Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

10 reviews

barbarianmissy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

I didn’t necessarily enjoy this book because the world it’s set in and the things the characters go through are absolutely horrendous, but I found it to be an incredibly impactful cautionary tale of how the world could look if women’s and human rights continue to be taken away under an unjust government.

The complete disregard for personal freedom of any kind for both men and women on the account of highly censored media and manipulated religious demands (not beliefs) is scary foresight.

Hope the world today continues to fight for the rights for people to choose, love, and live however is right for them regardless of what the government sees fit. 

Margaret Atwood’s writing is so poetic and multiple times throughout the book, she had me thinking about certain aspects of our world today in a very different light. Many times I had to put the book down and absorb what I had just read or take a break because I felt quite emotional for the characters. 

Highly recommend reading this book at this point in our history. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

chloe_bocci_07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

sestout's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War

anh_read's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

annabelle6969's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: War

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hleary's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pregnancy

ehutton322's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. I just didn’t want it to stop. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mikala's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, and Alcohol

lily1304's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? No

4.0

Rereading made me wonder if Atwood studied totalitarian regimes before writing this, or not. I like to think that there would be more solidarity between women than what's portrayed, but I'm not sure.

It's interesting that the narrator seems to downplay the racist aspects of Gilead - we learn more about that from the epilogue than the narrator. I only saw a few episodes of the Amazon TV series, but half the reason I watched it was for Samira Wiley as Moira. I guess there's a trade-off - if Amazon wanted a racially diverse cast, they had to ignore the way that racism and sexism are intertwined, & would have to be intertwined in an American regime like Gilead. But Amazon didn't seem to care that much about fidelity to the novel anyway.

I also noticed more the way the narrator's mother is sort of complicit with the coup leading to Gilead. Her mother is a feminist but shares some of the same broad goals as Gilead - pornography is evil, women shouldn't be sexualized, every child should be a wanted child, women should be free from sexual harassment. The scene where

the narrator's mother takes her to burn books and pornography with a protest crowd

struck me in particular.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Rape, Torture, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death, Miscarriage, Abortion, Alcohol, and War

therobinjoyce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

The Handmaid's tale is such a wonderfully dark and gritty, almost dystopian novel. Considering its publication over 3 decades ago, it is surprisingly easy to read and flows with such emotion.

The system of Gilead within the book is so brutal and cruel yet it highlighted the true capabilities of man. What man can do to one another, and just how dangerous and misogyny can be.

There are so many other reviewers who could word their feelings about this book with much more eloquence than I'm capable of, but if I had to leave this review with one closing thought I would tell you that this book will change your life. It will make you think and question and ponder so many different things and appreciate the lives and freedom we are able to live in this bustling modern era. How lucky we are and how we need to remember this fact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Misogyny

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, and Suicide attempt