Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

57 reviews

jennino's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, and War

anotheranomaly_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Colonisation, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Medical content, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Genocide, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, War, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Police brutality, Body shaming, Cursing, and Death

vinsynt's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Death, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: War, Homophobia, and Gore

placebogirl's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: War

vee_the_tree's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, and War

q17'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? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Sexism, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Rape, Police brutality, and Infertility

Moderate: Hate crime, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

Minor: Child abuse, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Classism, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, Ableism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Death, Grief, War, Mental illness, Medical content, Racism, and Violence

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

definitely a slow burn but i liked the way it built tension somewhat exponentially with the narrator at the center of three mini rebellions—

seeing the Commander, defecting with Ofglen and Mayday, and conspiring with Serena Joy and Nick

—but in the end it didn't really amount to all that much. i love the inclusion of the "Historical Notes," they're terrible and perfect.
it's definitely white feminism, with racism in this religious-extremist totalitarian regime only mentioned once, in passing, at the very end. compared to another modern classic published just two years later, Beloved, it's kind of embarrassing.
cover design review: ★★★★☆. instant one-star deduction for having author's name larger than the title (sorry Margaret Atwood), and this is especially egregious; the title is relatively tiny. we all know minimalism has become excessive but i really like this one. the centering of the title is very satisfying, with approximately equal overhang of "HANDMAID'S" on either side of the dress. and the best part, get ready for your mind to be blown: see that dot in front of the Handmaid's head? it's the eye of a face in profile looking to the left hidden in the negative space. genius

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Classism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Trafficking, Violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Infidelity, Misogyny, Infertility, Murder, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Abortion, Medical content, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Racism, War, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Vomit

darbo's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

I’ll be fully honest, I needed my girlfriend to explain some things to me as we buddy-read this. It was, at times, hard for me to understand and follow what was going on - especially so in some night chapters - but in the end I managed to get the full picture of it and I ended up really enjoying this. It’s a very well written dystopian novel that follows our main character, Offred, through her daily life and thoughts as she goes along, through what can only be described as tyranny. I thoroughly enjoyed this, with the exception of one particular chapter - although relevant to story. I highly recommend this to any dystopia fans out there, and I personally am looking forward to reading its sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Misogyny

Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Grief, Miscarriage, and War

theresejs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Trafficking

evilyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• 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? Yes

5.0

Obviously there are so many layers but if you haven't reread or read this after 2020 I would strongly recommend it because it's a very different perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, War, Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Infertility, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Death, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Ableism, Abandonment, and Abortion