2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss the Margaret Atwood book, The Blind Assassin.

Pages: 637 pages

Length: 1 month

Participants: Ariel, Beverly, Ilona, Kadijah Michelle, Regina

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Hi, all! Is it too late to join in on this one?

It's not, the more, the merrier :)

I would like to join this one too!

Ariel and Beverly, you are added.

Alright, I started the book, and I will be honest, I am finding it confusing. Maybe it's supposed to be at the beginning, but I'm finding myself having to go back and look up characters. That doesn't mean I don't like it...it just means that I feel like a lot was thrown at me in the first 50 pages.

The beginning is a bit confusing, but keep reading. Atwood unfolds the whole story little by little. I am about 2/3 done and I can’t wait to see how the rest turns out. This book is definitely going to be on my “best of” list for 2019.

I am finally starting today :)

It's taking me a while to get through because my eyes are worn out from school reading most days, so I'm only halfway through, but you are right that it really picks up.

I've just started on this and have found the beginning fairly confusing as well, Kadijah. Glad to hear that it picks up!

I'm about halfway through atm. Still a bit thrown by the style but it's easier to get into now. I don't know much about Canada in this time period so it's been interesting to look up places mentioned or other small details and see Atwood's attention to detail.

How did you all like the book? If you're still reading, how are you liking it so far?

I have to admit, I ended up liking how the style came together and feel that it fit where the story was going as well as who the narrator is. I did take a brief break to read something else at the halfway mark, though. It was a heavy read already & reading something simpler was a good change of pace concerning the style imo.

Did have to keep reminding myself of the time period bc I found Iris to be quite maddening at parts.

Tried to avoid reading any reviews of this before starting but some of the ones that slipped by often mentioned that there was a fairytale quality to the book. What did y'all think?

I haven't been able to read much, but I'll continue this book during February. I think I am around 70 pages in and find it very slow. It also doesn't help that I am currently checking student reports all day at work, so my eyes are tired in the evenings.
Hopefully I can get some more reading done next week, as I am curious to see how the story continues.

I finally finished this book, and loved it!
The beginning was a bit slow, but once I was halfway in, I couldn't stop reading.