Reviews with content warning for Rape - Atonement

I understand that Briony is a fictional character, but that's not gonna stop her from being public enemy #1.
I started this book knowing basically nothing about it except that a selfish little girl ruined everyone's lives and yeah, that's right. But as anticipated, this book is critically acclaimed for a reason. It took me a while to get into-- Briony is so damn pretentious as a child, the font is tiny, and unimportant details are dragged out for quite a while-- but I can absolutely see the merit and came to love/hate it as I binged it on this fine Saturday. I don't think I'm as critical of a reader as I maybe should be, so I'm sure there's all manner of analysis I should be doing, but I am simply a vibes reader.
I recommend, but be in the right headspace and know that this book probably won't give you an ounce of joy.

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_vicreads's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed this book even though I’ve seen some super valid criticism when reading reviews after finishing. I enjoyed the slow pace of the start of the novel and the going through a single day - it was a day that changed all of their lives and the deep detail made sense and I also thought the writing was very evocative! I had no idea of the plot going in but I knew something bad was going to happen so I was on edge waiting to see what it would be.

Despite being called atonement, I’m not sure if any atoning was done. I think my biggest flag is the victim blaming following the rape and definitely a TW for rape and violence / gorey injuries.

In a way it was like reading two different books - one set on the first day and one set over a longer period of time during WWII and I don’t think I connected the characters together that well. But overall I really liked it and thought Briony and the look into upper class life in the pre war years were really interesting

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