Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

77 reviews

sunnybugz's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Misogyny, Violence, Sexism, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Blood

lakea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Ableism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Abandonment, Self harm, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Medical content

Moderate: Classism, Infidelity, Confinement, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

vedpears's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

5.0

It is unsettling how sentiments and rhetoric shared in this story are echoed in today's political climate in the USA. 
I checked this out from the public library, but this may be a book that I have to purchase for my own personal library. There are warnings in here that should be heeded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Abortion, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Torture, Infertility, Infidelity, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Violence, Ableism, and Blood

margaret_s_library's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Infidelity, Slavery, Misogyny, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Deportation, Ableism, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Infertility, Homophobia, War, Xenophobia, Transphobia, and Physical abuse

elenayasmin's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written with incredible world-building, Margaret Atwood combines her understanding of successful totalitarian regimes with her explosive imagination, making The Handmaid's Tale a believable future for patriarchal societies. I would however liked to have seen the experiences of minority races in the Gilead period, and although this was mentioned in a couple of sentences, this seemed insufficient considering the huge population of ethnic minorities in USA. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book and found it hard to put down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Slavery, Body shaming, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, Classism, and Misogyny

emfass's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I have no idea why the heck I felt inspired to re-read The Handmaid's Tale at a time with lots of other hard things going on in my life, but there you go. 

Loved Claire Danes' narration, as well as the expanded materials at the end that Atwood wrote. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Classism, Rape, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Violence, and Infertility

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Torture, Deportation, Police brutality, Trafficking, Body horror, Sexual content, and Homophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Vomit, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Medical content, and War

zams's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

It seemed to be a very slow read and super slow-paced in the beginning, but picked up the pace A LOT towards the end. A gruelling outlook on how life could be in society, and a brutal reality already for countless people on the planet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Slavery, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Classism, Death, Child death, Ableism, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexism, Rape, Murder, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Blood

lauren_e_d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Although I had to read this book for school, it was one that I was looking forward to reading. I had heard so much about it and it lived up to my expectations. I really enjoyed drawing the parallels between the novel, written back in the 1980s, and the modern day. It is  concerning, terrifying, and fascinating that this novel is still so powerful and poignant today.

I will admit, it took me until the very end of the book to realize that the structure of the novel is that the narrator is telling it like a story after the fact, so for almost of the book, the switches between past and current tense really confused me which made it slightly more difficult to understand. I did really enjoy the historical notes section though because I think it’s a great commentary on how we think of history and how it’s such a reality for so many people, but in the future, it is trivialized, made into jokes, and studied, but the reality and impact on real people is not always fully understood. The trauma is not understood. However, I really liked the ending and the ambiguity that it gives. It’s a fascinating way to have the reader hopefully for the entire novel just to be left guessing at the very end, something I think Atwood has a mastery of. Overall, AMAZING. I fully understand the hype now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Rape, Trafficking, Violence, Classism, Death, Gore, Infertility, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief

jlohnes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Classism, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual violence

abir_docx's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Suicide, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts