meanieheadbookreviews 's review for:

Atonement by Ian McEwan

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This movie blew my mind when I was in college. The book was just as great. Book #26 on the NYT Top 100 list. This one wasn’t documented as banned, but it has been challenged (which is a request for removal). I love this book. I love these characters. They are so fleshed out and real, and they grapple with deep and complicated character flaws. Briony is such a loathsome little shit, but the author makes you identify with her too. I love it when they do that to the reader; it forces you to confront the same loathsome things inside of yourself. How exhilarating. We are more than the worst thing we’ve ever done. And the yearning! Top tier yearning. If you like literary fiction and WWII era stories and irreparable heartbreak, read this. So good!