329 reviews for:

Lady Oracle

Margaret Atwood

3.65 AVERAGE

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

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I didn't enjoy "Lady Oracle" as much as I had enjoyed other Atwood novels that I've read. Atwood is one of my favorite writers so I still found this a worthwile read. The book is populated by smart, funny, and deep characters. The ending was a bit of a disappointment.

monkeys's review

2.0

emotional reflective slow-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

hanna_g's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

finnx2's review against another edition

3.0

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3.5/5
Torment, Identity, Gothic-Romance

“My life was a snarl, a rat’s nest of dangling threads and loose ends. I couldn’t possibly have a happy ending, but I wanted a neat one.”

Overall: Poses interesting novel-within-a-novel parallel between Joan and other versions of herself, yet suffered from unevenness and rote ended plots.

Pros:
-- Writing about other books
-- nostalgic, witty passages out of genre

Cons:
-- Progression was slow, complicated, and often bloated
-- unneeded flashbacks, repetitive attempts to bridge characterization

july_reads's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

rachhosk's review

5.0

adventurous funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

myrthekorf's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

davros4's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous funny hopeful reflective

philippakmoore's review against another edition

3.0

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I love Atwood's writing so I knew I would enjoy it, but I found it frustrating in equal measure. Perhaps I identified too closely with the heroine in her weight struggles - this idea that there is only a thin or a fat body, nothing in between. I wanted to shake Joan when she went off on one of her self loathing tangents, and then realised with horror that maybe I'm like that sometimes....is that the mark of a good author, I wonder, that they tap into dark parts of ourselves that we won't admit to?

It got very interesting towards the end with all the plot twists and suspense. The unlikeable heroine (though I identified with her) made me give this 3 stars rather than 4 however.

abe389's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny mysterious reflective 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