Reviews

Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood

alicebme's review

4.0

No one is exempt. This book hurt.

ja_aska's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

thereadingmum's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

4.5

I'm utterly flummoxed how I expected this to turn out less dire than it did. After all, the bulk of her work is pretty grim. 

That said, Atwood did not disappoint. Her writing is flawless and makes me green. This almost novella follows cancer survivor Rennie as she escapes two failed relationships for an assignment in an unnamed Caribbean island nation where instead of writing the travel piece she was meant to, she gets embroiled in the island's political upheavals. 

On the surface, there doesn't seem very much to the story and nothing notable happens for most of it. However, with the glimpses into Rennie's past, we see how her actions and the events that happen to her stem from it. The ending, while seemingly grim and unresolved, is brilliantly contrived leaving me with a sense that it ties in beautifully with Rennie's state of mind. Did she engineer her own self-destruction? Or was she simply a victim of circumstances?

So much meat in such a small dish. Par the course for one of my favourite authors.

lazwright's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

celtic_oracle's review against another edition

2.0

I did like this better than the Edible Woman — at least I found most of the characters more palatable (heh). Still only an ok story from my perspective, though — mostly because I found the subject matter towards the end difficult to deal with.

mackinnonanna's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.0

imogenclendinning's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

2.5

slascano's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

mushiiiiiiii's review against another edition

no plot just white woman whining in the Caribbean. not even fun whining. if anything it was vaguely racist whining. booooooo

gommette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Histoire assez originale dans la mesure où deux grands thèmes finissent par se rejoindre dans l'intrigue, sans que ce soit confus. Avec le recul, le début est peut-être un peu long. En prenant en compte la date de parution du livre, le roman est une vraie fiction féministe. Il joue parfois sur des clichés dans la littérature et s'en emparé assez adroitement mais pas assez pour être original.