Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

13 reviews

lay_kone's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, War, Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Torture, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Trafficking

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

It took a minute to realize there were three POV but when I did, the story started coming together so nicely. I really didn’t want to put this down. I’m a sucker for a dystopian, corrupt-government tale, and this, much like The Handmaid’s Tale, didn’t disappoint. I really enjoyed getting a peek into Aunt Lydia’s mind. Atwood’s work continues to be timely and relevant and this sequel to the 1985 Handmaid’s Tale was equal parts fascinating and horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Classism, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Sexism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death

kileyjojo's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a pretty good follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale. It wouldn’t make much sense as a stand-alone novel so if interested in reading it, the first should be read.
I didn’t expect to have a lot of sympathy for some of these characters and I didn’t at the beginning of the book, but Margaret Atwood surprisingly makes that possible. This goes the opposite way as well, though. This book is a triple perspective one and I found myself disliking characters that are meant to be flawed but liked. Overall, it’s a great follow up to the first book and definitely worth a read if you’re a fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Gaslighting, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Cursing

Moderate: Abortion, Grief, Infertility, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Confinement, Colonisation, Blood, Self harm, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Toxic friendship

beckallanpoe's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

2.25

doesn’t do anything the original book doesn’t do, if anything it ruins the world building that the Handmaid’s Tale establishes. I fear that the dogshit tv adaption put dollar signs in Atwood’s eyes and that’s why we had to suffer this boring backtrack of a book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Infertility, Abortion, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Violence, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Torture, Sexism, and Injury/Injury detail

samshort's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

3.75

It was enjoyable, although I think some plot points took away from the message of the first book. I think I prefer THT as a standalone. I did appreciate the exploration into new aspects of Gileadean society, although I would have enjoyed seeing different demographics represented. All the protagonists are white women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Murder, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Sexism, Child abuse, Rape, Slavery, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Classism, Violence, Suicide, and War

dev921's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, War, Child death, Cursing, Incest, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Infertility, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cancer, and Injury/Injury detail

angryglitterwitch's review against another edition

2.0

The Handmaid's Tale is in my top 5 books of all Time, so I've had a lot of conversations with friends/ relatives/my hairdresser/anyone who'll listen about how necessary 'The Testaments'' existence is. I'm bummed to report that I stand by my initial assessment of not really at all... It was disappointing. Do I like hearing about rapists being viscerally ripped apart by mobs of victims? Hell yeah. Do I need the rest of the book which doesn't tell me about the actual fall of Gilead itself? Nah. The prose was great, obviously, because it's Atwood, but the plotting was a lil lazy and way too tidy imo. 
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"Not for nothing do we at Ardua Hall say Pen Is Envy..."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

avocadotoastbee's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense medium-paced

3.5

The Testaments is not really what I was hoping for.
In the acknowledgements, Atwood says that The Testaments answers questions left by The Handmaid's Tale and shows what happened after the novel. In my opinion, however, it doesn't do that at all.
Don't get me wrong, there was definitely more information about Gilead and what led to its downfall, although it is never really said how Gilead collapsed.
Another thing that really bothered me was that it basically stuck to the extended storyline and characters from the Hulu series The Handmaid's Tale. I would have liked the book much more if it had been narrated by other characters and abandoned the plot of The Handmaid's Tale's nameless narrator (June) completely, or at least partially.
All in all, I think Margaret Atwood did a great job of building this dystopian world (some of which, unfortunately, isn't that far from the reality we're living in right now), but The Testaments didn't meet my expectations and was predictable, and kind of unnecessary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Incest, Classism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Infidelity

Minor: Murder

mini_malist's review

adventurous hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

leonormsousa's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, War, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Grief, Torture, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Rape, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence