What a great ending to the trilogy. It wasn’t exactly what I expected and it definitely left me wanting more, but overall I think it was a great book. If I hadn’t read these books back-to-back with this book’s release I can definitely see how I could have been disappointed in this denouement, but as I didn’t have to wait for the next books in the series I thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
Although I enjoyed The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam neither were as great as Oryx and Crake. I’m not sure if it’s the change in writing style, which was minimal or if the last two in the trilogy didn’t have the wonderment of discovering a new old world, but they just didn’t quite live up to the first book. All three made me feel emotions and were beautifully written, so I would definitely recommend them!
This book picks up where The Year of the Flood leaves off and seemed to cover a much shorter period than the previous two books, action wise. What I found great about this book was that Toby continued to narrate the book and it was a completely different interaction with the Crakers than that which Snowman-the-Jimmy had with the Crakers in the first novel.
Atwood, with this final novel, creates the creation myths for the future societies of earth, or of at least the location of where this story takes place. As the book progresses the revelations of who is writing and who now tells the stories to the Crakers clarifies. As with all creation/origin myths, the necessary evil exists and the martyrs also exist. Atwood created a series of events and settings which allowed for an amazingly descriptive and potentially plausible creation/origin story that requires little expansion and is basic enough anyone can understand.
As for this being the end of the trilogy, I found it a little lackluster. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but compared to the first two novels this one just left me empty inside. I wasn’t empty from having all of my emotions ripped out of me, I was more empty from the slight let down of the final novel in this series. Atwood definitely tied up all the loose ends, but I honestly felt she could’ve written a much more powerful ending book (and this is coming from someone who cried twice while reading it).
Recommendation: I DEFINITELY recommend this trilogy. All three books have amazing facets which add to this believable world in the near potential future. Oryx and Crake deserved its multiple nominations (including a Booker nomination) and Atwood once again created a story you can’t put down.
Opening Line: “In the beginning, you lived inside the egg.”
Closing Line: “Now we will sing.” (Whited out.)
I didn’t read this review, I just skimmed it. I will have to come back when I’ve read the book. 🙂
I don’t think I had any spoilers, but probably for the best!