Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

16 reviews

rubyrush's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Murder

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

bertieboop's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and War

afion's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Torture and Kidnapping

Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and War

knachknachjoke's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

margaret_s_library's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, and Deportation

Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and War

jlohnes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Alcohol

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: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, 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, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Classism

Ritualistic rape, religious extremism, political abuse

ratandorange's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

the world building takes time but it’s very interesting. it’s sad seeing offered forget her husband and child slowly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

jhaneveauguste's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and War