Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

77 reviews

rylene's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

marionesq's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Unreliable narrator.
Margaret Atwood succeeds in writing that leaves more to our imagination, but doesn't leave you short-changed. You can trust your brain to connect the pieces. She does it by writing not simply visually, but cinematically. And the way everything unfolds is just brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

elizajstocks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, and Gaslighting

meganpbennett's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

For as disturbing and terrifying a story as The Handmaid's Tale was, I found it boring and very slow. It was very disturbing because of just how simple it would be for us to end up in this society, and just how many people seem to want us to end up in this society. 

As for the story itself, I found the narrator to be very unreliable, and the non-linear narrative was very hard to follow at times, making it hard to tell when various events were taking place. Very similar to 1984, but in a different direction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism

fandomsandfiction's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Margaret Atwood is brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Suicide, Antisemitism, and Abortion

kiapin28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Classism

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I read this book after I started the show. (See spoiler for connection between show and book.) It is very tense and covers extremely sensitive subjects in a brutal way. 

For this reason, I'd advise against reading if you are sensitive or have trauma that is easily triggered. 

However, it does highlight some very relevant issues and is something I think many people should read. It will make you uncomfortable. You might have to put it down for a couple days to process it or take a breather. But it is worthwhile and will make you recognize small signs of sexism and discrimination. It shows how small things can escalate. It is also very heavy on religion and politics, but I view the main character as someone wanting to reclaim her religion from extremists - for this reason I do not believe it is anti-religious but anti-extremism. 

I do wish they went more into some of the other characters impacted (which I believe she does in the sequel) but it also did a good job of explaining the world strictly from the main character's POV. 

<SPOILER> The book only covers what is basically the first season of the show but the plot is also a bit different. This leaves it open ended as well. <SPOILER>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Ritualistic rape, religious extremism, political abuse

emiliaelko's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

4.0

Very hard to read because it is so dark 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

k_galloway's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

lilac_ruiz's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment