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natalie_1127's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Suicide attempt
nuala_koala's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
2.0
2.5
I was expecting to hate this book. I don't know anyone who likes it. I was semi-surprised. I didn't love "The Handmaid's Tale", and I didn't dislike it. It was simply "OK".
Some of my positive points about it include:
- I really liked the amount of description Margaret Atwood included within this book. I found reading this quite a visual experience - through Atwood's writing you could really picture what the setting was like.
- I thought that the way the story was told - in snippets and fragments, was both unique and interesting. While it was sometimes a little bit confusing, it was a fascinating way for the reader to gain more information about Gilead and Offred's life.
- The setting - Gilead, a world where most women were forced to be 'handmaid's to men - was interesting and a unique idea.
Some of the things I didn't like about this book;
- I thought that it should've been a lot shorter. Atwood really tried to keep the plot slow - it moved like frozen molasses, to take a phrase from "Jane Eyre". Many times, I like a slow plot - especially with classics. When the words and writing are rich and beautiful, I enjoy it. But, I feel that Atwood's writing was just not exquisite enough to pull the slow plot off. I will give it to Atwood though - I did want to finish the book. I was just disappointed throughout.
- Building on the first point, it really irritated me that there was a cliffhanger. Atwood had made me read the entire book waiting for something to happen only to leave me on a cliffhanger!? I will inevitably read the second book, though I am worried it will not explain what happened to Offred.
- I also was hoping that Atwood would also delve into how kind and good men can be. The story revolved around men being bad - even the more 'good' ones of the book. For example, even Luke had sexist views, and Nick didn't really care about Offred. I think the story could've been a lot better if Atwood had added another positive male character.
So, overall, The Handmaid's Tale was an OK read. I am definitely not rushing to pick up the next one, which is unusual for a cliffhanger ending.
It deserved 2 stars, so that's what it got.
I was expecting to hate this book. I don't know anyone who likes it. I was semi-surprised. I didn't love "The Handmaid's Tale", and I didn't dislike it. It was simply "OK".
Some of my positive points about it include:
- I really liked the amount of description Margaret Atwood included within this book. I found reading this quite a visual experience - through Atwood's writing you could really picture what the setting was like.
- I thought that the way the story was told - in snippets and fragments, was both unique and interesting. While it was sometimes a little bit confusing, it was a fascinating way for the reader to gain more information about Gilead and Offred's life.
- The setting - Gilead, a world where most women were forced to be 'handmaid's to men - was interesting and a unique idea.
Some of the things I didn't like about this book;
- I thought that it should've been a lot shorter. Atwood really tried to keep the plot slow - it moved like frozen molasses, to take a phrase from "Jane Eyre". Many times, I like a slow plot - especially with classics. When the words and writing are rich and beautiful, I enjoy it. But, I feel that Atwood's writing was just not exquisite enough to pull the slow plot off. I will give it to Atwood though - I did want to finish the book. I was just disappointed throughout.
- Building on the first point, it really irritated me that there was a cliffhanger. Atwood had made me read the entire book waiting for something to happen only to leave me on a cliffhanger!? I will inevitably read the second book, though I am worried it will not explain what happened to Offred.
- I also was hoping that Atwood would also delve into how kind and good men can be. The story revolved around men being bad - even the more 'good' ones of the book. For example, even Luke had sexist views, and Nick didn't really care about Offred. I think the story could've been a lot better if Atwood had added another positive male character.
So, overall, The Handmaid's Tale was an OK read. I am definitely not rushing to pick up the next one, which is unusual for a cliffhanger ending.
It deserved 2 stars, so that's what it got.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, and Torture
dsaiz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Physical abuse
lizziereads608d5's review against another edition
I only got to the first few chapter and then just lost interest in it. For me i think it was a little to dark to start with, i might try it again later on but for now i will leave it in my book graveyard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Infertility, Sexism, Sexual content, and Slavery
chalkletters's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Despite not having got on particularly well with any of the Margaret Atwood books I'd previously encountered, I read The Handmaid's Tale when the TV series came out. (Hard to say why; I hadn't watched the TV series before, nor have I since.) 'Enjoy' seems the wrong word, but it absorbed me much more than Cat's Eye or The Penelopiad. Rereading was a very different experience, because I already knew how the society was structured, which allowed me more space to appreciate the nuances and details.
For many people, the first read of The Handmaid's Tale will be all about the society of Gilead, working out what is different from our world, at what point in history it diverged and how all the different roles function. Margaret Atwood reveals this slowly, piece by piece, keeping the reader hungry for more knowledge, a better understanding. It creates a connection between the reader and Offred, who is also constantly seeking knowledge that she's not supposed to have.
Once you've understood the society that Margaret Atwood has created, the rest of the story focuses primarily on Offred and her emotional reaction to what's being done to her. Margaret Atwood really takes the reader into Offred's thoughts, and this creates just enough distance from Offred's horrifying treatment that reading The Handmaid's Tale is uncomfortable without being agonising. That said, Offred's narrative involves metafictional elements of her questioning or outright contradicting her own version of events, so the reader can never be one hundred per cent sure what's true and what isn't. The academic conference which ends the novel doubles down on this, and yet, Offred's story always feels as though it's substantially honest.
While Offred suffers what seems to be primarily the 'normal' fate of a Handmaid, the characters around her face harsher or more dramatic conclusions to their stories. Hearing about Ofglen, Ofwarren and Moira shows just how rare it is that Offred seems to end the novel by escaping from her situation, giving the reader a glimpse of hope which is reinforced by the academic conference confirming that Gilead is a society firmly in the past.
While I expected my second read of The Handmaid's Tale to feel different from the first, I was surprised by how compelling Margaret Atwood's writing still was. I don't know if I feel the need to keep it to read again, but I won't rule it or the sequel out as future projects.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Pregnancy, and Deportation
Minor: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, and Abortion
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