A review by uhhjeepers
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was incredibly mid for me. I truly believe if Atwood just wrote about the past in this novel, I would've liked it substantially better, even if I found essentially every character to be the most hatable person ever. The story itself had a lot of promise and, I will admit, was interesting once I completed the book. But I prefer a read that, even if it isn't perfect throughout, I can still care for it while I'm reading it. This was not that read for me. I think someone else could surely read this and feel everything I was missing. It's not that it was a bad novel, but I think some aspects were handled poorly and were rather gratuitous.
i.e. Oryx as an entire character that was sex trafficked but held absolutely no resentment whatsoever??? (I know there could be nuance there but if she was trying, Atwood missed the mark for me). Also, the blatant misogyny which I get was supposed to be unlikable in Crake but was perhaps supposed to be redeemable in Jimmy/Snowman??? Just really, really missed the mark. Ugh.
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