Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

28 reviews

emequalsme's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

A terrifying and timely story of Christian ideology and right-wing extremism in government. This is my second or third time reading this book, and I enjoy it every time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, and Miscarriage

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.

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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.

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.

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Content Warnings

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

peachy_reader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

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

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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

another_dahlia's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Trafficking, Abortion, and War

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism

calaisnobu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

kberri11's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Death

rchulin1's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

Wow I loved this book immensely. It is very dark but so worth it every sentence word paragraph was so well thought out and placed I found myself imagining all the reasons for each placement though this book is on the shorter side the story feels so long in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

riverofhorton's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

I went into this book having watched the series, as each season was released, so the first was largely forgotten, although I did remember the vague plot. I personally would say the series is better than the book. For a start, the writing style took a bit of getting used to, especially with the way flashbacks are presented, but once I got used to it I did find it to enjoyable and thought provoking, but the series was more enjoyable and had the same thought provoking bits. I think that had I read the book first, I wouldn't have been interested enough to then watch the series, and may have DNFed the book before getting used to the writing style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation