Reviews

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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taylormichelle1's review against another edition

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4.0

for english class

annatherbook's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was dark, ominous, uncomfortable and captivating! I loved it!

mawar12's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

it's a really sad book especially when the MC is talking about her ex husband Luke (I say ex because we don't know he's dead or alive) and her daughter who was taken away and probably didn't remember her. It does seem interesting because unlike 1984, the story take place when the revolution was quiet new and all of the characters except Luke the really young ones remember life before the revolution. The transformation between a normal country to a tolitarian state seem really scary when the women was suddenly forced out of workplace.
However, I do think the ending is a bit not satisfying as we don't know what happened to Offred and that it was left ambiguous. At least we know Nick is actually a member of the resistance group called Mayfly and the van he led Offred to might plan to rescue Offred. The ending where the lecturer of the university talk about Offred is a bit grim as it seemed he didn't treat the story seriously.
However, I feel it's really unfair people tht are liberals always use this book to scare people away from pro life stances when in fact the two instances are totally different. Offred didn't have a choice but to have loveless sex to produce babies while people that chose abortion mostly do it because they chose to have sex. They can't just have sex and then freely want to abort them just to avoid consequences. It's really far fetched how these people even think it's remotely the same situation. Like no, people choosing to have sex with someone while still wanting to abort your baby is NOT the same situation as Offred in this novel whatsoever. I'd make excuse if it's like cases like r*pe or for health reasons but to cry victim because you don't use protection while having sex and then wanting to kill the babies however you want is wrong. Stop saying it's the same as the handmaid's tale, it's an insult to people tht actually have to through such regimes.

Overall I like how the author tells her story , it's just the commander scenes where he suddenly likes her and take her out makes no sense to me but I guess it's probably needed to show how the world was like.
I find Moira such an intriguing character but I'm abit sad she didn't get to actually escape and ended up being a prostitute. It just shows how grim ths dystopian reality is and in a way, more realistic.

peachy_reader's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

bookishbrieee's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

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

5.0

flowersforcharile's review

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dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

uhhyeahsure's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

mak_tier's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

readerdedeya's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

The handmaid's tale is about a woman who finds herself in a totalitarian state, in which women have no rights. They are subject to the governors, who belong to the ruling class in Gilead. Offred is forced to participate in rituals, in which she is being raped by the governor, in hopes of becoming pregnant and sustaining his position. As the story unfolds, we learn about her former life, her husband and daughter, who got caught by the Eyes before the American government had been overthrown. We also meet Moira, who escapes the institution in which they were being indoctrinated and meet her later again, with her spirit broken. Offred is forced by the governor's wife to sleep with nick, who is a servant in the governors household. The writing is compelling, the story so riveting and fascinating. I liked the short sentences and the love of detail. I really enjoyed this book, warning us that the world we know could be taken from us every minute. We need to pay attention.

k_vira's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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