A review by gabrielle_erin
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

4.0

I have such mixed feelings about this one! It's hard to read this book without comparing it to The Handmaid's Tale, which I loved for such different reasons. There were moments in this novel that were so poignant, so beautiful and so powerful, it reminded me why Margaret Atwood is so renowned for her work. However, I did feel like the novel was building towards a climax that was ultimately never reached, and the ending felt rushed. The addition of a completely new perspective so close to the end of the text was quite jarring and felt out of place, really extracting me from the text. This is unfortunate considering Atwood is so capable of crafting such rich and vivid worlds. At the conclusion of the novel, the reader is once again left questioning exactly what happens to the main characters which is obviously Atwood's style, but still seems frustrating to me. The connection to the original novel as well as the television adaptation was done seamlessly and with unique intent, almost as if Atwood was sharing an aside with the reader at times. The modernisation of the text was a huge strength of this text, in comparison to The Handmaid's Tale. This book was an interesting commentary on the modern day feminine sphere and presented voices from all perspectives while still managing to dismantle harmful patriarchal structures within the world of the text. A powerful novel, but possibly not everything I hoped it would be.