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deegee24's review
4.0
Three and a half stars. A little muddled toward the end, but still fascinating. This is a young author providing a snapshot of hippie/back to the land culture the early 1970s.
uhtootired's review
reflective
3.5
the writing is pretty smooth, it was probs the saving grace that drew me into finishing the book. lowkey was mad invested, I wanted to know how shi was about to go down. defo gotta do research to understand the imagery/message of the book tho.... initially I thought it was the protagonist refusing to adopt or partake in patriarchal influences but I missed the reclamation of identity mark once she willfully decided to get pregnant- threw me off a loop. good read but nearing towards the end, i was a bit lost ngl..... the anticlimactic ending didn't help a girlie out either T^T
talina's review against another edition
reflective
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
2.75
Felt a little overcooked at times
delagoldwein's review against another edition
3.0
This started as a perfectly entertaining story and got super strange toward the end. Not sure if it was supposed to be metaphorical or some sort of tribal thing but I got lost.
terrypaulpearce's review against another edition
3.0
This book has bold - especially for 1972 - political opinions and opinions on gender, on nature, and there is sumptuous prose, great imagination and keen insight into relationships and humanity. But for me it's a book more of potential than achievement, a book written by somebody who could -
and did - become the woman who wrote genius such as Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, not the woman who was yet the finished article. For me it's too dense with beautiful prose at the expense of clarity, and needlessly obscure in places; I was unsure what was happening often. I spent the first part of the book wishing more would happen and the last wishing that less would, or that it would happen more slowly and clearly. Nevertheless, it's an interesting insight into where she came from and the skills and concerns that would one day give us The Handmaid's Tale.
and did - become the woman who wrote genius such as Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin, not the woman who was yet the finished article. For me it's too dense with beautiful prose at the expense of clarity, and needlessly obscure in places; I was unsure what was happening often. I spent the first part of the book wishing more would happen and the last wishing that less would, or that it would happen more slowly and clearly. Nevertheless, it's an interesting insight into where she came from and the skills and concerns that would one day give us The Handmaid's Tale.
pooxs's review against another edition
3.0
Engaging enough, but I had no idea what was going on in the second half…
alexlaurelhoffman's review
2.0
Some parts of this book were very thought-provoking and philosophical but, all in all, I did not enjoy it. First of all, I did not like the main character and could not identify with her at all... I know that sometimes you don't need to identify with the main character but the plot was not gripping and all the characters seemed pretty unlikeable. I waded through this book; I persevered it. Now I am surfacing after finalizing it. I can see why people would say that Atwood has a good writing style but this book just didn't grab me.
ermamac's review against another edition
4.0
Strange book... not unenjoyable just really, really strange.