Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

383 reviews

batcavebooks's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Body shaming

vulcajes's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Hated this book so damn much. I understand what Atwood was going for, and I understand why she made Offred so insane, but my god. What the hell is going on. Why does Offred want to fuck an egg.

Also Atwood said that she never intended for Offred's name to be June, which doesn't matter but pisses me off personally. Literally why else were there so many June references throughout the entire book. June is the only name in Chapter 1 that we don't see repeated. The month June is in the book. Aunt Lydia tells the handmaids to stop mooning and June-ing. Margaret what the fuck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Slavery, and Suicide

lorie266's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Classism

bookwitch's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.25

First time ever reading this classic, and without having seen the show beforehand. The way that Atwood explains that she created this story using examples of things that already exist, and have already happened in our (or other's) history, make this even more unnerving than originally thought. It is perfectly fine to point at this dystopian novel and say "we don't want things to ever get to this point." But unlike saying that about books like Divergent or The Hunger Games, The Handmaid's Tale doesn't make up laws or situations that have not existed before, instead, they show you exactly how things can unravel (realistically I might add) to this point, or a point that looks like this. That in turn, makes a story like this much more realistic, and something of true concern, especially looking at the political cesspool of late. 

The writing style, while by the end of the book makes more sense, was tough at times to keep up with. It was a bit broken up, and hard to piece together into a cohesive narrative. It was difficult to always be completely immersed in this world and this story, based on the way it was told, although, like I said, it makes more sense at the end. 

While books like this are incredibly unnerving and make me want to scream from the rooftops for people look and listen, and heade these warnings; this is not why I rated the book so low. Like I mentioned, the writing style of the story was hard for me to stay fully immersed in throughout the reading experience, and I personally despise open endings, so those are the reasons for my rating.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

kassi0peia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexism, and Grief

Moderate: Death and Sexual content

Minor: Miscarriage

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, and Alcohol

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion

mj_86's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Miscarriage, Abortion, and War

alyssapusateri's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Confinement, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Gun violence, Excrement, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

readwithsarah's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexism

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Abortion

bethlevalley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

4.0

It's objectively a great book, well-written and meaningful. However, I had a hard time actually reading it due to the subject matter and therefore found myself avoiding picking it up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, and Sexual harassment