Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

36 reviews

pokecol's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

It is hard to say much about this book as a story because I feel fundamentally there isn't one. A good deal of the design of the plot layout is to inform us and to educate us in this frame of reference so that we might interpret the smaller actions within the bounds of this set-up. This is very good at doing its intended job, making us uncomfortable, question and abhorred by such a possible interpretation of the future.
However, as a narrative, the amount of content could make perhaps 3 or 4 chapters maximum. All that is told occurs as: part of the collective, Moira vanishes, meet a man, eventually find a zone of comfort in the horror, find Moira again and "escape". But also not really, because some of the events aren't true at all, a lot of the story ends up having been a fantasy of the Main Character derived to display a measure of comfort compared to what she is known in the identity of telling the story herself.
I do think there is of course a lot of power in this whole way of telling The Handmaid's Tale, but it makes for an admittedly very dull experience besides the deeper reflective context of the book.

Fundamentally the divined idea of the society proposed is disgusting and the hyper subjugation tickles a sore-point for me in a way I do not enjoy. I feel there is required reading in the intent of the novel but it only explores so much through the idea of our Main Character and provides little in the expansive meaning or identity of these change beyond hierarchy. As a story the snippets we flashback to and compare the lives before and after, is excellent and made for compelling hope in drawing our Main Character out from this world eventually.

But the fact of the matter is we do not really have any progress to the story, at all, for the first entire two thirds of the book, and then the last third ends up not even necessarily being true. I do not fault the MC for her choices and attitude, considering the circumstances she is very much doing better than one might expect - yet as having just finished it, I do not at all recall her name.
The fact that some points of reference are used to describe the horrific nature of the set-up but we skip over the "really bad" parts near the end seems to be a really weird choice. I have no interest in abuse topics at the best of times but I have to say that it seems a backwards idea to avoid that harshest dichotomy to near the conclusion in the failure to escape - even if it is to help frame the whole scenario as a more positive outcome.

Unlike other deeply dystopian outlooks on modernity, I do not feel I got so much a good a grasp on things that allowed me to live the experiences, or understand character perspective. I feel a little trite in critiquing The Handmaid's Tale for solely it's story content, because there is more message to it than that, however, such a message can be conveyed by many means and Margaret Atwood chose for it to be a fiction novel - and in many respects the fiction novel part is where it fails the most in my reading experience.
I do think though, the world is revoltingly plausible, and in many ways these smaller accumulating elements are no stranger to a 21st century world already. In predictive, and cautionary, writings such as this I think The Handmaid's Tale does do its job providing the subject matter to a reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

sashtastic3's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

A very good book. The story telling was interesting as was the dark horrific plot. The only thing that bothered me was the lack of indication of who was speaking and the lack of quotation marks in the book.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

sav_22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.0

Oddly, I did not feel as strongly for this as I did the show adaptation. I feel like it wasn’t as easy to connect to the story as much. Pacing was quick and it left you feeling hollow and sad; this was likely the point, but it didn’t really have any development other than world-building. this has a nihilistic perspective, which can be more impactful for the message depending on how you go into it.

the show covers this entirely in just season 1, except a few passages here and there. The show explores this concept far more deeply and gives Offred more depth and personhood. Her real name is never mentioned in the book, as the show takes many creative liberties to explore the concept more.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Abortion

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Self harm, and Abandonment

megb64's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Pregnancy

annelisedreyer's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Terrifying yet captivating. A must read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

giulianalb99's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.0

Al principio me pareció un poco aburrido y me ha costado leerlo. Está bien, pero esperaba más. Todavía no he visto la serie y tengo muchas ganas pero creo que esperaré a leerme el segundo libro. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcohol

jneverland's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Deportation

elenayasmin's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

4.0

Beautifully written with incredible world-building, Margaret Atwood combines her understanding of successful totalitarian regimes with her explosive imagination, making The Handmaid's Tale a believable future for patriarchal societies. I would however liked to have seen the experiences of minority races in the Gilead period, and although this was mentioned in a couple of sentences, this seemed insufficient considering the huge population of ethnic minorities in USA. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this book and found it hard to put down.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Pregnancy, and Classism

joan_zyaire's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Body shaming, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping

gswagatron's review against another edition

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? Yes

5.0

literally fell over and died this has to be top 5 ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War