Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

112 reviews

eyesofsonder's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Terror and fascination were the two things I’ve experienced during this entire novel.

Everything about this book is horrific and disgusting and yet — I found it so hauntingly comforting? Margaret Atwood’s storytelling is impeccable and I think this book is gonna be the gateway into obsessing over the rest of her work (I have 5 of her books coming in the mail 🫢)

I read the majority of this book in the the span of two days while on my period. It was a ride. Instant all time favorite. Sorry for the jumbled review, I have so many thoughts and I am simply to stunned by this book properly put it into words.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, and Abortion

chloe_bocci_07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

dylfitt's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This is one of the most chilling and haunting books I have ever read. It pains me to see some of the events of this book starting to take place in our lifetimes. It is gripping; I finished this book very quickly since I could not stop thinking about it. Don’t skip out on the historical notes at the end, either.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and War

Minor: Islamophobia and Mass/school shootings

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

harperphillips96's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

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

While I’ve read this book probably four times total, it had been a decade since my last reread when it was assigned to me at the beginning of this semester. Reading from an academic perspective is always different than reading purely for pleasure, of course, but even on the latter front I was amazed how different this read through was for me. The things an 18 year old sees are very much not what a 28 year old sees, I guess, and I’m sure it will be more and more different every decade to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Suicide attempt

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

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

beeping_librarian's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

Good story, horrifying premise. Unreliable narrator. Didn't enjoy the writing style with its run-on sentences, lack of quotation marks, and frequent asides / backtracking / waxing poetic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Classism

Minor: Infertility, Suicide, and Abortion

kerrence30's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Outstanding concept, character development & writing style. Cannot rate this higher. Terrifying world to think of; the reflection on a real feared future. One of the few books that you’ll think about time and time again after finishing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Child death