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maddie_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
So I thought that this was my second time reading this book, but I realized that I had not finished it the first time in ~2014 because towards the end there was content that I found especially disturbing around sexual assault a female character gets kidnapped by two men and it's implied that she has undergone severe sexual assaults even though details are not described and one of my friends had recently been sexually assaulted so I found this part of the book too difficult to read at the time. I wrote this first just to warn that there are strong themes of sexual violence / violence against women in this book that were not present in the first and you may have to skip this one or skip specific chapters if you can't read about stuff like that right now.
That being said, I thought this book was absolutely amazing. Such a unique way to write a sequel and connect it with the first book while expanding on the world so much. I really enjoyed that the book jumped between characters POVs and jumped between time. Loved seeing how characters from this book were related to characters from the first book.
I really liked the Canadian references.
All three narrators were very good and this was the first time I'd experienced an audiobook where they made the songs actual songs which I thought was really cool.the only thing for the songs was I think it would have been better if the songs after year 25 the waterless flood wouldve had no music, just been the guy singing
That being said, I thought this book was absolutely amazing. Such a unique way to write a sequel and connect it with the first book while expanding on the world so much. I really enjoyed that the book jumped between characters POVs and jumped between time. Loved seeing how characters from this book were related to characters from the first book.
I really liked the Canadian references.
All three narrators were very good and this was the first time I'd experienced an audiobook where they made the songs actual songs which I thought was really cool.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Bullying, Gore, Sexual content, Classism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Grief, Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Death, Sexual assault, and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, Abandonment, and Physical abuse
Minor: Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Torture
allydee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Confinement, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Physical abuse, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Animal death, Drug use, Pandemic/Epidemic, Drug abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault
kendallbehr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I loved how this tied in with Oryx and Crake while also having the strength to be a standalone. I would say it's a slow burn middle filler to give you a lot of background on Oryx and Crake (they happen sort of concurrently). Atwood again with female main characters and you find out more about the Maddaddam group
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual assault
readinbythesea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
This series blows my mind in the best of ways. I loved Oryx and Crake more than this one but this made me so scared to be a woman in an apocalyptic situation. Can't wait to read the last one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Torture, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Sexual violence, and Pandemic/Epidemic
wormgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Drug use, Cancer, Child death, Blood, Classism, Death, and Domestic abuse
nabisteph's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
backyardjake's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75
Atwood has masterfully fleshed out and woven in two additional perspectives into the world of the waterless flood. Heartbreaking backstories and gut wrenching connections to the first book all end in a conclusion of dismayed happiness. Religous control, sexual domination, surrogate family and belonging, the guilt and madness of the survivor, and the unhealed scars of love. So many juicy parallels to the first book and a refeshing point of view. I may have liked the first book a tad bit more due to Jimmy's more relatable male gaze, but this is a hell of a follow up regardless of narrator.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Torture, Gore, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Murder
Minor: Abandonment, Infertility, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Bullying
victoria_mh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
I picked this up not realising it was part of a trilogy - it's not openly labelled as such, and I only twigged part way through reading it that this was a counterpart to 'Oryx and Crake' (which I have since picked up but have yet to read). So I feel I have perhaps missed some context to tie everything together.
I have read other Margaret Atwood books and enjoyed them (in a manner of speaking, because they've all been rather depressing on some level or other); the last one I read was 'The Blind Assassin', several years ago now but I remember that book just 'clicking' with me; there was just the right amount of detail and plot. With 'The Year of the Flood', however, there's almost too much plot going on, while I would have liked more detail in places. Overall, something about this book didn't quite ring true for me. I felt an odd distance from the characters, though I liked the two main characters well enough. I also struggled to get a sense of physical scale - for instance, there's a spa within some grounds that I pictured being like a small park, but at some point characters travel across these grounds and they are vast. Conversely, people seem to able to walk around a city quite quickly. I don't know how much of that was a failure on the author's part versus a failure in my reading comprehension.
The writing seemed very heavy-handed in parts; the naming of some things was silly (CorpSeCorps in particular - a Big Bad but can anyone take that name seriously?); I felt there was a level of smugness or preachiness, of 'don't be too consumerist, kids; now here is another eeeevil corporation'. And I am someone who agrees that many corporations have unethical practices and that we need to take better care of the planet - but there was little subtlety here. It didn't feel like a particularly believable depiction of the future.
The sexual violence - and there's a lot of it - made for very uncomfortable reading, but that was probably the point - and depressingly, when I think about it, it probably is one of the more believable aspects of the dystopia portrayed here. If women aren't safe in a 'stable' society, what hope do we have in one that is falling apart?
One positive is that the book held my interest most of the time, and I read it quite quickly, eager to see how things would turn out - thoughthe ending was strange and inconclusive and I hope things are tied up in 'MaddAddam' (which I plan to get hold of) . Others have mentioned not liking the hymns or sermons interspersed between the main action, and to an extent I agree; they could feel dull and forced when I just wanted to see what would happen next. On the other hand, there was something quite comforting about them in a book that is otherwise full of awful depressing things. Overall I thing they were a positive addition.
I have read other Margaret Atwood books and enjoyed them (in a manner of speaking, because they've all been rather depressing on some level or other); the last one I read was 'The Blind Assassin', several years ago now but I remember that book just 'clicking' with me; there was just the right amount of detail and plot. With 'The Year of the Flood', however, there's almost too much plot going on, while I would have liked more detail in places. Overall, something about this book didn't quite ring true for me. I felt an odd distance from the characters, though I liked the two main characters well enough. I also struggled to get a sense of physical scale - for instance, there's a spa within some grounds that I pictured being like a small park, but at some point characters travel across these grounds and they are vast. Conversely, people seem to able to walk around a city quite quickly. I don't know how much of that was a failure on the author's part versus a failure in my reading comprehension.
The writing seemed very heavy-handed in parts; the naming of some things was silly (CorpSeCorps in particular - a Big Bad but can anyone take that name seriously?); I felt there was a level of smugness or preachiness, of 'don't be too consumerist, kids; now here is another eeeevil corporation'. And I am someone who agrees that many corporations have unethical practices and that we need to take better care of the planet - but there was little subtlety here. It didn't feel like a particularly believable depiction of the future.
The sexual violence - and there's a lot of it - made for very uncomfortable reading, but that was probably the point - and depressingly, when I think about it, it probably is one of the more believable aspects of the dystopia portrayed here. If women aren't safe in a 'stable' society, what hope do we have in one that is falling apart?
One positive is that the book held my interest most of the time, and I read it quite quickly, eager to see how things would turn out - though
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault
cmkauth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
sr_marshrat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If Oryx & Crake is a high-budget HBO limited series, The Year of The Flood is a CW young-adult ensemble drama. Where the relationships in O&C are complex and nuanced, those in Flood are barely 2-dimensional. Atwood was so careful, bringing to life the world inside the Compounds. The world outside, as featured in Flood, is cardboard by comparison. But, y'know, what? You don't always need high definition and literary loftiness to tell an entertaining story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault