Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

15 reviews

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

morani's review

adventurous dark hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Slavery

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

imreallyraven's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Rape, Incest, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, Murder, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death

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