Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

141 reviews

gilmargirl'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? 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

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

bookishlittleme's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

Essential reading. Read this for my English class and I really liked it. It’s a little slow in places but I really like all the comments it makes on society and the role of a protagonist in a dystopian novel. Definitely made me think and notice things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicide, Rape, Violence, Abortion, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Transphobia

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Child death

zarzar22's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: War, Violence, Suicide, and Abortion

Minor: Infertility and Miscarriage

eleanorashcroftsmith's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Slavery, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Grief, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Miscarriage, Death, Violence, Abortion, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Medical trauma, and Gore

ajay913's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Violence, Classism, Sexism, Infertility, Suicide, Rape, and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Abortion, Trafficking, and Slavery

Minor: War and Religious bigotry

dorhi's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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? No

4.5

I listened to the audiobook of this, read by Elizabeth Moss who plays the character June in the show, and I think this added a lot to the experience of reading this book. The book is extremely narrative and mostly telling the story in the form of descriptions of how it was before the formation of Gilead and how different things are in June's now.

Gilead is a anarchist-Christian state that manages to take over much of the east coast of the USA and enforce their extremist religious beliefs due to the infertility crisis that seems to be infecting the US in particular. It's somewhat scary to think this book was written almost 40 years ago and how relevant and modern some of the concepts of this still are. This idea of women only worth anything for their wombs is still scarily common and often in the mainstream discussions surrounding feminism and what it means to be a woman. This book (and subsequent show) should serve as a warning to those who want to dilute the meaning of womanhood and wrapping it up so securely with fertility that this can not be the defining feature of a human, and yet is still happens so often.

I did enjoy this book, but I have seen the 5 seasons of the show that have been released so far so it was quite difficult for me to line up some of the events and characters described in the book with what they are like in the show. Janine especially seems a completely different character. June herself is much changed in the show as she is a particularly driven and vengeful woman hellbent on reuniting with her daughter, Hannah, and getting out of Gilead. June in the book seems a little more realistic in her downtrodden and 'used to this' kind of feel. It's a depressing read at times, but a fascinating one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Pregnancy, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

figss's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, and Sexual assault

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

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

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abortion, Stalking, Gun violence, Murder, Vomit, 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: Gaslighting, Sexism, Infertility, Misogyny, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

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

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

ryleee's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Suicide

Moderate: Rape, Abortion, Infertility, and Miscarriage

Minor: Slavery, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry