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mackwizowski's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Murder, and Pregnancy
lily1304's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
4.0
It's interesting that the narrator seems to downplay the racist aspects of Gilead - we learn more about that from the epilogue than the narrator. I only saw a few episodes of the Amazon TV series, but half the reason I watched it was for Samira Wiley as Moira. I guess there's a trade-off - if Amazon wanted a racially diverse cast, they had to ignore the way that racism and sexism are intertwined, & would have to be intertwined in an American regime like Gilead. But Amazon didn't seem to care that much about fidelity to the novel anyway.
I also noticed more the way the narrator's mother is sort of complicit with the coup leading to Gilead. Her mother is a feminist but shares some of the same broad goals as Gilead - pornography is evil, women shouldn't be sexualized, every child should be a wanted child, women should be free from sexual harassment. The scene where
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Rape, Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Abortion, Alcohol, and War
rory_john14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Racism, Death of parent, Murder, and War
tangylad's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death and Infertility
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
kelly_lhm's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
amanileb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Pregnancy
sitrone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
z0333's review against another edition
- 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? No
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
nuala_koala's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I was expecting to hate this book. I don't know anyone who likes it. I was semi-surprised. I didn't love "The Handmaid's Tale", and I didn't dislike it. It was simply "OK".
Some of my positive points about it include:
- I really liked the amount of description Margaret Atwood included within this book. I found reading this quite a visual experience - through Atwood's writing you could really picture what the setting was like.
- I thought that the way the story was told - in snippets and fragments, was both unique and interesting. While it was sometimes a little bit confusing, it was a fascinating way for the reader to gain more information about Gilead and Offred's life.
- The setting - Gilead, a world where most women were forced to be 'handmaid's to men - was interesting and a unique idea.
Some of the things I didn't like about this book;
- I thought that it should've been a lot shorter. Atwood really tried to keep the plot slow - it moved like frozen molasses, to take a phrase from "Jane Eyre". Many times, I like a slow plot - especially with classics. When the words and writing are rich and beautiful, I enjoy it. But, I feel that Atwood's writing was just not exquisite enough to pull the slow plot off. I will give it to Atwood though - I did want to finish the book. I was just disappointed throughout.
- Building on the first point, it really irritated me that there was a cliffhanger. Atwood had made me read the entire book waiting for something to happen only to leave me on a cliffhanger!? I will inevitably read the second book, though I am worried it will not explain what happened to Offred.
- I also was hoping that Atwood would also delve into how kind and good men can be. The story revolved around men being bad - even the more 'good' ones of the book. For example, even Luke had sexist views, and Nick didn't really care about Offred. I think the story could've been a lot better if Atwood had added another positive male character.
So, overall, The Handmaid's Tale was an OK read. I am definitely not rushing to pick up the next one, which is unusual for a cliffhanger ending.
It deserved 2 stars, so that's what it got.
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Torture
omnombailey's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Well, I finally got around to reading The Handmaid's Tale and I'm glad I did.
I'm a huge fan of dystopian stories, more so when they're done correctly and not just the YA trend of dystopias. This definitely delivered with painting the backdrop of this former USA now Gilead country. I kept wanting to know more about what was going on and how this all happened and how people are completely ok with this. Or as it's mentioned, change is good for some people and worse for others. It can't always be better for everyone.
And when I learned more of what was going on and the layers peeled back, I couldn't stop reading. Offred's paranoia about everything flowed through me, as well. You're second-guessing everyone and everything after awhile. I really didn't connect with her, but I was more interested in her story than her as a person, if that makes sense. I found myself enjoying side characters (shocker) like Nick and Moira and Offred's mother.
Some people have called this book lacking actual plot, but I found everything to be going on riveting, especially the last 30% of the book. And when it ended (or at least when I got the pop up in my kindle saying it was done and asked for my review), I said out loud, "Wait, THAT'S IT?!" The cliff hanger of an ending left me both furious and content. I think I could have done without the "epilogue", but it was nice to have the additional information.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it's not perfect. My biggest qualm with it, as is most people who seem to read it and don't like it, is the writing style. Or lack of one. I guess quotation marks aren't a thing, but hey, let's add in a bunch more commas! It was extremely hard to figure out who was speaking during the flashbacks and what was a flashback and so forth. It could have benefited from some much-needed formatting. And the way everything is written is... off. I get it's more stream of consciousness, seeing it's first-person from Offred's eyes, but she just rambles on about shit. All. The. Time. Not to mention she repeats herself a lot. And not even key information. It's shit like "the bed sheets are semi-sheer. I can see right through them." Yes. Yes they are. Because that is, in fact, what the word means. This happens all the damn time. That and rewording a single sentence two or three or more times to make... a point? I don't even know. Things like "I was afraid. She was afraid. We were afraid." (That's not an actual quote, but the other one more or less happened)
I don't know if it was done on purpose, but I didn't give a shit about Luke. I felt like over time, he was painted to be more and more of an asshole. I stopped caring for him after the scene with the cat. It frustrated me that Offred continues to cling onto him when he's most likely dead. Just really frustrating. I was also frustrated at the brief glimpse of homophobia on Offred's behalf via a flashback. I get it's "appropriate for the times" but it still had me rolling my eyes and left a general bad taste in my mouth.
This story was equally thought-provoking as it was horrifying. This isn't a leisurely mind candy sort of book; you actively take part in it. It's difficult for me to say I like this book or that it's a good book, not because none of that is true, but because my mind goes back to the topics and themes presented in it and how damn close to home they hit. That, however, still makes for good art, let alone story. Atwood has claimed multiple times that she doesn't write science fiction and brands stories like this as speculative fiction, but that doesn't do it justice. Nothing about this is speculative; there are plenty of people who have been exposed to violence like this and plenty of people who believe that said violence is completely appropriate and justified. The thing that horrifies me more than The Handmaid's Tale is knowing that a book published in 1986 still rings true, perhaps more so than ever, in the so-called modern age of 2017.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Animal death