I adore this book.
The characters are fully realized, even the minor ones. They're vivid, fresh and tangible, as if I had just met them myself. Vera is smart, independent, funny and a bit ruthless. Which I like. Her father, ironically, the perfect narrator for her, and their, story.
It's always moving forward, even if it doesn't seem like it. Everything has a place, every moment a reason and a time, without bogging down or taking away. There's clues, subtle yet plain to see and clear as day once you get to the end. At least for me, however I don't have much experience with the issues the book deals with, so others may have the upper hand. But I was fooled and was, and still am, delighted by that trick. Well done madam.
It's a beautiful book that was made with love, and I love it.
Got almost halfway through and quit, stopped just at chapter 7. This is my first Margaret Atwood book and I did enjoy her writing, just not the story. I grew bored and ended up skimming in the end, even when I came across Jocelyns' plan. I just didn't care.
Admittedly, it is a bit my fault. The whole idea of Positron/Consilience and this apocalypse-esque landscape drew me in and I was just so gosh darn excited to swan dive in. So excited, in fact, that I hadn't read the summary in the book cover far enough to see that it's about infidelity.
See, I don't particularly enjoy stories about philandering spouses all that much, even when a unnecessarily convoluted plan by a character in the novel and the novel itself hinges on it. Which I give hearty kudos to Ms. Atwood. I can and do admire that piece of artistic craft even though I did not like nor enjoy it.
I feel as though I've been ambushed. My trust fall turned into a twenty car pile up on the interstate during rush hour due to my own willful ignorance. Go me. Lesson learned: don't text and drive.
While it did affect my experience with the book to a degree, I can't say for sure whether I would've finished it even if I was wise enough to read the summary in its entirety. I was disappointed when I realized the more sci-fi elements, the elements that drew me in, we're regulated to window dressings a.k.a white noise a.k.a. stock background for a family portrait a.k.a. you get my meaning. At least to where I stopped.
It's not a terrible book. It's lovely writing. I found the world interesting and the characters had a solid level of substance and believability to them, even though I didn't care for them. Hence the three stars.
It's just not my cup of tea. But I hope others have better luck.
