Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Testaments

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?

Content Warnings

abbs17's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny informative mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

Enjoyed it more than expected. I really liked it mote than the first book.

Struggled with the different characters to start but once I got a few chapters and got to know each narrator it was easy to differentiate. I enjoyed how the book was written, that the usual darkness and tense will they get caught scenes in books with tripes like this weren't used yet it was still gripping.

Content Warnings

lectricefeministe's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful tense fast-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

overdramaticsoprano's review

Go to review page

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

amy_park's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

Really good prequel/sequel! Enjoyed the layout and voices of the three perspectives, although I did feel some of the plot was rushed from the middle onwards, but I suppose that's the curse of multiple perspectives. Would recommend if read "The Handmaid's Tale" and if you are intrigued to find out more on the infamous Gilead.

Content Warnings

jenniferbbookdragon's review

Go to review page

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? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow! After 35 years, this is a book I never expected to happen. As a huge fan of the original book, and of Margaret Atwood, just hearing a sequel was coming was exciting and it didn't disappoint. Set about 15 years after The Handmaid's Tale, we find Aunt Lydia, Agnes (Offred's daughter by her husband) and Nicole (Offred's daughter by Nick) as the narrators with 3 very different perspectives on Gilliad. We learn a great deal about the Aunts and their role in Gilliad, and what growing up as a Commander's daughter looks like, as well as the Mayday network's continuing battle to save women and bring down a country rooted in oppression and violence. I could not put it down.

Content Warnings

saygetaylor's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

More...