Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

41 reviews

lily1304's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? No

4.0

Rereading made me wonder if Atwood studied totalitarian regimes before writing this, or not. I like to think that there would be more solidarity between women than what's portrayed, but I'm not sure.

It's interesting that the narrator seems to downplay the racist aspects of Gilead - we learn more about that from the epilogue than the narrator. I only saw a few episodes of the Amazon TV series, but half the reason I watched it was for Samira Wiley as Moira. I guess there's a trade-off - if Amazon wanted a racially diverse cast, they had to ignore the way that racism and sexism are intertwined, & would have to be intertwined in an American regime like Gilead. But Amazon didn't seem to care that much about fidelity to the novel anyway.

I also noticed more the way the narrator's mother is sort of complicit with the coup leading to Gilead. Her mother is a feminist but shares some of the same broad goals as Gilead - pornography is evil, women shouldn't be sexualized, every child should be a wanted child, women should be free from sexual harassment. The scene where

the narrator's mother takes her to burn books and pornography with a protest crowd

struck me in particular.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Torture

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Animal death, Miscarriage, and War

tonjebjorkenes's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Infertility, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

megan_j's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I don’t know what I was thinking first time round with rating this 3. Listened the audiobook this time and LOVED it. Margaret Atwood is a genius and I also hate her for it. She brings everything you dread into reality. I think this is especially poignant for women because we all need to be more aware of the world around us, and how small injustices can add up to something much bigger eventually. LOVE LOVE LOVE 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Grief, Sexism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Genocide, Violence, Abortion, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and War

natalie_1127's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infertility, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Slavery

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Minor: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

sharlapeggy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? No

4.5

I liked the format of this book. Slow to start but grips you. Nothing like the TV series, 10x better than the TV series (as always!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Rape, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Abortion

salatwaffel's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Violence, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexism, Suicide, Sexual content, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Hate crime, and Medical trauma

predro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Death, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

michaelatrelby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Blood, Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, and Ableism

bigkidbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence

dsaiz's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Physical abuse