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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

L'assassino cieco by Margaret Atwood

9 reviews

fieval_loves_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A story within a story!  The narrator provides a captivating and sardonic perspective on growing old that is matter of fact.  You’re left piercing the story of the narrators life together and and wanting more until the very end.  Partly a historical drama, with science fiction story within. A few plots twists but overall enjoyable to read 
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zara89's review against another edition

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

4.0

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thejellybeany's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Blind Assassin is a story about Iris Chase, a woman haunted by her past, who, in the final years of her life, decides to at last lay it all to paper, and therefore hopefully to rest; if not for her sake, then for that of her last remaining kin, her granddaughter Sabrina. 

The book consists of parts alternating between her retelling of her family history, upbringing, and married life, and chapters of 'The Blind Assassin', a beautiful and moving novel of love and longing between a married woman and a communist rebel on the run, and one with a huge cult following, written by Iris' late younger sister, Laura, who drove off a bridge to her death before it was even published. To say much more about the plot would not truly do it justice, but it is ultimately a story of two sisters, and the deep regret Iris feels around not having looked out for Laura, as she had long ago promised her mother and father she would. 

With intelligent writing and eloquent prose, we learn about this woman who is finally claiming the narrative of her life for her own, unfortunately knowing all too well that it has come 60 years too late for all of the characters in it. Similar in many ways to the novel that appears alongside it, Iris' is a story of love, loss, and longing, and a reminder that the ghosts of the dead are powerful, but we must be more so. 
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milele23's review against another edition

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

0.25

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afternoondreamer's review against another edition

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

4.75

Wow. What a fantastic book. I loved traveling through the life of the characters and how you get to know what happened in the past. I felt a lot of things while reading. Despite the book being slow paced, I really enjoyed the read.
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benjaminj1996's review against another edition

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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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yooniereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

This book leaves a pit in your stomach in the best possible way. Atwood proved herself to be a chameleon in storytelling; the seamless shifting between mediums, the distinct voices, and the individuality of the characters- all of these made the story so visceral. I loved Iris because she was so flawed, and the conflicts she endured was so palpable. 

It takes a lot for me to feel the emotions an author intends with their work (part of the reason why I didn't cry over A Little Life), but the sense of languishing, regret, nostalgia, and exhaustion felt quite real in this one. The only reason I won't be giving it five stars is because it dragged on for quite a bit. But other than that, it's the kind of novel I'll be thinking about for some time.
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orlagal's review against another edition

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

4.0

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readerette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I debated what to say in my review of this book. It's an intriguing set of literary devices, to be sure--stories within stories within stories, nonstandard narrator approach, nonlinear flow, interweaving "news articles" into a narrated plot. It takes quite a writer to ensure that those devices don't become cacophonous, and I think Atwood succeeds in that regard.

It's not a happy tale, which has been my experience with Atwood's other works. There is a great deal of depth in each character, and many different ways that depth is achieved. The level of unhappiness feels true to life--believable, if a bit fatiguing as a reader. There are laugh-out-loud funny moments mixed in with commentary on the meaning of life and wisdom of the choices we make. No character is perfect or overly trope-y. 

The pacing was too slow for my taste, and there was too much content that didn't feel like it added anything except length. I believe others might see that as the way the narrator thinks or different characters engage in the world of the narrator, but for me, the excess was just dull.

Overall, I do recommend for anyone who enjoys historical fiction, slow burn mysteries, or reflective characters.
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