meririvilla's review against another edition
2.0
pues la verdad es que si que me gusto mas de lo que pensaba especialmente lo de lso tres points of view, desde el punto de vista del aunt lydia de baby nicole y la half sister que crecio dentro del gilead.
solid, quick , easy read, nada especial eso si. me gusto la aventurita.
con todo el mundo que se ha creado del pais, si que me extraña que me ha dejado mas que nada un meh de feeling. como no puedo decir que era malo pero de ninguna manera me ha cambiado la forma ade pensar.
solid, quick , easy read, nada especial eso si. me gusto la aventurita.
con todo el mundo que se ha creado del pais, si que me extraña que me ha dejado mas que nada un meh de feeling. como no puedo decir que era malo pero de ninguna manera me ha cambiado la forma ade pensar.
bellew7's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
laviskrg's review against another edition
2.0
One of the most disappointing books of all time, and also one of the most unnecessary. I cannot believe that Margaret Atwood sold out and wrote a sequel to a TV show. This is not a sequel to the "Handmaid's Tale". This is a fanfiction written by the author to appeal to immature fans who want YA happy endings. This lessens the original material, it makes it seem chill and superficial because the sequel is nothing but superficial and weak. It appears to be written by a fan with a vocabulary a bit over what I would consider basic, with the typical young adult heroines in mind and the simple resolution that occurs at the end of 300 pages of in-aesthetically inserted child molestation, teenage brattiness, cheap exploitation and all the cliches that YA dystopia has beaten into modern readers.
I see that many of the 1-star and 2-star reviews here mention that Aunt Lydia is awesome. I beg to differ. Aunt Lydia would have been awesome if we had found at the very end that she was the subversive who brought down a shit religious system. We find this out on day 1. This ends ALL tension for me, all value of that kind of character. I did not care about her background, about her excuses, about her mental algorithm which was not even detailed or explained. She just swore revenge and was a bad-ass judge before everything went to shit. But, if you stop and think about it, after the brief description of her transformation into Aunt Lydia, it wasn't that much of a struggle or battle. It was just kind of easy. Not impressed and also, I wonder if this character would even have received this role in the book had it not been for the TV show. And that to me speaks of the quantity of originality, ownership and literary value of this book.
Skip this novel and try not to think of how much damage it does to the original masterpiece.
I see that many of the 1-star and 2-star reviews here mention that Aunt Lydia is awesome. I beg to differ. Aunt Lydia would have been awesome if we had found at the very end that she was the subversive who brought down a shit religious system. We find this out on day 1. This ends ALL tension for me, all value of that kind of character. I did not care about her background, about her excuses, about her mental algorithm which was not even detailed or explained. She just swore revenge and was a bad-ass judge before everything went to shit. But, if you stop and think about it, after the brief description of her transformation into Aunt Lydia, it wasn't that much of a struggle or battle. It was just kind of easy. Not impressed and also, I wonder if this character would even have received this role in the book had it not been for the TV show. And that to me speaks of the quantity of originality, ownership and literary value of this book.
Skip this novel and try not to think of how much damage it does to the original masterpiece.
buttertoastie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
mikehuffman's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I generally like epistolary and found footage stories and this one has a ton of promise and is written well but there are too many inexplicably dumb decisions and contrivances to recommend it
oliviadew's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
thedisquietedpen's review against another edition
4.0
I definitely enjoyed The Testaments. However, it isn't the masterpiece that The Handmaid's Tale is. Handmaid's is a powerful exploration of ideas, tropes, situations, and themes that play themselves out in our everyday lives. The Testaments, unfortunately, is not.
Instead, The Testaments is less focused on the How and the Why, and more focused on the Who, What, and When.
The plot itself is engaging and driven, keeping a steady rhythm as it weaves between three competing narrators. It does provide some additional insight into Atwood's Gilead, adding new perspectives besides that of the Handmaid role. But overall, it did not make me stop and think in the same way that The Handmaid's Tale did.
Instead, The Testaments is less focused on the How and the Why, and more focused on the Who, What, and When.
The plot itself is engaging and driven, keeping a steady rhythm as it weaves between three competing narrators. It does provide some additional insight into Atwood's Gilead, adding new perspectives besides that of the Handmaid role. But overall, it did not make me stop and think in the same way that The Handmaid's Tale did.
always_need_more_books's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
5.0
ipb1's review against another edition
4.0
Not at all as ground-breaking as the original - a far more prosaic sequel, but enjoyable nonetheless.