Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Der Report der Magd: Roman by Margaret Atwood

145 reviews

magimiel's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Pregnancy, War, and Deportation

shay_talksbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark

4.75

Borrowed from my local library.

A classic of dystopian fiction that somehow I hadn't read before! It took me a while to get into the story and the writing, but once I did I enjoyed it.

Don't get me wrong, this is a heavy read, and one I had to take my time with so I had some space to process. I tend to avoid books that include talk of

pregnancy, birth and fertility

as they're a big trigger for me, so I went into this knowing they would come up & that I would need time to take breaks from the story.

It made me feel a lot of things: rage, a whole load of frustration, sadness and fear, but some hope was peppered in there too. The hardest thing about this book is just how plausible it is. This could totally happen, and we're seeing it happen across parts of the world right now, and that brought a lot of reflection on my own standing in soceity as a woman. My own fears and concerns. My own knowledge of how fragile my rights and freedom perhaps are.

The purposeful altering of names stood out to me in this book too, and made me think about the power of a name for self-identity, but also for ownership and power (especially when that's held by someone else)

On the whole, an incredible book. One I may bump up to 5☆ if it sticks with me like I think it will, and one I would encourage everyone to read at least once (even if dysopian isn't your thing)

Note: I didn't love the final chapter, Historical Notes. I can see what it added to the story and why it was included, but the story felt like it ended for me when Offred stopped speaking.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Slavery, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

alixbx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

To be edited when I can compose my thoughts.

This main character is a piece of work (derogatory) but the story’s major elements are so relevant all these decades after it’s first publication. I don’t know yet how to reconcile that I hate the main character so much and yet feel that this should be required reading.

Full thoughts to come in an edit, though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

This book is explicit in every topic it addresses, and it is addressed through the mind of the main character who sexualizes everything, no matter how unnecessarily. It is often without warning, too, so you can’t even skip over it if you think it’s coming up. It’s also graphic in every other way, too.

imcharlottek's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism

anna_hak's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

kiesha's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

beeping_librarian's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Good story, horrifying premise. Unreliable narrator. Didn't enjoy the writing style with its run-on sentences, lack of quotation marks, and frequent asides / backtracking / waxing poetic. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Suicide, and Abortion

marissasa's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

I read this classic not knowing anything about it other than that it had a dystopian setting that was very oppressive to women, and I feel like that short description sums up the extent of its social commentary. I wasn't really impressed or moved by the narrative, and while there were a few interesting moments and characters, for the majority of the book I was just bored. I felt like there were a lot of questions and not a lot of answers in this story, and even the answers that were given didn't feel compelling or deep. I am writing this review about a month late after I finished the book and the fact I can barely remember details about it just emphasizes how little this book impacted me or left any kind of memorable impression.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Grief, and Pregnancy

elanele's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Deportation

Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Abortion, and War

mgcalder's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective 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? Yes

3.25

Whilst Margret Attwood is clearly an excellent writer, and the concept of the book is fascinating, I found the story itself to be somewhat lacking. The open ending also seemed at odds with the rest of the book. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism