Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

29 reviews

dynamitea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, and Emotional abuse

meganpbennett's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

For as disturbing and terrifying a story as The Handmaid's Tale was, I found it boring and very slow. It was very disturbing because of just how simple it would be for us to end up in this society, and just how many people seem to want us to end up in this society. 

As for the story itself, I found the narrator to be very unreliable, and the non-linear narrative was very hard to follow at times, making it hard to tell when various events were taking place. Very similar to 1984, but in a different direction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Slavery, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Trafficking, and Self harm

dontbelieveinez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• 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, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Infertility, and Pregnancy

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

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

keeper_of_dark_materials's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book is hard to come to terms with, both by how it pulls from history and how it predicts the future. Atwood's writing style is brutish and in your face, but she uses it to make sure that you get the point she's trying to make. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Death, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Body horror, Police brutality, Slavery, Abortion, Ableism, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

paulklesh's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Kidnapping

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

definitely a slow burn but i liked the way it built tension somewhat exponentially with the narrator at the center of three mini rebellions—

seeing the Commander, defecting with Ofglen and Mayday, and conspiring with Serena Joy and Nick

—but in the end it didn't really amount to all that much. i love the inclusion of the "Historical Notes," they're terrible and perfect.
it's definitely white feminism, with racism in this religious-extremist totalitarian regime only mentioned once, in passing, at the very end. compared to another modern classic published just two years later, Beloved, it's kind of embarrassing.
cover design review: ★★★★☆. instant one-star deduction for having author's name larger than the title (sorry Margaret Atwood), and this is especially egregious; the title is relatively tiny. we all know minimalism has become excessive but i really like this one. the centering of the title is very satisfying, with approximately equal overhang of "HANDMAID'S" on either side of the dress. and the best part, get ready for your mind to be blown: see that dot in front of the Handmaid's head? it's the eye of a face in profile looking to the left hidden in the negative space. genius

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicide, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Classism, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Trafficking, Violence, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Infidelity, Misogyny, Infertility, Murder, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Cursing, Mass/school shootings, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Child death

Minor: Abortion, Medical content, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Racism, War, Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Vomit

ageckocalledachilles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Infertility and Suicide

calthapalustris's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

Interesting read overall I have to admit, though this book is just missing something and I've been trying to figure out what that is for over a year now.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Death, and Misogyny

Minor: Blood, Medical content, Drug use, and Miscarriage

mxdegroot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

As it has been almost two years since I've read this book and only am reviewing it now, while doing the same with other books I have read but not yet revieuwed, I can't say I remember much, but this is what I do remember.

I read this book for school and at school, which means we went pretty deep into it. This caused quite some interesting findings. For example, the names of the maids. They all start with 'of' and are followed by the name of their owner (ex.: Ofwarren, Offred), which makes it very clear that they are property and might be a way of dehumanizing them.

Now on to the actual review.

While I don't necessarily dislike literary books, I do find it very hard to get through them, so as a genre, this was not my favorite. However, this book and the genre in general are still fun to read!
What I like about this book a lot is the mystery and the dystopian setting. I love books with some angst and mystery and I am a big sucker for dystopia.

I marked the pacing as medium, because there is quite some action written pretty closely after each other time-wise, but during and between that action there is enough description of the situation and the place the books take place in, which adds to the experience and gives the reader insight in the world-building of the book.

My advice: read the book! If you're a literature lover, this is just a great piece of it, and if you're someone who doesn't enjoy reading literature too much, but wants to dip their toe into it and/or is required to read a number of literary books for school, this is definitely a recommendation, as it is not too slow paced and quite recent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Slavery, Body horror, and Rape

Moderate: Kidnapping, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Body horror, Infertility, and Grief