Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

23 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Cursing, Incest, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Murder, War, 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perspectives of three characters, which detatches us more from the characters and gives this book a closer feeling of a historical document.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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Pedophilia, Violence, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment

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 🔥

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Content Warnings

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

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

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Content Warnings

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

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

natalie_1127's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Torture, and Grief

Minor: Vomit

celisabell's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-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? No

4.0

I deeply enjoyed knowing more about Gilead's rising and fall. The way the different stories connected gave it a very good flow, and I just couldn't stop reading. It made me want to go back and read the Handmaid's tale once more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Infertility, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Abortion, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy

therobinjoyce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

"As they say, history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes"

Margaret Atwood does it again with this thrilling sequel to The Handmaid's Tale.

I have no words to express how much I loved this book. The chopping between testaments from Aunt Lydia, Jade, and Agnes was wonderfully done and really invested me in the tales from Gilead and the lives of the women withing it.

The plot twists were epic and had me reeling, and the whole book from start to finish was gripping, chilling, and dastardly dark. Showing the true power of man's reach and the possibilities of what could happen if the world we live in is allowed to mimic history.

A well-deserved five star rating for such an exceptional book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

anything's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder