Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

50 reviews

earthtomanda's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny

• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? 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: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

suzylit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Pandemic/Epidemic

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book gives me a weird sense of nostalgia, I read it for the first time at 17/18 and it was my first foray into speculative fiction. 

I think it's the perfect combo of speculative fiction, interesting writing, characterization, intriguing plot, and weirdness.

The only bad thing about this book is that you can never get the first reading experience back once you know what happened to the world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Rape, Excrement, Alcohol, and War

Child sexual abuse/ trafficking

camiboha's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Blood, Trafficking, and Murder

swamp_gass's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A unique and terrifying future seen through the eyes of just some average guy. Jimmy is your average dude who had friends do impressive things. By being on the fringes of greatness he manages to survive a mass extinction. The story is fun and dark in all the right ways, told in a way that keeps you glued to the pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

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

allie_fawn's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Why is there no trigger warning for child pornography and child sexual abuse??? Absolutely despicable. There are details of little children being forced to do child pornography. A ton of scenes of young boys watching animal cruelty and porn. I do not know how books like this are legal, I truly don't. Shameful.

raru's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cueba's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

mievdk's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

The first time I started reading Oryx and Crake, I stopped before finishing the first chapter it was a bit too strange. Later I gave it another go, because of my love for Atwood's style, themes and characters. I am so glad I gave it another try. 

The way the plot is structured is, in my opinion, perfect. The novel maintains a well-considered balance  between giving enough information to inspire questions and keep you intrigued, but not too much to lose suspense. 

Once I settled into the story I found it incredibly compelling. The plot is fascinating, especially during these times of rapid technological progress. I would say the novel is 50-50 plot and character driven.

Alhough the protagonist is odd and unreliable, I did empathize with him and found him funny. While definitely unorthodox, at the same time he felt really real and remained complex.  

In sum, Oryx and Crake is another example of exquisite writing by Atwood.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Gun violence and Suicidal thoughts