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florenceassetto's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Infertility, Misogyny, Trafficking, Death, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Confinement, Violence, Miscarriage, Torture, Sexual content, Rape, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Antisemitism
eldritch_ace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexism, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Self harm, Antisemitism, and Confinement
Minor: Classism, Death, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Suicide attempt, Grief, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Abortion, Miscarriage, War, Alcohol, Violence, and Medical content
maddiet425's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Confinement, and Suicide
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Child death, and Miscarriage
crypticspren's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, and Slavery
kileyjojo's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
The pacing does struggle every now and then and the ending feels abrupt.
Graphic: Rape, Torture, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Slavery, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence
bettap's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Moderate: Pregnancy, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Self harm
samshort's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Child death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Infertility, Medical trauma, Body horror, Animal death, Grief, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Confinement, Kidnapping, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Slavery, Rape, Alcohol, Sexism, Sexual violence, Blood, Death, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, War, and Trafficking
hannrs's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Rape and Violence
kayjezza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, and Confinement
The story is sort of based around the concept of sort of mandatory sex with a random person assigned to you. And that person is treated like Harry Potter in his broom cupboard, except they go to school for child bearing not magic and aren’t allowed to have friends.pokecol's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
It is hard to say much about this book as a story because I feel fundamentally there isn't one. A good deal of the design of the plot layout is to inform us and to educate us in this frame of reference so that we might interpret the smaller actions within the bounds of this set-up. This is very good at doing its intended job, making us uncomfortable, question and abhorred by such a possible interpretation of the future.
However, as a narrative, the amount of content could make perhaps 3 or 4 chapters maximum. All that is told occurs as: part of the collective, Moira vanishes, meet a man, eventually find a zone of comfort in the horror, find Moira again and "escape". But also not really, because some of the events aren't true at all, a lot of the story ends up having been a fantasy of the Main Character derived to display a measure of comfort compared to what she is known in the identity of telling the story herself.
I do think there is of course a lot of power in this whole way of telling The Handmaid's Tale, but it makes for an admittedly very dull experience besides the deeper reflective context of the book.
Fundamentally the divined idea of the society proposed is disgusting and the hyper subjugation tickles a sore-point for me in a way I do not enjoy. I feel there is required reading in the intent of the novel but it only explores so much through the idea of our Main Character and provides little in the expansive meaning or identity of these change beyond hierarchy. As a story the snippets we flashback to and compare the lives before and after, is excellent and made for compelling hope in drawing our Main Character out from this world eventually.
But the fact of the matter is we do not really have any progress to the story, at all, for the first entire two thirds of the book, and then the last third ends up not even necessarily being true. I do not fault the MC for her choices and attitude, considering the circumstances she is very much doing better than one might expect - yet as having just finished it, I do not at all recall her name.
The fact that some points of reference are used to describe the horrific nature of the set-up but we skip over the "really bad" parts near the end seems to be a really weird choice. I have no interest in abuse topics at the best of times but I have to say that it seems a backwards idea to avoid that harshest dichotomy to near the conclusion in the failure to escape - even if it is to help frame the whole scenario as a more positive outcome.
Unlike other deeply dystopian outlooks on modernity, I do not feel I got so much a good a grasp on things that allowed me to live the experiences, or understand character perspective. I feel a little trite in critiquing The Handmaid's Tale for solely it's story content, because there is more message to it than that, however, such a message can be conveyed by many means and Margaret Atwood chose for it to be a fiction novel - and in many respects the fiction novel part is where it fails the most in my reading experience.
I do think though, the world is revoltingly plausible, and in many ways these smaller accumulating elements are no stranger to a 21st century world already. In predictive, and cautionary, writings such as this I think The Handmaid's Tale does do its job providing the subject matter to a reader.
Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Colonisation, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Rape, Body shaming, Violence, Drug use, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts