselves. Solid mystery book!

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jcqscottclifford's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-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? No

3.75

In Oryx and Crake, Atwood presents an intriguing and broken world whose roots you slowly discover as its principal character recounts his personal history. There are many clever links readers will quickly pick up on, and her prose is well thought out. The fall of Oryx and Crake's world is different than other dystopias and

its discussion of bioethics, animal gene splicing, and human gene splicing

ring true even 20 years later.

However, her characters can become boring and a slog, especially when they explicitly wax about the morals the book presents. The most difficult part is

hearing about Jimmy's past, especially his difficulty with women, when I really wanted to see more of the present self wgise.

, but the end retroactively makes those parts more bearable and lets the reader feel like it wasn't worthless. Additionally, the creativity of

the Crakers and the gene spliced animals are a delight to behold, and they are present all throughout the book

It isn't a "fun" book, but it is thought provoking and engaging. Ultimately, I finished the book and am curious how the series plays out.

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aislinn_mcd_harrison's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

3.5

This was an intriguing book, deeply disturbing in parts. I think some of the explorations here were quite Surface level and I found it a very slow burn. My least favourite Atwood but I would consider reading the sequels.

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greenglass67's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is easily one of my favorites. It’s such a unique story. Snowman’s journey and his reflections upon his life as Jimmy are deeply human. He exhibits so much passion for some things and so much apathy for others. The range of his experiences and emotions is wild, but it all works together cohesively. The world Margaret Atwood creates is a very chilling commentary on technology and science, and she pushes us to question how far advanced we can get without it being too far. The ending is remarkable. There are little hints and clues laced throughout the entire book that you don’t realize until the ending ties them all together, all the pieces fit into place, and it all suddenly makes sense. It answers all the questions you have, and leaves you asking several questions more. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

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glendagrbac's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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allthingsnerdy's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Since i just reviewed a Becky Chambers book, it's easy to start comparing this book and Margaret Atwood's work to it. Margaret Atwood's view of humanity and the future is much bleaker and at times hard to read. But a lot of times I think it veered towards being edgy for edginess-sake, rather than just trying to present hard truths. I also prefer books that have at least a piece of hope, because it feels like then the book is just showing you the a problem without attempting any sort of solution, which feels lazy. But it feels like for this book, Atwood, is trying to show why certain solutions to a large problem won't work, which is fine and I think has value, but I guess is just not my thing. A book that I think does something similar and that I prefer is Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.

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