Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

37 reviews

anything's review

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence

vicanarc_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

This is not a prequel book. And that's not the author fault but rather the marketing's, because i've started this book thinking  it would go into how Gilead started, and while it is mentioned, that's not the point of the book. So, if you're looking for Gilead's lore, you'll be disappointed.
After all, this is not too different from "The Handmaid's Tale", except we see differents POVs.
The book was okay, but while I want to love Atwood with all of my heart for being such a crucial feminist writer, this is my third book I read from her and they were all just mediocre for me. I hate to admit she's not the auther for me.

We get a redemption arc for aunt Lydia I didn't like. Can some characters just be evil, please? Can i just hate dangerously mysogynystic people without feeling bad?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

reb_reads's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I feel like this book, although entertaining, didn't have the same value as the first. I was hoping that Atwood's resurrection of such an iconic text would add to the conversation of its source text and update it for modern feminism but it was still lacking in any sort of intersectional critique. Whereas the original played an important role in the conversation about reproductive rights in the 1980s, non of this was updated for a less white feminist view. It is still an important issue but I was disappointed Atwood didn't go beyond this. Furthermore, the use of Aunt Lydia felt like poor character development and that it actually undermined the work of the first book.  The lack of continuity felt purely like a fan grab for shock factor, rather than creating a new and more genuine character to fill this role. Name dropping June at the end of the book also felt like a moment of fanfiction rather than a complex plot point, and I would have preferred this left ambiguous. The entire plot didn't need to continue to revolve around these two original characters to be valuable to their previous narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking

rosies_book_shelf's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Torture

bookworm_nic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

beccic's review

challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicide, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

repunzee's review

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, and Violence

Minor: Infertility