Reviews tagging 'Death'

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

5 reviews

batfling's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Death, Animal death, and Abortion

Moderate: Infidelity and Medical trauma

augie_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

anni_o's review

reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

Starts off rather slow, but very interesting.

after a while it turns out the narrator is very unreliable, which in itself is fun, but it all derails real fast into very #weird territory instead of the thriller I was promised...</spoilers>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Abortion, Terminal illness, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Animal cruelty

grunbean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

It’s a quick and interesting read, but I can’t say it kept me engaged all too well. Perhaps it’s a book made to be analysed, but some of the prose makes it hard to stay with it. It’s like the book is too smart in a way? 

I didn’t see where the story was going, and I really enjoyed the later second and third parts. There’s just something about it that makes it a sort of jarring read, and sad my first Atwood book I’m hoping her voice comes through in future reads. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Animal death

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, War, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Death of parent

julesmae's review

challenging mysterious fast-paced

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

1.75

I pushed through to the end of this in part because I trust Atwood and in part because it was the only book I brought to work with me... I wanted to get into it, I kept thinking I would, but the stream-of-consciousness narration was nearly impossible the follow, and while I get the sense the characters, especially the narrator, were not meant to seem realistic or even human, they were so cold and unreal I could neither believe nor really care what was happening. As always Atwood's prose is gritty and beautiful at once, but beyond that the twisted and unresolved plot did next to nothing for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual violence, and Abortion