Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

128 reviews

christinewonder's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Torture, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Murder, Confinement, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Police brutality

Minor: Vomit, Miscarriage, and War

mgcalder's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

Whilst Margret Attwood is clearly an excellent writer, and the concept of the book is fascinating, I found the story itself to be somewhat lacking. The open ending also seemed at odds with the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Slavery, Infertility, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, War, Body shaming, Death, Self harm, Abortion, Confinement, Medical content, Physical abuse, Blood, Mental illness, and Murder

another_dahlia's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Child death, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Infidelity, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Infertility, Trafficking, Suicide, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Colonisation, Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Torture, Classism, Death of parent, Transphobia, Violence, and War

littlehedgehog's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This is a really important work of dystopian fiction, one of those "every one should have read it at least once in their lifetime"  books. However, the pacing was a bit too slow for me sometimes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, and Trafficking

Moderate: Torture and Suicide

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

eleanorashcroftsmith's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Miscarriage, Death, Violence, Abortion, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Gore

anh_read's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Torture, Sexism, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Infertility, Sexual content, War, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Death, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, and Slavery

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pandemic/Epidemic, and Panic attacks/disorders

ajay913's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Violence, Classism, Sexism, Infertility, Suicide, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Trafficking, and Slavery

Minor: War and Religious bigotry

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I went into this book having watched the series, as each season was released, so the first was largely forgotten, although I did remember the vague plot. I personally would say the series is better than the book. For a start, the writing style took a bit of getting used to, especially with the way flashbacks are presented, but once I got used to it I did find it to enjoyable and thought provoking, but the series was more enjoyable and had the same thought provoking bits. I think that had I read the book first, I wouldn't have been interested enough to then watch the series, and may have DNFed the book before getting used to the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Slavery, Body shaming, Gore, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, War, Classism, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Suicide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Self harm

warriors123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

It is driven by the commander and the main character is powerless 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Rape

Moderate: Body horror, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Mental illness, Alcohol, and Murder