Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

91 reviews

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

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

charlottemarie17's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

peachybee53's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

The Handmaid's Tale is surprisingly witty and blunt for its complex subject matter. I didn't feel particularly attached to any character, though I found Offred and Moira to be relatable at times. 

Slow but intriguing, it carefully balances monotony with memory, manipulation and soft rebellion. It tackles difficult topics such as misogyny, fertility, tyranny and religion in a way that makes this kind of dystopia feel eerily possible from our current reality. I appreciated the dark humour, the way that society was manipulated into Gilead law so easily, and the way the writing comforted you into feeling certain practices were normal when they were, in reality, extremely troubling.

I grew more hooked the further into the novel I read and believe the epilogue tied it all together in an extremely clever way. I'm looking forward to reading The Testaments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

sestout's review against another edition

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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War

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.

antonellarc's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

kiesha's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and War

christinewonder's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, and War