Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

30 reviews

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.

Spoiler

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

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

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

sophia__'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Rape

lexib13's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

wow. the parallels between Gilead and America in 2023 are insane. this book restored my faith in humanity while simultaneously crumbling it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Torture, Violence, Grief, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Medical content, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Murder, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Excrement, Infertility, Kidnapping, Mental illness, War, Trafficking, and Vomit

eatwritereadrepeat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Grief, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, and Infertility

Minor: Abortion, Miscarriage, Mental illness, and Bullying

zams's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

It seemed to be a very slow read and super slow-paced in the beginning, but picked up the pace A LOT towards the end. A gruelling outlook on how life could be in society, and a brutal reality already for countless people on the planet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Infertility, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Slavery, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Classism, Death, Child death, Ableism, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Sexism, Rape, Murder, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion, Alcohol, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Blood

maisieflorence's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This was so incredibly powerful! I really liked it. Very reflective of your our society still to this day, unfortunately. I liked the ambiguous ending. The whole story was significantly different than I expected, primary because I’ve been a few episodes of the action packed show. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Infidelity, Genocide, Suicide, Sexism, Confinement, Kidnapping, Infertility, Gun violence, Drug use, Death, Rape, Torture, Child death, Pregnancy, Murder, Racism, and Abortion

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

dark 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: Confinement, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexism, Misogyny, Child abuse, Violence, Trafficking, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Torture, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Bullying, Body shaming, Deportation, Mental illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: War, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Racism, and Antisemitism

dontbelieveinez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, Blood, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Infertility, and Pregnancy

spag's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Body horror, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism

Moderate: Suicide, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Infertility

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I read this book after I started the show. (See spoiler for connection between show and book.) It is very tense and covers extremely sensitive subjects in a brutal way. 

For this reason, I'd advise against reading if you are sensitive or have trauma that is easily triggered. 

However, it does highlight some very relevant issues and is something I think many people should read. It will make you uncomfortable. You might have to put it down for a couple days to process it or take a breather. But it is worthwhile and will make you recognize small signs of sexism and discrimination. It shows how small things can escalate. It is also very heavy on religion and politics, but I view the main character as someone wanting to reclaim her religion from extremists - for this reason I do not believe it is anti-religious but anti-extremism. 

I do wish they went more into some of the other characters impacted (which I believe she does in the sequel) but it also did a good job of explaining the world strictly from the main character's POV. 

<SPOILER> The book only covers what is basically the first season of the show but the plot is also a bit different. This leaves it open ended as well. <SPOILER>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Islamophobia, Hate crime, Infertility, Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Biphobia, Child abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Classism, Antisemitism, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Violence, War, Abortion, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

Ritualistic rape, religious extremism, political abuse