Reviews

Atonement by Ian McEwan

jomma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

an incredibly tragic love story 

rensparks's review against another edition

3.0

the movie was better and not just because of Kiera Knightly and James McAvoy, although I am literally obsessed with them.

scottp's review against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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 against another edition

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.