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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
fast-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Full review to come after I've read Oryx and Crake, since I've decided to read these out of order. Not sure I'm a fan of the story yet, but I did end up quite liking the characters and the world of this series. Plus, Atwood's writing is just so masterful that reading some lines often feels like a punch to the throat.
Now this is how you write a sequel! I usually hate sequels because the second book is usually too much of a repeat of the first. This was a look at a completely different group of people. Once again I’m am in awe of Atwood’s creativity. I loved the stories of Toby and Ren. The tie in to the first book is great also. Personally the most tedious part for me were the sermons. I get they tie the story together but I found them a little redundant.
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Abandoning this at about the midway point.
I don't know what I wanted out of this sequel, but it wasn't this. It reminds me of shows like Lost, in very specific ways. Lost was (in)famous for its constant flashbacks. It's something that became pretty tedious and a real narrative problem as the series went on, since they seemed so married to their decision to make half of every episode happen in the past. Or, maybe a better example: we abandoned the TV adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale during its second season because it just kept giving us more and more flashbacks to the point that I felt they didn't actually have a story to tell anymore. Or The Gentlemen Bastards Series, which has spent about as much time on the characters' childhoods as it has on their present adventures.
What I'm trying to say is that this novel is tied to the same structure as Oryx and Crake. That being, a constant diving back into the past, into childhood, with only a few moments here and there in the present. While I think this worked well enough in Oryx and Crake, by the second book I'm no longer that interested in the backstory of the world that was already meticulously established in the first volume. Like, is this a world that needs to be more fleshed out to be understood?
I would say it very much does not need additional fleshing out. And so I found the book to be somewhat tedious. The cult is interesting and pleasant enough, but I'm just not interested in a retelling of the first novel from someone else's perspective. And, honestly, if that's all you have to offer...
So, yes, pretty disappointed here. I had high hopes for this trilogy.
I don't know what I wanted out of this sequel, but it wasn't this. It reminds me of shows like Lost, in very specific ways. Lost was (in)famous for its constant flashbacks. It's something that became pretty tedious and a real narrative problem as the series went on, since they seemed so married to their decision to make half of every episode happen in the past. Or, maybe a better example: we abandoned the TV adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale during its second season because it just kept giving us more and more flashbacks to the point that I felt they didn't actually have a story to tell anymore. Or The Gentlemen Bastards Series, which has spent about as much time on the characters' childhoods as it has on their present adventures.
What I'm trying to say is that this novel is tied to the same structure as Oryx and Crake. That being, a constant diving back into the past, into childhood, with only a few moments here and there in the present. While I think this worked well enough in Oryx and Crake, by the second book I'm no longer that interested in the backstory of the world that was already meticulously established in the first volume. Like, is this a world that needs to be more fleshed out to be understood?
I would say it very much does not need additional fleshing out. And so I found the book to be somewhat tedious. The cult is interesting and pleasant enough, but I'm just not interested in a retelling of the first novel from someone else's perspective. And, honestly, if that's all you have to offer...
So, yes, pretty disappointed here. I had high hopes for this trilogy.
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No