Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

19 reviews

czoltak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

“Beneath its outer show of virtue and purity, Gilead was rotting.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“”She's always been a respectful child."
What a liar she was. She knew how much rage was seething inside me.”
🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
I absolutely loved this book. I am honestly surprised since I thought The Handmaid’s Tale (Book 1) was just okay. For some reason, this one just had such a greater impact on me. I loved getting to see different perspectives on the society and learning more about how it came to be the way it was. Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy were all incredibly compelling, and I loved seeing the world through each of their own experiences. Basically, this took all the elements I enjoyed in the first book, added aspects I love and just more general info about the actual world, and made one amazingly heartbreaking, impactful story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Death, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, and Misogyny

theimposter's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Murder, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Incest, Suicide, Death, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Confinement, and Classism

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

---

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

kateburgers's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Suicide

Minor: Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Hate crime, Rape, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Abortion, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry

aliciapiron's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Sexual content, and War

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

---

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

elenayasmin's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Atwood wrote this book to answer questions asked by readers of The Handmaid's Tale. However, many questions still remain unanswered, for example,

how exactly did the microdot in Nicole's arm lead to the downfall of Gilead

. It was certainly a very gripping read, however I am feeling somewhat dissatisfied after having finished reading it. Atwood builds a lot of suspense throughout the book, but the resolution seems somewhat unrefined. I think she could have afforded to reveal more in The Thirteenth Symposium chapter.

This book differs greatly from the first book due to the fact that The Handmaid's Tale follows only one character, and we get a very immersive experience of her life. The Testaments however follows the perspectives of three characters, which detatches us more from the characters and gives this book a closer feeling of a historical document. Atwood did very well in delivering the different personalities through their testaments, with each character having a unique voice.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Violence, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Trafficking

Minor: Suicide

sakisreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

WELL WELL WELL. What a wild ride we have just been on 😂 I wasn’t sure about getting into this at first, because I found the chapter breaks between Aunt Lydia/Witness 369A (Agnes)/Witness 369B

(Nicole!)

challenging and almost disengaging, but once we got past that and started getting into the nitty gritty stuff it was phenomenal.

I love the way Aunt Lydia had such a pivotal role in breaking down Gilead and how she played so many people against each other so that it could happen! I’m such a big fan of creative strong women in books 👏🏼

 

I definitely was not expecting so much to be revealed so late on; I think I was about 50% into the story when I finally realised what was happening. But I am so appreciative that Atwood released this sequel; what an astonishing turn of events. I would HIGHLY recommend this, as long as you’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale beforehand 🔥

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Suicide

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

I think one of the reasons that it took so long for there to be a follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale is just that it’s such a difficult story to do justice to. I tried to go into The Testaments with tempered expectations and I think that was helpful. This book is definitely solid, but definitely not as haunting as the original. 

The story follows three different POV characters as we learn what happens after Offred’s testimony. I thought this was an effective way to show a lot of progression in a lot of different places without making the book 1000 pages. 

I will say that while it did provide closure, it didn’t have the same emotional impact as HT. I did appreciate the resolution with some of the older characters like Aunt Lydia.

If you’re considering this series, I’d suggest:
Read Handmaid’s Tale
Watch The Handmaid’s Tale tv series
Finish with The Testaments

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Blood, Miscarriage, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, War, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Torture

hot_water's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault