Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

36 reviews

rchulin1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow I loved this book immensely. It is very dark but so worth it every sentence word paragraph was so well thought out and placed I found myself imagining all the reasons for each placement though this book is on the shorter side the story feels so long in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Classism, Rape, Suicide, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Medical content, Miscarriage, Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Abortion, Alcohol, Body horror, Deportation, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

lmagie's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Sexual content, Confinement, Grief, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Medical content

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Murder, Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide, Sexual assault, Death, War, Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

booksnobb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

this was obviously a brilliant book and is defo a new fave of mine.

it was not what i was expecting. i did not expect such incredible writing, nor such a disturbing story - but i loved it anyway. the writing style made this book and if im honest, its easily the best writing i have ever read: it was complex, not to the point of it being a difficult read, but it was so soul-bearing and rich with tension, emotion and vivid mental pictures. i could rave about it for ages but in summary, it dropped my jaw and it WILL open your legs. However, i found that near the ending the writing became slightly repetitive - like too much of a good thing. i wish Atwood used less minicliffhangers at the end of paragraphs (please tell me that makes sense) because although they were all great, there were so many that they kinda lost their punch and had a much lesser impact.

Atwood’s take on dystopia was so captivating and actually quite frightening. even though it is very very far off from our current reality, as i read this, the worldbuilding was so solid that i felt like this was a genuine possibility. and im not gonna do a whole analysis here but the social issues dealt with here had such intriguing commentary. you could write a book on this book and im sure someone has. i would read it.

oh and this is the first book where i didn’t roll my eyes at the first-person narrative bc she executes it SO WELL. there was no looking into her golden orbs in the mirror 🥳🥳 ngl i didnt even notice that it was in first person until like the middle of the book. Whether thats a compliment to Atwood or an insult to me im not sure. probably both. and this book actually wouldnt have worked in the third person, even if it were omniscient. it’s just too intimate for that. 

i loved all the characters, especially the protagonist because damn they were so INTERESTING. im not really one for morals influencing whether i like a character, but i need them to feel genuine. so although there wasnt much development per se, there was a lot of character work, and i felt like i understood them. i think its because the protagonist had so much empathy, so through her eyes we saw each character laid bare. Atwood also didnt give two shits whether we liked them, and in doing so made them much more real and imo likeable. 

i loved the structure - the story escalated gradually and the plot thickened as it kinda examined and critiqued the society and it made me feel pretty smart while reading it. i love books that boost my ego. Atwood just has this way of providing information unhurriedly, so it feels like a natural expansion and never like infodumping.

so, in summary, go read The Handmaid’s Tale 💗💕

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Sexism, Pregnancy, Cursing, Infidelity, War, Infertility, Rape, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Sexual content, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Animal cruelty, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, and Animal death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abortion, Stalking, Gun violence, Murder, Vomit, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

pokecol's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

It is hard to say much about this book as a story because I feel fundamentally there isn't one. A good deal of the design of the plot layout is to inform us and to educate us in this frame of reference so that we might interpret the smaller actions within the bounds of this set-up. This is very good at doing its intended job, making us uncomfortable, question and abhorred by such a possible interpretation of the future.
However, as a narrative, the amount of content could make perhaps 3 or 4 chapters maximum. All that is told occurs as: part of the collective, Moira vanishes, meet a man, eventually find a zone of comfort in the horror, find Moira again and "escape". But also not really, because some of the events aren't true at all, a lot of the story ends up having been a fantasy of the Main Character derived to display a measure of comfort compared to what she is known in the identity of telling the story herself.
I do think there is of course a lot of power in this whole way of telling The Handmaid's Tale, but it makes for an admittedly very dull experience besides the deeper reflective context of the book.

Fundamentally the divined idea of the society proposed is disgusting and the hyper subjugation tickles a sore-point for me in a way I do not enjoy. I feel there is required reading in the intent of the novel but it only explores so much through the idea of our Main Character and provides little in the expansive meaning or identity of these change beyond hierarchy. As a story the snippets we flashback to and compare the lives before and after, is excellent and made for compelling hope in drawing our Main Character out from this world eventually.

But the fact of the matter is we do not really have any progress to the story, at all, for the first entire two thirds of the book, and then the last third ends up not even necessarily being true. I do not fault the MC for her choices and attitude, considering the circumstances she is very much doing better than one might expect - yet as having just finished it, I do not at all recall her name.
The fact that some points of reference are used to describe the horrific nature of the set-up but we skip over the "really bad" parts near the end seems to be a really weird choice. I have no interest in abuse topics at the best of times but I have to say that it seems a backwards idea to avoid that harshest dichotomy to near the conclusion in the failure to escape - even if it is to help frame the whole scenario as a more positive outcome.

Unlike other deeply dystopian outlooks on modernity, I do not feel I got so much a good a grasp on things that allowed me to live the experiences, or understand character perspective. I feel a little trite in critiquing The Handmaid's Tale for solely it's story content, because there is more message to it than that, however, such a message can be conveyed by many means and Margaret Atwood chose for it to be a fiction novel - and in many respects the fiction novel part is where it fails the most in my reading experience.
I do think though, the world is revoltingly plausible, and in many ways these smaller accumulating elements are no stranger to a 21st century world already. In predictive, and cautionary, writings such as this I think The Handmaid's Tale does do its job providing the subject matter to a reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Rape, Body shaming, Violence, Drug use, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

athrillerreader's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Cursing, Death, Child death, and Murder

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

this is considered a classic in my eyes. this is technically my second time reading this book; the first time i read the handmaid’s tale was the summer before my sophomore year of high school. it definitely made an impact on me. now that i’m older, i respect atwood so much more. she truly is an amazement.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Murder, Pregnancy, Grief, Infidelity, Death, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Infertility, Rape, Suicide, Miscarriage, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Cursing, and Violence

Minor: Alcohol and Animal death

breedawnwriter's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

4.0

This is a very good book.

It was a little difficult to get into if I didn’t read it consistently (as the writing style is very different from what I typically read), but I really did enjoy Atwood’s imagining of this wretched, disturbing, and utterly gripping dystopian world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Cursing, and Infertility

Minor: Alcohol, Miscarriage, Torture, and Suicide

lexib13's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

wow. the parallels between Gilead and America in 2023 are insane. this book restored my faith in humanity while simultaneously crumbling it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Grief, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Excrement, Infertility, Kidnapping, Mental illness, War, Trafficking, and Vomit

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Been getting more into classics recently and I thought this was great! The important part of this is to remember that these issues are still experienced today, and are not just made up problems for Offred to face. A book dealing heavily in women’s issues throughout time— loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Genocide, Sexism, Classism, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicide, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Abortion, and Antisemitism

sapphicpenguin's review against another edition

5.0

Others can analyze the actual politics and repercussions of this book, especially regarding race and how TERFs use it. But for me, as a book--five stars. You can tell Atwood is a poet on every single page--the writing is absolutely stunning. (Not for those who dislike run-on sentences, I will say.) Like many dystopias, not necessarily plausible, but that's not the point. The worldbuilding is masterful.

I think a lot of people, especially coming from the TV show, want a rebellion narrative from this book. They want an action hero. And you don't get that. You get a flawed, thoughtful, broken woman, who just exists in a horrible world. A lot is implied or mentioned or considered, but this is rarely action-packed. Whole chapters are pondering, recollecting, processing. Living through dystopia is not exciting most of the time.

And so many people dislike the main character--I would say we don't need to like her. We just have to listen.

This book also uses one of my favorite storytelling devices--fake historical framing! Everyone clap for the academic lecture analyzing the historical events in the book from the future as the epilogue!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Cursing, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Suicide

Minor: War, Animal death, Excrement, Homophobia, Abortion, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Torture

The worst of it in my opinion is implied/alluded to, or told through moments/observations rather than actions. Nowhere near as traumatic as the TV show, but uncomfortable throughout. I tried to describe the things you need to know below. I'm sure I'm forgetting things--please be cautious. Sexual Violence:

Sexual assault is, of course, present throughout. The main feature of the world is women being forced into sexual slavery. There's actually only one on-page clear sexual assault. It's matter-of-fact and doesn't include active struggle/physical force--she's enslaved, and refusing/fighting would result in punishment/death. She's pretty emotionally distant during it, and finds humor in parts of it. There's another assault that's less ritual and more casually coerced (with extreme power dynamic--she definitely couldn't say no), but only the build-up to it is described, not the actual event. The MC also has (semi-coerced) sex with another man--detailed in "Infidelity." There's also a really upsetting scene where a character opens up about an assault she experienced and the rest of the women are forced to chant that it's her fault.

Suicide:

An unnamed character's past suicide by hanging is referenced and reacted to occasionally. A character we know commits suicide (off-page non-explicitly). The MC multiple times considers suicide and what method she would use. She never attempts or makes any plans.

Pregnancy/Medical:

Pregnancy is a main theme, and it's talked about throughout. Explicit childbirth scene, but not gross/gory. Traumatic, though--forced pregnancy, and mother not allowed to keep baby. It takes place in a home, so no doctor/hospital elements. There is an medical appointment scene, including a pap smear/fertility related checks. The doctor offers to have sex with the MC (while she's nude and uncomfortable), but she declines and he leaves.

Child Endangerment:

The MC often worries about her young daughter's safety and remembers being separated from her. We learn the daughter was forcibly adopted and is presumably experiencing "normal" life with that family, but we don't know specifics of her life/future. More generally, in this world, girls enter arranged marriages as young as 14.

Infidelity:

Infidelity isn't clear-cut in this book. Assault of enslaved women is required by law, and both the husband and wife at various times seem uncomfortable with this. What's legally considered infidelity is separate from people's emotional relationships. Besides being assaulted by a married couple, the MC on multiple occasions has sex with another man. Iffy situation because of power dynamics/whole situation--the first time is definitely coerced, but the others it seems that she's at least partly seeking it out, but partially as a tool to become pregnant, which she will be rewarded for. She does talk about the possibility of caring for him, though, and needing intimacy, and feels guilty because she has/had a husband--she's not sure if he's alive or where he is. There's no conclusion to this experience--we don't learn his fate or whether they meet again.

Violence/Torture/Drugs:

Violence is mentioned often, mostly by the state. Basically all characters are at constant threat of state violence. Lots of violence is referenced. The MC considers ways she could murder another character. Multiple characters, including the MC, are drugged to keep them calm. Characters are hanged not-too-graphically. One is executed by mob. Executed bodies are described hanging from a wall. Only aftermath of torture is described.

Animal Death:

The MC's husband has to kill their cat when they flee their home. This is off-page and we don't know the method.