This book is perfect.
If your looking for a critical non-biased review this isn't the place because I haven't read a book by Margaret Atwood that I haven't loved.

This is a dual perspective novel and the sequel to Oryx y Crake featuring many of the same characters as the original. I loved both perspectives equally, and the transitions between the narratives blended perfectly. You get to see Ren grow up and Tody grow old and how the apocalypse went down on ground level.
You could read this book without reading the first book in the series. Reading them in order will give you a better insight into the characters of Jimmy, Glenn and many others but I think that this book does a better job of making them fleshed out.
It felt slightly convoluted that all the characters were connected in such intimate ways but I dont feel like it took away from the book overall. It manages to cover such a long period of time in what feels like no time at all.
Honestly, I can't think about what I want to say about this book other than just read it.

Ms Atwood's "The Year of the Flood" parallels the events in "Oryx & Crate" from the perspective of a few members of 'Gods's Gardners'.  As one would expect, a few of them also have connections to Crate and Jimmy (Snowman).

I enjoyed this book more than Oryx & Grate as it takes place in 'Pleebland' and feels much more open and dangerous than the 'Corporate Compounds' where Oryx & Crate primarily took place.

"But hatred and viciousness are addictive. You can get high on them. Once you've had a little, you start shaking if you don't get more."

When Oryx & Crake was first published, I could not put it down. It was my first Atwood, none of my friends knew about her (I was still at uni at the time) and people thought I was on the crazy train when it didn't win the Booker.

Strangely, my impressions of Oryx & Crake kept me from reading the other two books in the trilogy as soon as they were published, and I only managed to remedy this over the past couple of months.

I kinda wish I hadn't. Not that Year of the Flood and MaddAddam were bad books - the writing was exquisite - but they did not hold the same punch as O&C which is basically "Snowman, the Jimmy"s story.

Being Snowman, the story is slightly mad and told by a madman. I never really knew whether to believe him or not, and that made reading quite fantastic.

Year of the Flood is basically the companion piece told from the view of Toby, a tough but sane, survivor of the Flood. While Toby's story and the of her fellow survivors is interesting, it merely adds to the existing world that Atwood created in O&C.

MaddAddam stretched this even further. Unfortunately, by this time, I had learned about all I wanted to know about the Flood and the aftermath and the Crakers.

By the end, I was only wondering why we needed book 3 at all? I wish she had rolled books 2 and 3 in one.

I meant to get to this much sooner since I finished Oryx and Crake back in June.

I think of this book more as a companion than a sequel to Oryx and Crake . This book takes place at the same time and also utilizes flashbacks but this book has two points of view. The story is told from Ren and Toby's perspective, two women from the God's Gardener movement that is briefly mentioned in Oryx and Crake. God's Gardeners are a religious group so this book is heavy on their religion but it's so interesting. The story while less depressing than Oryx and Crake is still depressing, but still so good. Atwood does dystopian and speculative fiction so well.

One small gripe which falls into spoiler territory.

Audiobook note: This book has God's Gardeners hymns in it and they are fully arranged with music and singing and it's so wonderful it was amazing.

So, a few weeks ago A Throne of Books started this awesome recommendation meme that's getting lots of buzz on Booklikes. I can't resist a good book meme on a Sunday afternoon, so I'm going to go for it! (I'm also going to start following A Throne of Books because I love her enthusiasm!)

1. Favorite books in all categories: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

2. Start to a series: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
3. By an author who's written over 5 books total: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
4. Classic Literature: Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
5. Banned Books: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
6. Featuring an assassin: Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers
7. In a world with Dragons: Ariel by Steven Boyett
8. Male Main Character: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
9. Female Main Character: The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
10. Retelling of another story: Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
11. Book with a Gorgeous Cover: The Scent of God by Beryl Singleton Bissell
12. Debut book of any author: Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
13. Fantasy in general: The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Baker
14. Finale for a series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
15. Graphic Novel: Ghost World by Daniel Clowes
16. That you paid over $15 for (and was worth every penny): Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler
17. Published after 2010: Various Positions by Martha Schabas
18. Featuring a Princess/Prince or Queen/King: The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye
19. Thriller: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
20. You read because it was a bestseller: The only book I can think of reading *because* it was a bestseller was Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, which I wouldn't recommend
21. Involving drugs: Wild by Cheryl Strayed
22. Memoir: If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister's Story of Murder, Love, and Liberation by Janine Latus

23. Favorite completed series as a whole: The Chaos Walking Trilogy

24. Book with witches/warlocks: The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
25. Historical Fiction: The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
26. Ugly Cry book: My Cat Saved My Life by Phillip Schriebman
27. Realistic Fiction: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
28. Dystopia: The Giver by Lois Lowry
29. Time Travel: All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
30. Elf or Dwarf Main character: Rumpled by Lacey Louwagie

31. Favorite incomplete series either by you or not yet finished by author: The Lunar Chronicles by Marisa Meyer

32. Literary Fiction: Loverboy by Victoria Redel
33. Non-Fiction (Anything, cookbook, self-help, etc): Frozen Assets: Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month by Deborah Taylor-Hough
34. Middle Grade Novel: Doll Bones by Holly Black
35. Includes sword/knife fighting: Swordborn by Jennifer Roberson
36. Something mysterious is afoot: The Shadows by Jacqueline West
37. Diverse Reads (main character non-white/non-straight): Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
38. Wanderlust book: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
39. Unreliable Narrator: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
40. Character with mental illness: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
41. Sci-fi in general: The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancy
42. Paranormal Main Character: The Eye of the Wolf by Marie Zhuikov
43. Horror: The Barter by Siobhan Adcock
44. Books with murder in them: The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
45. Set in a time of war (real or fictional): Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
46. Set in the place you live: Plover Landing by Marie Zhuikov
47. Book with servants in some manner: Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
48. Book eventually adapted to a movie: The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
49. Book you've read more than once: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
50. A Good Zombie Book: Zombies v. Unicorns by Justine Larbalestier and Holly Black
51. A love story: Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
52. Set in space: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
53. Multiple POV: The Realm of Possibility by David Leviathan
54. Erotic for people who don't read erotic novels: Once Upon a Dyke by Karin Kallmaker

55. Written by an author who has died (recently or a very long time ago): Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

56. Written by an author who is still living: Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

57. Childhood favorite: Anna to the Infinite Power by Mildred Ames

58. A long book (Let's say at least 450 pages minimum): The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

59. Young Adult book in general: Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King

60. Adult book in general: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey