A review by benjaminj1996
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

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

5.0

 In a word - masterpiece. In some longer sentences: 
 
This is a LONG book with lots to it, and it took me a long time to read. It wasn't always easy to read, even enjoyable, or easy to understand, but it was somehow always really engrossing and exceptional. 
 
I don't want to spoil anything about the plot, because you just have to experience it, but there are stories within stories, layers upon layers, and Atwood masterfully controls a tangle of threads, plotting secrets and reveals in such an ingenious way. The book itself relies on the ambiguity of objective truth both in its plot and construction, meaning it's cohesive in its complexities. I did guess something that I was perhaps not supposed to know quite early on, but there was plenty more to it, and on reflection I wonder if this was actually by design of the author anyway. 
 
This is clearly a literary (but very readable) book - it relies on the fact that you know you're reading a book to work properly (the opposite approach to, say, Patrick Gale, who aims for his readers to forget they're reading a book and just get lost in the characters and story), and while Atwood's writing is very 'writerly' with lots of very dark and lavish metaphors, somehow she's absolutely mastered the craft to the point where this isn't annoying and does actually add to the book and the authentic narrative voice. 
 
There's just so much here that's presented so excellently. A steady unwind of information with purposeful ambiguity before you know what you need to know, a pace that grows exponentially towards the ending, and an ending so deftly realised that it almost slaps you across the face with a dark brilliance. 
 
A true work of genius from one of the best living novelists. 
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