Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

36 reviews

linnylionheart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Self harm, Abortion, and Deportation

elenaaurora's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder

hollylollypop31's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Everybody needs to read this book because I refuse to become a Handmaid 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Classism

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

cass_eileen's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

k8lynn's review against another edition

sad tense slow-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

2.0

a little confused after the audiobook; might have to reread this one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, and Classism

peachybee53's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Handmaid's Tale is surprisingly witty and blunt for its complex subject matter. I didn't feel particularly attached to any character, though I found Offred and Moira to be relatable at times. 

Slow but intriguing, it carefully balances monotony with memory, manipulation and soft rebellion. It tackles difficult topics such as misogyny, fertility, tyranny and religion in a way that makes this kind of dystopia feel eerily possible from our current reality. I appreciated the dark humour, the way that society was manipulated into Gilead law so easily, and the way the writing comforted you into feeling certain practices were normal when they were, in reality, extremely troubling.

I grew more hooked the further into the novel I read and believe the epilogue tied it all together in an extremely clever way. I'm looking forward to reading The Testaments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

rchulin1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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? Yes

5.0

Wow I loved this book immensely. It is very dark but so worth it every sentence word paragraph was so well thought out and placed I found myself imagining all the reasons for each placement though this book is on the shorter side the story feels so long in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, 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, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

riverofhorton's review against another edition

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

4.0

I went into this book having watched the series, as each season was released, so the first was largely forgotten, although I did remember the vague plot. I personally would say the series is better than the book. For a start, the writing style took a bit of getting used to, especially with the way flashbacks are presented, but once I got used to it I did find it to enjoyable and thought provoking, but the series was more enjoyable and had the same thought provoking bits. I think that had I read the book first, I wouldn't have been interested enough to then watch the series, and may have DNFed the book before getting used to the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, 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, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

warriors123's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

It is driven by the commander and the main character is powerless 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, and Blood

Minor: Mental illness, Murder, and Alcohol