13.3k reviews for:

Les Testaments

Margaret Atwood

4.13 AVERAGE

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

不需要读前传也能很好掌握故事,并且比起使女的故事我更喜欢这一本。三个人的视角见证了国家的兴亡。和前一本书相同,整个故事以后人/历史学家的角度进行描述,但放在今天却毫不违和。算是我觉得圆满的结局,五星推荐。
adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Such a great prose by Atwood as she deepens and furthens all the Gilead lore and the story behind Aunt Lydia which is not quite as she seems. 

Three paralell stories that may merge in a predictable way but with an unpredictable result.

I really enjoyed this return to Gilead. The 3 protagonists of the novel give a new glimpse into different roles for women within Gilead apart from that of Handmaid, and really make you think about what choices would be available in this world. Another great tale by Ms. Atwood.
challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Set several years in the future following The Handmaid's Tale, a teenaged Baby Nicole discovers her true identity and ends up being reunited with her half-sister Agnes. We gain more insight into Aunt Lydia's experiences as well. 

Having just finished The Handmaid's Tale series on Hulu earlier this year, this was a worthwhile revisit to the Gilead universe. 
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

If you’re pro-Gilead, your (papa)‘s a hoe. 
adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Regardless of what you think about the plot, the fact that Margaret Atwood wrote a fanfiction of the tv show based off of her decades old book is fascinating. Also, audiobook wise, the performances of Ann Dowd and Mae Whitman are excellent, unsurprisingly.Bryce Dallas Howard is also good, though I felt it was kind of weird to cast a white actress for this role and also not address Agnes’ blackness at all in this book. 2019 is late enough into the Handmaids Tale dystopia we are living in to realize the important role that race and anti-blackness play in misogyny and Christian Nationalism. My favorite section was the final chapter - read by Derek Jacobi - which was a fictional historian’s overview of Gilead. Overall I feel like Aunt Lydia is a more interesting character as a compassionate villain than a May Day ally and that politically this novel doesn’t add much to either the show or the original novel, but especially if you watch the show it’s worth a read.