Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

65 reviews

halleyscomet314's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Gaslighting

directorpurry's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia

Minor: Animal death and War

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

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

marionesq's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Unreliable narrator.
Margaret Atwood succeeds in writing that leaves more to our imagination, but doesn't leave you short-changed. You can trust your brain to connect the pieces. She does it by writing not simply visually, but cinematically. And the way everything unfolds is just brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

kiapin28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Classism

spag's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, and Kidnapping

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

I read this book after I started the show. (See spoiler for connection between show and book.) It is very tense and covers extremely sensitive subjects in a brutal way. 

For this reason, I'd advise against reading if you are sensitive or have trauma that is easily triggered. 

However, it does highlight some very relevant issues and is something I think many people should read. It will make you uncomfortable. You might have to put it down for a couple days to process it or take a breather. But it is worthwhile and will make you recognize small signs of sexism and discrimination. It shows how small things can escalate. It is also very heavy on religion and politics, but I view the main character as someone wanting to reclaim her religion from extremists - for this reason I do not believe it is anti-religious but anti-extremism. 

I do wish they went more into some of the other characters impacted (which I believe she does in the sequel) but it also did a good job of explaining the world strictly from the main character's POV. 

<SPOILER> The book only covers what is basically the first season of the show but the plot is also a bit different. This leaves it open ended as well. <SPOILER>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Ritualistic rape, religious extremism, political abuse

k_galloway's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

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

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

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