Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

25 reviews

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

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

jlohnes's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Classism, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

jaylaccey's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Margaret Atwood is truly a phenomenal writer. She grips you into the world of Gilead and challenges you to think about how this society could possible come to be from the basis of our own. History cannot repeat itself, and it were, we could be looking at a society similar to Gilead. A perfect sequel to the Handmaid's tale, a book that ends with a slight glimmer of hope. The Testaments hand you a glowing jar of hope at the end, begging you to hold onto it, so that it may inspire you to not let an evil dystopia take it away.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Child death, Murder, Religious bigotry, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Classism, Misogyny, Self harm, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide attempt

bandysbooks's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

I think one of the reasons that it took so long for there to be a follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale is just that it’s such a difficult story to do justice to. I tried to go into The Testaments with tempered expectations and I think that was helpful. This book is definitely solid, but definitely not as haunting as the original. 

The story follows three different POV characters as we learn what happens after Offred’s testimony. I thought this was an effective way to show a lot of progression in a lot of different places without making the book 1000 pages. 

I will say that while it did provide closure, it didn’t have the same emotional impact as HT. I did appreciate the resolution with some of the older characters like Aunt Lydia.

If you’re considering this series, I’d suggest:
Read Handmaid’s Tale
Watch The Handmaid’s Tale tv series
Finish with The Testaments

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

chamaeleontis's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexism, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, and Pedophilia

tessa_specchio's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

crazy story, really fun to get through and try to solve everything
only things are at some points to so hard to read because of some pretty violent situations as well as a lot of triggering content 
if the content won’t trigger you absolutely read it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Vomit

natalie_1127's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, and Torture

Minor: Vomit

chronicallyplotting's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Phenomenal tribute/ending to the Handmaid’s Tale. I love the closure Atwood has given us. The surprises with each character. You will find yourself wondering where things are going until the very end. Hard to put the book down. You will morn characters. Cheer for characters. Hate characters. So many emotions. Fans of the Handmaid’s tale you won’t regret reading this. And The Hulu series has not touched anything this book is covering as it is 15 years after the Handmaid’s Tale book left June.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Vomit

bradypus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Homophobia

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abortion