Reviews

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

chelseatheting's review against another edition

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4.0

Holy wow. What a profound statement in such a confusing little book. Love the story. Love where it ended. Love that it's not a freaking trilogy. Simple.

bookstoresurfer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved it, I just was not that happy with the ending.... there were too many questions that were left unanswered.

neat3's review against another edition

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4.0

To clarify- my star rating is more like 3.5 out of 5 which it won’t allow me to do.

briipearl's review against another edition

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4.0

Jumped on the bandwagon (thanks to Hulu) and flew thru this one in a couple days. It was a contradictory mix of several things: modern vs. archaic civilization, abrupt dialogue vs. flowing prose, reminiscence vs. facing the moment head on. Once I adjusted to Atwood's writing style, I found it easy to dive into. She had a way of hiding things in plain sight, subtly mentioning relationships and moments of import. There were several quotes I made sure to journal - I'm not a "classic" lover but glad I met this one.

marianbarlage's review against another edition

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4.0

This book made my ovaries quake in fear.

cole_ms's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

bookmhale's review against another edition

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4.0

4.2/5

As a woman, this was perhaps one of the scariest books I have ever read. Not because it had an absurd number of hair-raising moments or horrific scenes (though there are some mentioned), but because of how close to future reality this story portrays. This is a dystopian tale of a society that uses Old Testament biblical stories & principles to dictate how to govern its women in the extreme. Were there some parts that were a little far-fetched? Sure. However, as a whole and given recent historical events, entirely conceivable. And that is what is terrifying. Even though it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, I believe this story also ends on a note that’s filled with hope.

natalieboehm's review against another edition

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4.0

I might have given this a 5 if Atwood would have just used quotation marks. I understand it was an intentional, stylistic choice but it just drove me up the wall. I probably would have given it a 4 anyway. The story is good, the world well-thought-out and frighteningly relevant ... but it was a bit slow at times and the ending was so abrupt! I so badly want a sequel.

missanaxb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

_lesewesen's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0