Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

174 reviews

nschilling10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This book was amazing but I hated reading every second of it. This author is clearly an excellent writer and very apt at getting into the heads of their characters. They are also good at capturing how various non book mediums (film, print, voice recordings) would be captured on print.

That being said, I hated every minute of reading this book. It was hard to read, both mechanically and because of the subject matter (this book is filled with sexual violence, mental abuse, and emotional abuse). 

Ultimately, I think this book has interesting things to say about anthropology and how we construct historical narratives. Is it worth the slog? Kind of. I guess I give it 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War

lucyrudd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

jessabelow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A classic for a reason.  A must read for everyone living in the US right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

turninbackshejustlaughs's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, War, and Classism

lisasolomon's review against another edition

dark 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

this is another read along [or more accurately re-read along] with my kiddo. assigned to them in their english class i was a bit apprehensive. i read it many many many moons ago. and then watched 4 seasons of the TV adaptation. the two had merged in my mind into some kind of amalgamation of what i was unsure. i also wondered if i could stomach it with the impending return of an administration that many have pointed out have gilead leanings. 

on the one hand - YES - wow are we ever closer and closer to this dystopian insanity. the removal of abortion rights just screams we are on a slippery slope and here come the red dresses and white wings. on the other hand it thankfully still felt more in the realm of highly probable science fiction rather than the actual world we are living in. phew. i guess? 

the TV show had obliterated my memory of the precision and clarity of atwood's writing. it is good. i also completely and absolutely forgot about the anthropological/historical reporting of this as a paper ending. how i forgot that i don't know. but it did the interesting trick of adding a sense of gravitas - even through it's skepticism. even though we can't quite tell if things are "all better" in 2195 or not. 

the empathy to the practice of disassociation is STRONG. i can see how sometimes the path of least resistance or the protection of your mental health truly just leads to even more awful things happening. in some ways the TV show is scarier because the waterfords are younger, and slicker and thus more terrifying. it certainly has made me think about how to resist while maintaining some semblance of sanity. or not, but i can try. or we can try. 

part of me wishes atwood and butler were not as prescient as they are. part of me is so grateful for their insight. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

hallieanne88's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Torture

ramonajune27's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

mswarbrick's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.75

I only don't give it 5 stars because the content feels eerily too similar to the slow decline of womens right we are currently seeing in the US. This book is a foreboding tale, but also an expertly written and crafted story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

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

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