A review by jenny_hedberg
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

4.0

Oh, this was really good. The style of writing is similar to Oryx & Crake: there are two POVs that Atwood alternatives between and she plays around with non-linear storytelling. What's new is Adam One's "sermons" that are written out and accompanied by the hymns sung in the end of each sermon. I've got to say these didn't always catch my fancy, I found that they disrupted the flow of the story even though they did provide insight to the Gardener philosophy and religion. Speaking of which, the Gardeners give the reader another perspective on the environmental debate that was introduced in Oryx & Crake. I thought it was interesting to see how they meshed together traditional Christian (and I assume Abrahamic) faith and belief with a scientific perspective and belief, trying to reconcile the holes and problems that science finds in the religion(s), but it was interesting that Atwood decided to make a U-turn on religion's significance if one considers Crake's belief that religion is useless.

Other interesting themes: sex (sexual liberation/experimentation, relationships etc); female friendship and companionship; identity; following rules prescribed by a faith; conflict between morals and survival.