Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

7 reviews

renorsomethin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful medium-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Abortion, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

anh_read's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

booksnobb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

this was obviously a brilliant book and is defo a new fave of mine.

it was not what i was expecting. i did not expect such incredible writing, nor such a disturbing story - but i loved it anyway. the writing style made this book and if im honest, its easily the best writing i have ever read: it was complex, not to the point of it being a difficult read, but it was so soul-bearing and rich with tension, emotion and vivid mental pictures. i could rave about it for ages but in summary, it dropped my jaw and it WILL open your legs. However, i found that near the ending the writing became slightly repetitive - like too much of a good thing. i wish Atwood used less minicliffhangers at the end of paragraphs (please tell me that makes sense) because although they were all great, there were so many that they kinda lost their punch and had a much lesser impact.

Atwood’s take on dystopia was so captivating and actually quite frightening. even though it is very very far off from our current reality, as i read this, the worldbuilding was so solid that i felt like this was a genuine possibility. and im not gonna do a whole analysis here but the social issues dealt with here had such intriguing commentary. you could write a book on this book and im sure someone has. i would read it.

oh and this is the first book where i didn’t roll my eyes at the first-person narrative bc she executes it SO WELL. there was no looking into her golden orbs in the mirror 🥳🥳 ngl i didnt even notice that it was in first person until like the middle of the book. Whether thats a compliment to Atwood or an insult to me im not sure. probably both. and this book actually wouldnt have worked in the third person, even if it were omniscient. it’s just too intimate for that. 

i loved all the characters, especially the protagonist because damn they were so INTERESTING. im not really one for morals influencing whether i like a character, but i need them to feel genuine. so although there wasnt much development per se, there was a lot of character work, and i felt like i understood them. i think its because the protagonist had so much empathy, so through her eyes we saw each character laid bare. Atwood also didnt give two shits whether we liked them, and in doing so made them much more real and imo likeable. 

i loved the structure - the story escalated gradually and the plot thickened as it kinda examined and critiqued the society and it made me feel pretty smart while reading it. i love books that boost my ego. Atwood just has this way of providing information unhurriedly, so it feels like a natural expansion and never like infodumping.

so, in summary, go read The Handmaid’s Tale 💗💕

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Vomit, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

eldritch_ace's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Self harm, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Pregnancy

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

apatheticastronaut13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

3.5

So, I don't really read dystopian but I've been meaning to read this for a long time after hearing people raving about the tv show (you may have guessed I like to read the book first!). 

It took me a while to get into as a couple of things bothered me - the overuse of commas and the lack of speech marks for certain bits of dialogue - but after a while I started to get used to it.

I neither loved nor disliked the story and writing - it was kind of average I guess. I would have liked some more insight into how the situation of Gilead came about, as it seemed like it happened practically overnight and was hard to imagine. 

Again, the characters were neither here nor there - I think the one I liked most was Moira, from the snippets we heard of her! I was also left wondering what Offred's real name was, as we were told pretty much everyone else's. 

The ending was a bit abrupt and I was left thinking, "Oh is that it?". But I'm hoping the TV show, and perhaps The Testaments (which I'll get around to reading st some point!) will tell us what actually happened after.

Overall, an okay story which is now marked off my list of books I should definitely read in my lifetime. 

3.5*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Death and Kidnapping

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic