The Testaments

I really enjoyed this, though I'm not really sure how necessary it was overall. Really interesting stories.

This book wrapped up so many loose ends from a Handsmaid's Tale that it felt like fan-fic.

I think it's more of a 3.5.

The Handmaid's Tale was never a classic in my head because I had never heard about it, until probably a little while before the announcement of the Hulu series. Even then, I was only compelled to read both that book and 1984 because of their drastically increased sales following the 2016 elections and I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. And I ended up with quite a lot of mixed feelings, the major one of them being dread. But I was never in awe of it in its entirety, only parts of it. So, when I decided to read The Testaments, I had no expectations of being blown away; mostly just a curiosity to know what might have happened next. And for all intents and purposes, this book answers that question very well.

My most significant memory of the reading experience of HT was feeling absolutely horrible and terrified if this was a dystopia that might not be entirely implausible in our future. And that's why the book still lingers in my mind - the author managed to create such a brilliant world that it evokes such deep emotions in us and obviously some of the things happening around in our world also reinforce the feeling that Gilead might not just be a fictional future. That's where I think this book misses the mark a bit, because we already are familiar with the world and there's lot less new to be horrified about. But we do get a brief glimpse of the lives of refugees, the underground operations in Canada and how they try to save women from Gilead and how most of the other countries ignore the atrocities of this regime due to the fear of war. We also get to know more about the inner workings of the Aunts, how they came to be in those positions and how the whole system of Gilead is propped up on a bed of secrets, lies and deceit. I liked these additions to the world but I just didn't think a lot was added to what we already know.

The writing was the main issue I had with HT - I found it very difficult to follow and maybe it was due to how detached Offred was as a narrator, I felt similarly towards the narrative. Thankfully, this one ended up being much more straightforward and easy to read. There are also multiple POVs, so it was nice getting to know more than one character, but I also felt we never got to know anyone too deeply. The pace is pretty consistent, but a little slow because we can't be expecting this to be an action packed novel. I really thought the ending would be more suspenseful though, but the buildup wasn't tense enough and it ended fairly quickly too. However, as someone who found the first book very difficult to get through and the show even more troubling (because of the tough subject, I abandoned it after a few episodes), I thought this was much lighter on the horrors and felt like a normal dystopian novel - which is pretty surprising considering it's Man Booker Prize nominated.

As this book takes place almost 15 years after the story of Offred in HT, the two young women whom we follow here have grown up in a world where Gilead is a reality. Agnes is the child of a Commander, as such it's the only world she knows and it's the only faith she believes in. It's only after she learns some secrets that she begins to question her faith, and what does she have left if not her beliefs. She was the one character I thought we get to know quite well, her motivations and feelings and her deep seated desires.

On the other hand, Daisy grows up on the other side of the border and even protests about the atrocities of Gilead alongside other Canadian citizens, but when tragedy strikes and some truths are uncovered, she decides to help the underground resistance. While I completely understood her grief and confusion about her life, I thought she acquiesced too easily to the call for action, and most of her plot after that moment felt very unrealistic. I guess I'm still confused if she was brave or just idealistic and naive.

And the surprise POV was of Aunt Lydia. I of course didn't think I would like reading her words, but I have to say I was surprised. I completely loathed her in HT and while my aversion towards her didn't reduce, I guess I understood why she did what she did and how she came to be that much of a formidable figure in the power hierarchy of Gilead. And while I have to admire her smarts, cunning and survival skills, I am still unsure about the motivations behind her grand plan. And I definitely would have liked to get more answers about that. But her POV is definitely very refreshing to read because this is the only time we get to read atleast a little about a powerful woman instead of the accounts of countless other oppressed women in this world.

Finally, I don't think my review of this book is going to change the opinion of anyone who wants to read this book. But I do want to mention that if you are someone who absolutely adored HT and want a true sequel for that book, this one is not it and you may be disappointed. However, if you just want some answers about what eventually may have happened to Gilead and what led to it's downfall, I think you'll like this much more. Probably best not to go in with a lot of high expectations.

Brutal.

Having read The Handmaid's Tale in 2017 and watched the TV adaptation (and then the subsequent series 2) - the world of Gilead was still petty fresh in my mind.

The Testaments, as the outline says, picks up 15 years after the Handmaid's Tale. The book uses the records of three characters' account to recount Gilead in it's more mature state.

It's Aunt Lydia's account that I really enjoyed. The character in The Handmaid's Tale was pretty horrible and tricky to relate to, but I felt like the TV series somehow added a much more complex layer to Aunt Lydia and now The Testaments gives her a voice, and I love it.

Aunt Linda tells of the time the Gilead comes into being and how she came to hold such a powerful position.

What's particularly brutal and scary about The Testaments and the stories of Gilead's inception is how it skims so closely to our own reality with its own fear of the different and long time brewing of hatred, racism, sexism and homophobia. It doesn't take a great leap to see our own reality take a turn like this to result in a repressive state such as Gilead.

The real only glimmer of hope is that, like The Handmaid's Tale, the story is being recounted in the future inside of an academic environment and lessons are to be learnt the same way we might study Nazi Germany. The Testaments has the same reflection and study of a society that has ended.

The Testaments both looks at Gilead's time of creation but also it's downfall.

I found the book to be a really enjoyable, challenging read. I also definitely benefitted having had The Handmaid's Tale in recent memory. I'd highly recommend.

Usually, when an author goes back to create a new story in a world they last stepped foot in a quarter century ago, especially off the success of an acclaimed adaptation, it feels like a cheap money grab, or an admission that they have no original ideas left. But Atwood isn't like other authors. This feels like a necessary counterpoint rather than mere franchising. The Handmaid's Tale now feels like one of two halves rather than a standalone work.

Had to put it to the side. Will go back and pick it up at a later date.

Disappointing.
Well, that can be the case with any sequel. Although the book tries to answer some questions about Gilead and its laws, the story itself doesn't have a premise or a build up. It's sad for it to follow after the amazing Handmaid's Tale. Received this as a Christmas present in secret santa pre-covid. Only got around to reading it now.

Really a 3.5.

A fitting sequel. Thoroughly enjoyed the multiple perspectives and another glimpse into Gilead.

I liked The Handmaid's Tale. It took its time to deliberate, make us want more and then leave us hanging, holding our breath. Its atmosphere was claustrophobic, its implications were vague enough to let us fill in the rest with our worst nightmares. Gilead was beyond a nightmare. It was my personal inferno.

It worked so effectively in part because it was structured around a single voice, that of Offred's. She couldn't know everything, so we wouldn't have to know everything about Gilead. This made everything feel authentic.

Now that The Testaments is here, and after having read it, I am merely shaking my head as sagely as I can. Part of me dreaded what was coming when the book was announced, but I tried to play down that streak in me that was skeptical. The first season of the TV show was excellent, quite successful in capturing the hopelessness of the book, and it wasn't Atwood's fault the show took a nosedive after that.

There are several reviews that describe The Testaments as either fan fiction or YA literature. Those hit pretty close to home, I think. Since I haven't read anything else from Atwood I can't compare to what her other books might be like, but much of this book felt more like The Hunger Games, and while that book has its place as an entertaining dystopian adventure, it's not a connection I was expecting to make. Yet there it is. On one hand I applaud Atwood for her courage to completely deconstruct the first novel and go in a completely new direction with this latter book, but on the other it's a path taken by so many apparently lesser writers it's somewhat beguiling as to what the point of the book might actually be. And then again it's understandable: there's no point to write a sequel in the spirit of the original, since it stands so well on its own that it would be even harder to justify the sequel's existence.

Since I find the TV show rather banal in how it has morphed into an action-adventure with some shocking social commentary for frills, I'm disappointed yet not altogether surprised to find that The Testaments has followed in its wake. It's predictable, the characters waltz around (and in and out of) Gilead as carefree as ever, and even the occasional sparks of Aunt Lydia's personality can't rescue it from itself.

I love how this was structured; a great read overall but I'm generally a sucker for Our National Treasure's works anyway. I am smitten with the idea that evil never wins permanently and glad to see it sort of played out.

4.5 stars

I appreciate the look into the other lives of Gilead that this book provides. I love that some of the characters from the first book are redeemed in these texts.

I do not think that this book has the staying power or impact that The Handmaid's Tale did, but I appreciate it as a continuation of that narrative.

I already want to do a reread ASAP

Of course read both books, and read them in order.

Margaret Atwood makes a much-anticipated return to the world she created in A Handmaid's Tale with this. Not so much a sequel in any direct sense, but a larger examination into the dystopia she created, the story follows the lives of an Aunt, a schoolgirl, and an outsider and we learn more about the society of Gilead that gets created.

The Aunt Lydia storyline was amazingly well-done, and provided a lot of insight into what a system like Gilead's would do even to those in privileged positions. She doesn't quite become a sympathetic character, but serves as an interesting reminder that the bastards will grind you down if you let them.
Agnes' story was really interesting as well. Seeing the perspective of someone raised in Gilead, and who accepts the basic tenets of that society without question, is horrifying in ways that even the original novel failed to achieve.

The only part of the book that I didn't particularly care for was the epilogue - it felt tacked on, and lacked a lot of the understatement and subtlety that Atwood featured in her storytelling to that point.

I loved the Handmaid's Tale, and I liked this book, too. The story takes us back to Gilead, but also to Canada. We learn more about the Aunts and how Gilead is founded and ruled. Not as ground-breaking as the original book, but definitely a good sequel, no reason to be concerned, Dear Reader.

This is the sequel to the Handmaids Tale and is 5 stars in my books. PRAISED BE!! indeed

The book is written in 1st person narrative from the view point of 3 different characters.

Infamous Aunt lydia who, before Gilead was a family court judge. She ingratiates herself to the new goverment to become a founding member of the Aunts. Using her position she becomes in effect a double agent helping the underground and mayday organization.

Agnes. June's (aka Offred) daughter that was taken from her when she became a handmaid and raised by a foster family. The story chronicles her journey of self discovery, expirences and eventual joining of the Aunts to escape an arranged marriage. She learns the truth of her true parentage

Baby Nicole who was rescued from Gilead and sent to canada by her mother June (aka offred) and raised by foster parents under a false identity. She has become a symbol and rallying call for Gilead as a symbol of injustice and the rest of the world as a symbol of opression, tyranny and all that is wrong with Gilead. Nicole herself was raised with no knowledge of her true identity till her foster parents are killed in a car bomb and she becomes Gileads only hope.

These 3 stories intersect in a poweful way to bring the story to a incredible conclusion 35 yrs in the making.

An amazing and incredible read. 5 stars

Didn't we get the point with the first book, The Handmaid's Tale? Did the sequel add anything? I must admit that I enjoyed Aunt Lydia's perfidy, but was she not in large measure responsible for Gilead's oppression of women in the first place? Her heroism comes a bit late, then. Anyway, I had no intention of reading this until my book club decided to take it on, so . . . I read it. I didn't hate it, but I wish I'd spent my time more profitably.

A relatively uncomplicated story and a fast read compared to many of Margaret Atwood's other novels, including The Handmaid's Tale. The book is three first person narratives: Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale, Agnes, a young woman who was raised in Gilead, and Daisy, a teenaged girl raised in Canada who is learning about Gilead from the outside. Of the three, Aunt Lydia's narrative is central. We learn some things about her backstory that don't make her exactly sympathetic, but they do make her seem more human. She is also present in the other two narratives even when she is not physically present in the story–evoked as a bogeyman and revered as a founding figure in Gilead.
The more I think about it, the more I think this novel is about Aunt Lydia. I would say more, but I am suppressing all kinds of spoilers.

If you're at all interested in what happens to Gilead in the time after The Handmaid's Tale, I recommend this. It's a page turner that doesn't require a huge amount of energy to read, but it is satisfying to think about afterward.

This must be the biggest drop in quality between a book and its sequel.

I loved this. It is (in my opinion) that rare gem of a novel that is a fun thrilling read, and has literary merit and importance. I found Aunt Lydia's back story harrowing, and actually had to put the book down at times. It made me laugh, the end made me cry - and Gilead was truly terrifying. Worth all the buzz and the hype!

Compared to the first book, The Testaments was definitely more linear and easier to understand. But, I think this is one reason why the book is somewhat average to me. While I struggled to understand The Handmaid's Tale, the mysticism of the book is what made it so interesting, because I wanted to gain more context of that universe. In my opinion, The Testaments shone the brightest when the focus was on Aunt Lydia and Aunt Victoria/Agnes. I wanted to read this series, because the idea of a society ruled by extremist Christians was interesting to me. Daisy's POV was very boring and had a Hunger Games feeling I wasn't looking for. Her perspective felt very juvenile and Daisy as a character was just annoyingly dumb. Overall, the book was enjoyable, but bland.

4.5 STARS!!!!!!

This book is very powerful and a captivating read. It sounds a bit weird to use words like loved or enjoyed for this kind of book.

It's been a very long time since I read The Handmaid's Tale. I think The Handmaid's Tale is a bit better, in my opinion, but this is very good too.