Reviews

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

jennbliven's review against another edition

4.0

I always want more from her stories, but for fans of The Handmaid's Tale I think it provided satisfying closure.

sanumg's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

bob_d's review

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

chloeb24's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

fedak's review against another edition

3.0

Fan service novel after people pestered Atwood for 30 years about what happened after the Handmaid's Tale. Quite good for about the first 3/4 with a couple big reveals (one of which I saw coming a mile away, one I didn't)

In the last part, Atwood clearly wanted to bring two of the protagonists together and clearly couldn't think of a way to do it. So we ended up with a nonsensical plot sequence for the latter third.

It was also disappointing that Atwood basically added nothing to Gilead that wasn't in the first novel- and I was hoping to see more about how the US devolved to the point where the Gilead revolution was possible.

gwen_witch's review against another edition

It wasn't as great as the first one, and I didn't see the point of it. 

beroid's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

ncaruso929's review against another edition

2.0

I was not impressed with this book. The characters are largely predictable, making the plot feel very slow. There doesnt seem to be any real climax, which was also disappointing. And the book is built from parts of the show, while the show is still in progress which is always a bit frustrating. I really didnt like the last bit from a professor to recap the whole book I had just read, instead of actually hearing about the fall of Gilead from the characters I had now gotten to know, which topped off my "only ok" feeling of this book.

eliza_beth1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

dcunitz's review against another edition

4.0

“It was like having a sinkhole open up and swallow you - not only you but your house, your room, your past, everything you’d ever known about yourself, even the way you looked - it was falling and smothering and darkness, all at once.”