Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Testaments: The Sequel to the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

75 reviews

kileyjojo's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.5

This is a pretty good follow up to The Handmaid’s Tale. It wouldn’t make much sense as a stand-alone novel so if interested in reading it, the first should be read.
I didn’t expect to have a lot of sympathy for some of these characters and I didn’t at the beginning of the book, but Margaret Atwood surprisingly makes that possible. This goes the opposite way as well, though. This book is a triple perspective one and I found myself disliking characters that are meant to be flawed but liked. Overall, it’s a great follow up to the first book and definitely worth a read if you’re a fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

gretareadsbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, and Religious bigotry

florenceassetto's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

atwood is a genius for one! this book is incredible, much like tht, very real, very touching, very relevant. the way she managed to humanise a character i thought was actually completely irredeemable is something so special and my main thoughts after finishing this are about how i need to go and buy my own copy so i can annotate and do a comparison! it didn't grab me as much as the first one immediately, but everything i loved about the way that the story was told and the nuance and hidden beauty in literally the darkest of times was preserved so it was very much worth the read (especially to cure my post-a-level curiosity! handmaid's will never leave me but it is nice to have new ideas to think (spiral) about from time to time, and to continue writing about even in my post-examined life)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

samshort's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

3.75

It was enjoyable, although I think some plot points took away from the message of the first book. I think I prefer THT as a standalone. I did appreciate the exploration into new aspects of Gileadean society, although I would have enjoyed seeing different demographics represented. All the protagonists are white women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

oystersauce's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Murder

czoltak's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

“Beneath its outer show of virtue and purity, Gilead was rotting.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“”She's always been a respectful child."
What a liar she was. She knew how much rage was seething inside me.”
🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀
I absolutely loved this book. I am honestly surprised since I thought The Handmaid’s Tale (Book 1) was just okay. For some reason, this one just had such a greater impact on me. I loved getting to see different perspectives on the society and learning more about how it came to be the way it was. Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy were all incredibly compelling, and I loved seeing the world through each of their own experiences. Basically, this took all the elements I enjoyed in the first book, added aspects I love and just more general info about the actual world, and made one amazingly heartbreaking, impactful story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

eilidhmacq's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide and Murder

irisandfoxglove's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I found the book really engaging and an enjoyable read. I’ll note it works really well as an audiobook, which isn’t always the case.

I don’t understand why Becca met the fate that she did. Also, I cried when they mentioned the statue with the forget me nots at the end. She is a character I was sad to not see more development of, especially when reading the secret files. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Torture, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

theimposter's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

tigertheory's review against another edition

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Fatphobia, Xenophobia, Vomit, Trafficking, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and War