I liked this 3 stars worth, but after talking about it during book club, it earned the extra star. I love a book that provokes as much discussion as this one did. I'm also a huge fan of books, movies, etc. that cause us to evaluate our ideologies rather than just playing to what we already believe. Just how important IS truth? How important is justice? Can we ever REALLY atone for our misdeeds? Are there such things as objective facts, or is absolutely every situation subject to interpretation? Atonement makes you think long and hard about these sorts of questions, and it never answers them for you.