Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Testaments

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The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

20 reviews

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-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? No

3.25

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james1star's review

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challenging dark hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Did The Handmaid’s Tale (THT) need a sequel? No
Was this my vision / the best sequel? No
Was it a satisfactory sequel? Yes
Is it a good book? Yes

Margaret Atwood once agains transports us back to Gilead, and Canada, via her incredible use of descriptive and psychological writing. This was an encapsulating novel and entertaining read with great world-building, character studies with a good plot.

Thankfully we don’t have Offred as a character which really wouldn’t have bode well with me - we left her entering the darkness… or perhaps the light, this ambiguity is one of my favourite parts of THT and picked up on in the historical notes with the icon line of ‘are there any questions?’ Yes we have many! Instead the testaments follows the stories of three women: aunt Lydia, Agnes (this we believe to be Offred’s first child Hannah who was taken from her when captured trying to escape) and Nicole/Daisy (this ‘is’ Offred and Nick’s child who was smuggled to Canada as a baby) and how they each played a role in the downfall of Gilead. The plots and storylines are well written, entertaining and makes you want to read on but they do lack the psychological pull THT had. Additionally, some of the plot twists are kind of telegraphed and the stories all fit together a bit too well and cleanly… made for a tv adaptation? Maybe? I missed the messiness and uncertainty and inner fear that Offred experiences in THT.

Another difference is how the Testaments is more action-focused and hopeful than the original - it’s the suffragettes to THT’s suffragists if you get what I mean. I liked this for sure and it’s entertaining but I did miss the inner pull and heartache, this separation of mind and body with Offred taking ownership of her mental body is her rebellion in a society where all that matters is her body and this is her power. Whereas information and smuggling is the power here, among other things. This actionness also makes the events and characters less realistic to THT but still ‘speculative’ in ways.

Of the three perspectives, aunt Lydia’s is by far the best and most encapsulating. That’s not to say Agnes and Nicole’s aren’t - they are and Atwood writes teenaged so well and lifelike for someone in their 80s. I wanted, I needed, I should have hated aunt Lydia. She is horrible and vindictive and did so many immoral things in THT and the Testaments but I couldn’t. I loved her. She’s so cunning, so knowledgeable, so focused, so powerful. She’s a badass. I don’t only like her for her crucial role in Gilead’s downfall but also her demeanour and personality despite being a villain in a sense. But also we got to see her story, how she was forced into this position - this or death and she chose to live, to thrive in fact, to hold power behind the scenes in a country where women lost all the power they had.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book and would totally recommend it. It’s a good book for sure and an adequate sequel to such an amazing literary classic but doesn’t compare in impact - how could it?

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onegirlandtheworld's review

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challenging dark reflective 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? No

5.0

It has been a while since I read The Handmaids Tale but I had watched the TV adaptation and was intrigued by where the story went in the later seasons especially after seeing comments online in relation to Aunt Lydia and The Testaments.

I could not put this book down! I loved the 3 different perspectives and how they were gradually woven together. Although I worked out fairly early on where it was going with Baby Nicole and Agnes (probably helped along by the TV series) I still enjoyed reading how it unfolded.

In some ways I wish we got to hear more about whether Offred was the mother in question and what happened to the girls in Canada. However, the fact that all is never revealed in this and The Handmaids Tale is part of the experience and makes it feel real. We will never truly know what happened in the past and that's what makes it so interesting!

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dobbywobby's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I love the first book, but I wish this one touched on Offred. She is not a present character in this novel. The book shifts through multiple POV and all characters know of Offred and she is respected and feared, but no one really talks about

how she escaped or how her life turns out. It is mostly Aunt Lydia’s perspective showing how Gilead came to be and how Aunt Lydia grew to be the cruel character she is depicted as in the first book.

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abookandaspotoftea's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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? Yes

3.5

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anything's review

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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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vicanarc_'s review against another edition

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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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