Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

3 reviews

isabezza's review

challenging informative mysterious slow-paced

2.75

I love Margaret Atwood's writing - this book contains her signature imagination and characterisation, as well as a moral question founded in American history. However, this book requires an active brain so I found it useful to research some of the themes whilst reading (e.g. themes of money, women's roles, the great depression, war, social context.) This is a heavy book with huge twists only revealed at the end, and changes to how readers may interpret the characters. This novel takes a lot of energy to comprehend, involving multiple narratives which take a while to understand and stitch together (Laura Chase's novel, Iris' narrative in the present, and Iris' narrative in the past.) Certainly a slow read and not one I may recommend for enjoyment but I certainly learnt a lot from this novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, War, Abortion, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, and Pedophilia

sophieennis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, Grief, Death, Car accident, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Rape, War, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Medical content, Death of parent, and Abortion

alannah_m's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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? Yes

4.0

This was a fascinating book that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. Again, it is FAR too long, and suffers from a complete disinterest in pacing, but I could analyse this for hours and constantly find something new to say. Weirdly enough, my favourite sections were the fake parts of the sci-fi book 'The Blind Assassin'...maybe I just want Atwood to write pulp sci-fi book! I can dream...

Pet Theory for this Book: Alex isn't real


Also, does anyone else see the similarities to Rebecca? Just a theory I'm working on...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide