Main thoughts about Atonement

Ok, so, I have to read Atonement by Ian McEwan for my Intro to English Studies class. Now, it isn't a bad book, and I don't particularly mind reading it, but I'm prevented from saying I enjoy it. It's pretty well written, and the characters in it are well portrayed and actually kinda cool. The issue I've been having is that I'm finding it to be a fairly boring story. Sure, the World War II part is pretty interesting, but there are other books that have been more so. The whole rape mess at the beginning just kinda bored me. I can't exactly say why, I just feel like there are other stories I'd much rather read. Which is a shame, because as I said, the characters in the book are actually really good. I do want to know more about Robbie in particular, but he just ends up in not hugely interesting situations. Is a book still good if it's a boring story as long as everything else about it is well done? I dunno.