Reviews with content warning for Violence - Oryx and Crake

Wow. My first full-length Atwood novel, and I am amazed at just how many aspects of humanity she is able to capture. While the plot should seem fantastical, she stays firmly in the plausible and (perhaps) the likely. Many scenes are incredibly graphic though, so tread lightly if that’s a concern — Going through the content warnings, it was hard to find something that wasn’t at least mentioned in this book.

I did struggle with how prominent discussion of sexual abuse towards children was. It was incredibly disturbing. I am still grappling with why that was a necessary inclusion — though it is Atwood, and I’m sure it was not done without some thought. Also, Jimmy can fight me.

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maddie_can_read's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book gives me a weird sense of nostalgia, I read it for the first time at 17/18 and it was my first foray into speculative fiction.

I think it's the perfect combo of speculative fiction, interesting writing, characterization, intriguing plot, and weirdness.

The only bad thing about this book is that you can never get the first reading experience back once you know what happened to the world.

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vetrina's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

What a great book! I absolutely loved the writing style and how Atwood switched between past and present timelines seamlessly. The world-building and plot is amazing, very dark, and shocking. It's a great critique of capitalism, eugenics/genetic engineering, technology, the pharmaceutical industry, classism, and climate change. And it's a great exploration of human nature in general too. Very excited to read the next book (The Year of the Flood).

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erinishuman's review

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adventurous dark mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.75

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ac_rva's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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jcqscottclifford's review

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

In Oryx and Crake, Atwood presents an intriguing and broken world whose roots you slowly discover as its principal character recounts his personal history. There are many clever links readers will quickly pick up on, and her prose is well thought out. The fall of Oryx and Crake's world is different than other dystopias and

its discussion of bioethics, animal gene splicing, and human gene splicing

ring true even 20 years later.

However, her characters can become boring and a slog, especially when they explicitly wax about the morals the book presents. The most difficult part is

hearing about Jimmy's past, especially his difficulty with women, when I really wanted to see more of the present self wgise.

, but the end retroactively makes those parts more bearable and lets the reader feel like it wasn't worthless. Additionally, the creativity of

the Crakers and the gene spliced animals are a delight to behold, and they are present all throughout the book

It isn't a "fun" book, but it is thought provoking and engaging. Ultimately, I finished the book and am curious how the series plays out.

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greenglass67's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is easily one of my favorites. It’s such a unique story. Snowman’s journey and his reflections upon his life as Jimmy are deeply human. He exhibits so much passion for some things and so much apathy for others. The range of his experiences and emotions is wild, but it all works together cohesively. The world Margaret Atwood creates is a very chilling commentary on technology and science, and she pushes us to question how far advanced we can get without it being too far. The ending is remarkable. There are little hints and clues laced throughout the entire book that you don’t realize until the ending ties them all together, all the pieces fit into place, and it all suddenly makes sense. It answers all the questions you have, and leaves you asking several questions more. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

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