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Madeline's Reviews > The Heart Goes Last

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
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it was ok
bookshelves: science-fiction

This was one of those rare Atwood misfires* for me - I didn't hate it, but I definitely wouldn't rank it among my favorites.

I ended this book without any strong feelings about anything that happens, and I think that's because the story constantly felt like it was building to something much bigger, but never delivered. I wanted more development, and a better payoff, to the ideas that Atwood explores here.

The worldbuilding, as usual, is one of the best parts of Atwood speculative fiction, but unlike her other sci-fi novels, she didn't seem willing to really push her concepts to their farthest possible point. Honestly, a lot of the stuff in this book seems like it would have functioned best as subplots, or even brief mentions, in her MaddAddam trilogy.

*one of these misfires includes Alias Grace, which I think I need to revisit thanks to the Netflix version coming out soon - by all accounts, it's amazing.
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Reading Progress

Started Reading
October, 2016 – Finished Reading
October 4, 2017 – Shelved
October 4, 2017 – Shelved as: science-fiction

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Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)

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message 1: by Cynthia (new) - rated it 3 stars
Oct 05, 2017 05:34PM

Cynthia Paschen I was very frustrated by Alias Grace, will also need to revisit it at some point.


message 2: by Sara (new)
Oct 06, 2017 09:30PM

Sara Oh man, I had high hopes for this. Think I'll just borrow the library copy instead of buying it.


message 3: by Madeline (new) - rated it 2 stars
Oct 06, 2017 09:43PM

Madeline Atwood is pretty subjective for most people. Like, I couldn't stand Cat's Eye but tons of people love that one.


message 4: by Cecily (new) - rated it 2 stars
Oct 13, 2017 11:11PM

Cecily Stick to older Atwoods, imo. I disliked this, was disappointed with the third MaddAddam book, and wasn't hugely keen on Hag-Seed.


message 5: by Madeline (new) - rated it 2 stars
Oct 13, 2017 11:20PM

Madeline See, I tried to read Surfacing a few years ago and could barely get through it. I think that she's generally gotten better over time, even though there are a few mediocre books every now and then.


message 6: by Cecily (new) - rated it 2 stars
Oct 14, 2017 12:47AM

Cecily Ha: and I think she's got less good over time! We're all different.


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