Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

5 reviews

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

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It took a minute to realize there were three POV but when I did, the story started coming together so nicely. I really didn’t want to put this down. I’m a sucker for a dystopian, corrupt-government tale, and this, much like The Handmaid’s Tale, didn’t disappoint. I really enjoyed getting a peek into Aunt Lydia’s mind. Atwood’s work continues to be timely and relevant and this sequel to the 1985 Handmaid’s Tale was equal parts fascinating and horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Classism, Gore, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Infertility, Sexism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, and Child death

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

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

magnan1mouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Blood, Suicide, Grief, Torture, Toxic friendship, Slavery, Body horror, Gore, Death of parent, Xenophobia, and Confinement

Minor: Toxic relationship, Cancer, War, Sexual assault, Murder, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Rape, Confinement, Miscarriage, Medical content, Cursing, and Classism