Reviews

Atonement by Ian McEwan

scottp's review

emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

prebeartobemoosified's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

honestly most of this book i was pretty bored, but once the pov switches to briony’s nursing…god the writing is evocative, affecting, beautiful. and her

final pov, the one with her looking back as an old lady on her birthday…oh christ.
“What really happened? The answer is simple: the lovers survive and flourish. As long as there is a single copy, a solitary typescript of my final draft, then my spontaneous, fortuitous sister and her medical prince survive to love.

this book is ab the price of forgiveness and the ability to forgive, and it is about storytelling, and it is a war story and a love story, and it is about the stories we tell ourselves and the worlds we create and the near immortality of them. 

“I like to think that it isn’t weakness, or evasion, but a final act of kindness, a stand against oblivian and despair, to let my lovers live and to unite them in the end.”

aimeevictoriap's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

noahstt11's review

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

matthew_deluge's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

apple_pie_'s review against another edition

Bored!

charlottebreads's review against another edition

Finally finished it haha 🤣
This book is incredibly well-written with a very unique plot. A must read.
(Thanks Lea and Ms Law for the rec)

cazzacorf's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

For me I found it hard to empathise with the main character. But I could understand her. I wouldn’t normally have chosen this but I read a critique of the style and was intrigued by the literary ideas it put forward. It is a good story. It doesn’t have a happy ending for me and maybe even for the main character. 

emmatarswell's review

emotional sad fast-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

4.75

sohxpie's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh my goodness, what a heartbreaking yet absolutely brilliant book. Briony is such a complex character, McEwan does a fantastic job at writing a flawed character that you want to dislike but can't help but sympathise with by the end of the book. I think the second part of the story with Robbie's story and Briony's journey as a nurse is the most painful part. There's so much you want to be true and when you find out it isn't, it actually hurts a little. I think the way that the story is framed is brilliant, especially when it turns out that the whole story is part of Briony's novel, it adds that extra depth to the story that you didn't know you needed. I really enjoyed McEwan's writing throughout this book, his descriptions were almost poetic and it is clear how much research went into this story. Robbie and Briony's section in particular were so informative and descriptive, it was so immersive. It's the kind of book that you don't want to read because the subject is awful but you really enjoy reading because the writing is truly fantastic. I enjoyed reading this book more than I expected to and I am glad I read it (another win for the Top 100 book scratch off poster!).