A review by escape_through_pages
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

• 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

3.25

📖 REVIEW 📖

‘You don’t believe the sky is falling until a chunk of it falls on you.’ 

I read The Testaments only a month after reading The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time. 

Aside from the same dystopian setting, the oppressive Republic of Gilead, I found they read very differently. 

In The Handmaid’s Tale, the entire narrative is told from the first person perspective of handmaid, Offred. The Testaments is set a couple of decades later with chapters alternating between perspectives of three characters - the famous Aunt Lydia, Agnes, a girl raised in the regime, and a girl, Daisy, raised in free Canada, who has links to Gilead. The history of all three is revealed as the story evolves and their paths are brought together in the present day.

To begin with I was enjoying this more than The Handmaid’s Tale, there was more going on, I liked the character variety and an intriguing plot was being teased. The only thing I had reservations with was the voice of Aunt Lydia, I was not convinced this was the same stern, fierce woman we met in The Handmaid’s Tale.

Unfortunately, the book started progressively running out of steam from about the halfway point. I just didn’t buy into the way events unfolded. Knowing the strictness of the regime in Gilead and the consequences of breaking the rules, it all seemed a bit… easy (lazy 😬). It was all wrapped up rather too quickly and I didn’t feel it was fitting for the foundations that had been laid way back in THT. 

And dare I say it, I think Girl, Woman, Other deserved to be the stand alone Booker winner in 2019.