Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

37 reviews

athenaminerva13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Moderate: Pregnancy, Torture, and Homophobia

Minor: War, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Suicide attempt

sylvestra's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I think one of the reasons that it took so long for there to be a follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale is just that it’s such a difficult story to do justice to. I tried to go into The Testaments with tempered expectations and I think that was helpful. This book is definitely solid, but definitely not as haunting as the original. 

The story follows three different POV characters as we learn what happens after Offred’s testimony. I thought this was an effective way to show a lot of progression in a lot of different places without making the book 1000 pages. 

I will say that while it did provide closure, it didn’t have the same emotional impact as HT. I did appreciate the resolution with some of the older characters like Aunt Lydia.

If you’re considering this series, I’d suggest:
Read Handmaid’s Tale
Watch The Handmaid’s Tale tv series
Finish with The Testaments

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

chamaeleontis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

hopeful tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Vomit, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Genocide, Infertility, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Violence

ericarao's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Death, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Kidnapping, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Confinement, Bullying, Child abuse, Suicide, and Cursing

Minor: Child abuse and War

uhm_kai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Profound but horribly real. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Grief, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Torture, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Rape, and Pregnancy

luke_823's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Pregnancy

lily1304's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

This is very different from the Handmaid's Tale. One of the strengths of the Handmaid's Tale is its lack of detail - lots of aspects of Gilead are shadowy and vague, which makes it feel like a bad dream, and the fact that the narrator has no idea what's happening politically inside or outside Gilead makes her even more hopeless and powerless.

The Testaments was clearly written partly to satisfy fans' questions about Gilead, and it has a much more traditional dystopian-adventure style than the Handmaid's Tale. You can see the three womens' stories and motivations slowly weaving together to a distinct climax. It's both a strength and a weakness - it's probably more of a page-turner than the Handmaid's Tale, but it doesn't have the same power.

The Testaments introduces the Pearl Girls / "Pearls of Great Price", or Gilead missionaries to Canada and other countries. They seemed like an intentional dig at Mormons, who are known for their pairs of missionaries around the world, and who have a book of scripture called the Pearl of Great Price. I'm not a fan of many aspects of Mormon practice and culture, but it seems extreme and unnecessary to associate them with Gilead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Infertility, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Cursing

yona260's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Death, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Violence, and War