Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

335 reviews

elg1105's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Child death and Miscarriage

pookiee's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

I assumed it’d be very dark and make me feel sick to my core but it’s not like that, exactly. The writing is gentle and the story is disturbing and uncomfortable in a different way that is nonetheless indelible and depressing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

sparrolina's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Torture, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Islamophobia, Trafficking, and Mass/school shootings

rynbee's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape and Sexual assault

caroline_mclaughlin's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It’s so refreshing to read a dystopian novel that does not rely on a chosen one or the toppling of a long-lived political system. It feels like an anthropological study firsthand from someone who lived in a foreign, but not altogether impossible, reality. It feels grounded in realism, likely due to Atwood’s use of real historical events to develop her world. I appreciated getting to see this world not from a “radical” of her time speaking anachronistically, but instead from a victim of the system watching herself conform and make difficult or “stupid” decisions enforced by her situation.

I had avoided this book for so long, despite enjoying some of Atwood’s poetry. I thought the story would be too heavy and dark, and, although it was an older dystopian story, it may feel outdated and no longer truly relevant. However, I quickly found her prose to be engaging and beautiful, without being too flowery or grotesque. It was an easy read to start, and by the point it became more difficult and heavy, I was too engrossed to stop.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

kapplebees's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Excellent read, important book, bleak as hell. Atwood is an incredible writer with a strong message and she voiced it loud and clear. The only experience I had with this story was seeing clips of the show on TikTok, but man the book was not as optimistic and that’s saying something. I think it’s important to take off the rose colored glasses and just exist alongside something that is terrifyingly reflective of the reality we live in.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Rape and Torture

sarahgmo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Simply amazing! A modern classic dystopian novel with fun wordplay and imagery that just worked for my brain, and themes of gender, power, and autonomy. I loved it as much as I loved 1984, which is saying something! Unlike 1984, this book is from the perspective of someone who remembers the recent and dramatic shift of society, which I really enjoyed! Nothing is taken for granted as “simply the way things are” (from the narrator’s perspective). Instead, it is a very uncomfortable adjustment, which also makes the pious seem even more ridiculous in their devoutness. I should reread this in a few years to reflect on it again. Nothing I can say now would do it justice, but maybe in a few years, I’ll have the words to describe my love for every word in this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Abortion, Murder, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, and War

scoops_stories's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The perfect book to pair with your depression.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation

ellieswilliams's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War

cherichericheru's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Todo lo que narra Defred, es tan conmovedor.  Pude llegar a ponerme en su lugar y sentir rabia contra la dictadura, extrañar a seres queridos, sentir injusticia por no tener elecciones propias o autonomía total sobre tu propio cuerpo.
Sin duda, un relato que trasciende el tiempo, que nos muestra una ventana a lo que es en algunos países, muy cercano a la realidad. En algunos momentos sentía que no era una distopia, si no que un relato del futuro pronto a llegar.

La manera de narrar entre recuerdos y la actualidad es brillante, te abre la vista a cómo piensa Defred de sus seres queridos, del régimen y de lo que le esta afectando en el momento.

Además el epílogo es tan especial, porque nos da a conocer que incluso el relato de Defred pudo haber sido manipulado por hombres, que no es simplemente ella contándonos su historia, y nos muestra un poco más sobre la duración del régimen y algunas características que no obtuvimos desde el relato de Defred.

Amé este libro, sin lugar a duda lo volveré a leer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Pregnancy

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion

this book talks on topics like: a woman's choice to have a baby or not, surrogate mothers, women in opressive environments. (minor spoiler:

it also mentions suicidal thoughts of the protagonist , and attempts of suicide/suicide of other characters.

)