Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

6 reviews

rea1997's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

I just finished reading this book, and I have to say, it's pretty wild. It's a sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, but you really need to have read that to understand it. The world-building is on point, and it's cool to see more of Gilead and how it works.

The story itself is a bit predictable, but it's still interesting to see how everything plays out. I especially liked the parts with Aunt Lydia and Agnes Jemima. They were my favorite characters. Daisy was kind of annoying, though. I couldn't stand her.

One thing I didn't like was the ending for Aunt Lydia. I thought it was kind of harsh. But overall, I enjoyed the book. It was a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

5.0

It took a minute to realize there were three POV but when I did, the story started coming together so nicely. I really didn’t want to put this down. I’m a sucker for a dystopian, corrupt-government tale, and this, much like The Handmaid’s Tale, didn’t disappoint. I really enjoyed getting a peek into Aunt Lydia’s mind. Atwood’s work continues to be timely and relevant and this sequel to the 1985 Handmaid’s Tale was equal parts fascinating and horrifying. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ktnl22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.75

Really enjoyed this book, kept me hooked from start to finish. Recommend reading the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

ameliaflint's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring lighthearted reflective 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

3.0

A little bit disappointing. Not bad. I did enjoy it and I was glad to hear more about Gilead, but I would expect way more from Atwood. This felt almost like a sell-out. I get it, money grabs are sometimes necessary, but they don’t always make for great literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Cursing, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Pregnancy, and War

alannah_m's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.0

I started this book saying if Piexoto was back at the end I would personally fight Atwood....


....guess it’s time to square up



For anyone who says this isn't a cash grab- c'mon. I'm always happy to give people the benefit of the doubt, but this really didn't need to happen. Weirdly I did enjoy this book for what it was, which was 'bad' YA-style dystopia a la Hunger Games, but there were a lot of flaws, and I question its Man Booker win. The plot was lazy and even harmful in it's clear allusions to the Elisa Lam case, and the ending (no spoilers) somehow retroactively spoiled THT for me. Also, (just a pet peeve) Atwood really fails to capture the voice of teenagers- it very much comes across as what news reports think 'the youth' sound like. HOWEVER, in contrast I really liked the Aunt Lydia sections; I wish they'd stood alone as a shorter book.

Pet Theory for this book: this book didn’t have enough depth for me to have theories

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Violence, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder

anything's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder