Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

60 reviews

blymanor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Vomit, and Alcohol

peachybee53's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

A perfect conclusion to The Handmaid's Tale. This book had me hooked from the beginning. With three protagonists from different backgrounds, it reads like a historical fiction despite being based in the not-so-distant future. I loved the tones of hope and rebellion throughout, I'm glad that Atwood's dark humour has continued to shine through and I enjoyed the comparisons between citizens' and outsiders' perspectives of Gilead's totalitarian society. Learning that every practice included in the world of Gilead has real-life parallels was frightening but sadly unsurprising. Overall, a fairly easy & very satisfying read.

Favourite Quotes:

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

"The world was no longer solid and dependable, it was porous and deceptive. Anything could disappear. At the same time, everything I looked at was very clear."

"So peaceful, the streets; so tranquil, so orderly; yet underneath the deceptively placid surfaces, a tremor, like that near a high-voltage power line. We're stretched thin, all of us; we vibrate; we quiver, we're
always on the alert. Reign of terror, they used to say, but terror does not exactly reign. Instead it paralyzes. Hence the unnatural quiet."

"The world was emptying itself of meaning. Everything was hollow. Everything was withering."

"All of the secrets I had learned, and doubtless many more, would be mine, to use as I saw fit. All of this power. All of this potential to judge the wicked in silence, and to punish them in ways they would not be able to anticipate. All of this vengeance... I would not be telling the truth if I said I was not tempted."

"How can I have behaved so badly, so cruelly, so stupidly? you will ask. You yourself would never have done such things! But you yourself will hever have had to."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and War

beccamay99's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Self harm, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Drug use, and Pregnancy

hannahnadeshda's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, War, and Classism

rchulin1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

Im so surprised that this was published in 2019 more than 30 years after The Handmaids Tale was. But since this is the case the writing is a bit different but still amazingly done. In this book you get three perspectives: Aunt Lydia, Baby Nicole (all grown up), and Agnes. The story takes place fifteen years after the first book though some of the story takes place only several years later which can be confusing so you see Agnes as a child for a bit then as a teenager and lastly as a young adult in her early twenties while Nicole’s perspective is only from her being 15. Hand maids are not really in this book except for a few moments but I’m glad to have seen the other side of wives and aunts all that goes with it. There’s so many comparisons between Nicole and Agnes since they were brought up so differently but somehow have to work together. I believe this book is easier to read than the first book. Also I loved the “fake news “ bit

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

mandi_lea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

violet_viper's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Margaret Atwood did an incredible job with this book, and it’s a great follow on from the Handmaids tale. However, I would say that her writing did prevent me from realising that, in reflection, the events of the book were quite slow until the last 150 pages or so, which is why the book loses a star. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Murder

rea1997's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I just finished reading this book, and I have to say, it's pretty wild. It's a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, but you really need to have read that to understand it. The world-building is on point, and it's cool to see more of Gilead and how it works.

The story itself is a bit predictable, but it's still interesting to see how everything plays out. I especially liked the parts with Aunt Lydia and Agnes Jemima. They were my favorite characters. Daisy was kind of annoying, though. I couldn't stand her.

One thing I didn't like was the ending for Aunt Lydia. I thought it was kind of harsh. But overall, I enjoyed the book. It was a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lay_kone's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

bfab18's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship