Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

38 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

evaeyre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

an amazing sequel! It’s not directly after the Handmaid’s tale and not in her perspective either, but in turn you learn about a newer cast of characters who are equally interesting — including Aunt Lydia! such a complex and inspiring character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Grief, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Sexism, Medical content, Trafficking, Torture, Sexual content, Misogyny, Violence, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Death, War, Domestic abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Vomit and Transphobia

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

amfrtsedi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Torture

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

loxeletters's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so, for a lack of a better word, fun! Of course it was quite depressing at times, and often infuriating. But since we were mostly "spared" the perspective of handmaids and wives, it was somewhat less grim than the first book. I guess that is also why it had less of an emotional impact on me, though it was still so captivating and immersive that it feels wrong to give it any less than five stars. I enjoyed all three perspectives, and again found the primary source concept fun and interesting. Some more elaboration on the actual downfall of Gilead would've made me happy, but the vagueness gives room to think and speculate, which I always appreciate. Interestingly, I perhaps connected most with Aunt Lydia, since I found her characterisation to be the most fleshed out and compelling. 

All in all, this is not the kind of literary fiction that the Handmaid's Tale was - and that's fine by me. I enjoyed both it's literary and thriller aspects a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Pedophilia, Torture, and Suicide

Minor: Infidelity

czoltak's review

challenging dark emotional 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? No

5.0

“Beneath its outer show of virtue and purity, Gilead was rotting.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“”She's always been a respectful child."
What a liar she was. She knew how much rage was seething inside me.”
🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
I absolutely loved this book. I am honestly surprised since I thought The Handmaid’s Tale (Book 1) was just okay. For some reason, this one just had such a greater impact on me. I loved getting to see different perspectives on the society and learning more about how it came to be the way it was. Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy were all incredibly compelling, and I loved seeing the world through each of their own experiences. Basically, this took all the elements I enjoyed in the first book, added aspects I love and just more general info about the actual world, and made one amazingly heartbreaking, impactful story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Misogyny

irisandfoxglove's review

emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

I found the book really engaging and an enjoyable read. I’ll note it works really well as an audiobook, which isn’t always the case.

I don’t understand why Becca met the fate that she did. Also, I cried when they mentioned the statue with the forget me nots at the end. She is a character I was sad to not see more development of, especially when reading the secret files. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Torture, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Child death, and Emotional abuse

tigerkind's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Classism, Child abuse, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Cancer, Incest, Murder, Abandonment, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Slavery, Torture, Grief, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, and Excrement

Minor: Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Vomit, War, Trafficking, Alcohol, and Mass/school shootings

allydee's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

This book was so gripping that I read it in a day. I just couldn’t put it down! It was a great follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale. One of the things I loved — but am also frustrated by, as always — was Atwood’s writing style; sometimes, I just want answers! Still, the book breathed new life into Gilead.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Torture