Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

9 reviews

earthtomanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Wow. My first full-length Atwood novel, and I am amazed at just how many aspects of humanity she is able to capture. While the plot should seem fantastical, she stays firmly in the plausible and (perhaps) the likely. Many scenes are incredibly graphic though, so tread lightly if that’s a concern — Going through the content warnings, it was hard to find something that wasn’t at least mentioned in this book.

I did struggle with how prominent discussion of sexual abuse towards children was. It was incredibly disturbing. I am still grappling with why that was a necessary inclusion — though it is Atwood, and I’m sure it was not done without some thought. Also, Jimmy can fight me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexism, Slavery, Trafficking, Misogyny, Blood, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Murder, Sexism, and Suicide

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Maggie A youre such a slay
What an icon
This is quite fucked and and quite fucking wonderful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Rape, Grief, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Classism, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Abandonment

jcqscottclifford's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Trafficking, and War

Even the world of flashbacks in this book is messy and cruel. There is the mention of child porn but without any description of rape/sexual interaction.

greenglass67's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Trafficking, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Drug use, and Murder

cait's review against another edition

challenging mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Ableism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Body shaming, Confinement, Sexual content, Slavery, Gore, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Violence, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death, Kidnapping, and Vomit

carrionkid's review against another edition

3.5

Really kind of mid and featuring an unnecessary amount of discussing child porn but the ending got to me bro...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, and Violence

sophieennis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, and Violence

kerttuli's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Death, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Genocide, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Gore

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Body horror, Medical content, and Homophobia

nataliebeech's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

2.5

The concept and world behind this book is so interesting, but I found it strange that Atwood decided to tell the story through the eyes of a basically misogynistic (and potentially a pedophile? - feel like this was brushed over) white man. Why? It felt almost like an exercise in writing an unlikeable character which felt a bit thin as a reason. The events that unfold also felt a little out of line with Crake’s personality and intelligence. However, the ideas that it presents are stunningly relevant now despite being written 20 years ago, it almost felt too close to home. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Body horror and War