The Testaments

OK, but disappointing. Felt like a dumbed-down, thriller style sequel, with none of the incredible writing and allegory and allusion that characterised the Handmaid's Tale. Sure, it tied up some loose ends and added depth to the original story, but I don't feel like it added all that much. Not sure how it was deemed worthy of the Booker!

Atwood at her best. Reminiscent of “Year of the Flood” in the changing perspective between various female narrators. Aunt Lydia is one of the most interesting fictional characters I have ever encountered, so complex and conniving - she plays a longer game than any I've ever seen. The expectations were enormous for a sequel people have wanted for over 3 decades, and our esteemed author delivered on all counts! I cried, my heart ached for the untenable world these characters are searching for a way out of - and I binge-read the book in two days, mostly because I wanted to know how it ends, but also so I could return it to the library and let someone else read it ASAP!

I greatly enjoyed The Testaments, which I couldn't quite say of The Handmaid's Tale. While I think that the latter is the better book, this one was a fantastic thriller that sucked me right in. Three characters provide their perspectives in The Testaments: Aunt Lydia, a powerful figure and one of the highest ranking women in Gilead's hierarchy; Agnes, a girl growing up in a well-off family in Gilead; and Daisy, a girl growing up outside of Gilead, in Canada.

The novel serves as a great expansion on the world of The Handmaid's Tale, and it was interesting to hear from such diverse viewpoints. Early on, it's revealed that Aunt Lydia is working against the regime. Her case serves as a timely reminder that, for the most part, the difference between “bringing down the system from the inside” and “full and enthusiastic participation” is imperceptible. Ultimately, I think that this lesson is the book's most noteworthy contribution, especially coupled with the knowledge that, while the book had a happy ending, it could just as easily not have.

The sequel to the outstanding Handmaid's Tale, this took a leap into the future of the story, leaving behind most of the characters of the original. All of the world building was done in the original novel so there was little to add here but this held its own as a stand-alone thriller set against the background of the original.

A literary novel that makes you think and keeps you turning the pages. A brilliant sequel.

recenzie pe larg: https://bloguldesefe.ro/2021/09/11/cand-oprimarea-otraveste-sufletele-speranta-se-ascunde-in-testamentele-lui-margaret-atwood/

Sometimes we dream about sequels for favorite books. We never really think they will happen. Or, if they do, the sequels are deeply disappointing.

Not so with The Testaments, sequel to Margaret Atwood's widely-beloved The Handmaid's Tale. What happened next? we all wanted to know. The Testaments wraps things up nicely.

I'll be brief about the plot: Three different stories of three very different women, and all three come together with powerful results.

The fear that underscores this book is the unvoiced secret fear of all women today, the horrifying thought that all the freedoms so hard won can be easily and thoroughly snatched away. My hope for this book is that it is a shot of immunization against that potential future. Please get your inoculation and tell others to get theirs.

The perspectives of 3 women inside Gilead. One broken down to become an instrument of the evil regime. One innocent who came of age only knowing the totalitarian misogynist ways. And one looking in from the outside, with unexpected ties to characters within. Their fates collide to push a domino stone that ultimately helps bring down the theocracy.

It wasn't as captivating as the original book, but it was a very engaging read, in a who-dunnit way. Speeding up towards reveals and an action finale.

I am also quite intrigued by the fact that Atwood defined the future for some of the TV adaptation characters.

As I'm not a literary critic any book review I write comes down to, simply, “Did I enjoy it? Was it worth reading?”. With The Testaments the answer to that is a resounding “yes”. The whole novel felt like an indulgent treat, particularly crawling around inside the brain of the duplicitous Aunt Lydia. To hear all those voices tell their stories (and their secrets) was a delight. After the uncertainty of The Handmaid's Tale, The Testaments brought catharsis.


I like the way Atwood writes - the poetry of her prose. I'd read, and most likely enjoy, anything she wrote. The Testaments is literarily quite different from her The Handmaid's Tale, seeming to draw more on the style of the TV show. This is amplified by the multiple POVs flipping us to-and-fro, keeping us on our toes. I found it less bleak, dark or foreboding than its predecessor. But, perhaps now, we need hopes more than warnings.

Others question whether this novel was “necessary” - is any book? Or maybe only stand alone originals are allowed? No sequels or prequels here please!
So Atwood hints she wrote it as a response to fans requests. Does it matter? She had been jotting sequel ideas since the 90s - you don't invent a situation like Gilead and then just stop thinking about it.
Atwood says she was driven to finally write the sequel when, “Instead of going away from Gilead, we turned around and started coming back towards Gilead”.
Where The Handmaid's Tale was a warning of what may come, The Testaments serves as both reprimand and redemption.

I think the only sequel I was more disappointed with was The Cursed Child, and that's not even a sequel OR a book OR written by the author. So what sequel is really at the top of the list here?

At one point I could have sworn I was actually reading early 2000's YA, complete with a combat training montage.

When not comparing to the original book, this is quite a wonderful book. Unfortunately it is hard to think of it outside of its legendary predecessor. Seeing the inner workings of Gilead from other perspectives was very interesting though. 

An enjoyable read - but also, sadly, an unnecessary one. I can't help but wonder why Atwood felt the need to write this book (marketed as a separate, but related, story to The Handmaid's Tale, which is simply not true). It seems she felt compelled by her readers, new and old, and their questions to write The Testaments. The quality of writing is nowhere near that of Atwood's prize-winning works and rather more akin to that of your run-of-the-mill books - which is not to say it is bad writing, just that it is by no means the elegant prose of The Handmaid's Tale. The plot is predictable and, at points, poorly conceived. If this was not a world I was desperate to know more about, I'm sure my rating and satisfaction with the novel would be much lower.

I would rather not go into spoilers but I so wish Atwood had written a completely separate story, with none of the same characters as the original (or characters linked to them or to those in the TV series). Gilead is a truly fascinating world to explore and there were so many avenues Atwood could have taken.

⭐⭐⭐

This was a really well done follow up to Atwood's iconic The Handmaid's Tale. It was a very interesting return to Gilead through the eyes of multiple narrators, all of whom play key roles in one of the biggest questions of the first novel - the eventual fall of Gilead. It was truly interesting to see how it all played out.

It did feel a little bit like Atwood wrote this with the tv show in mind, but not in a bad way. The bulk of its action is set roughly 15 years after the point we are currently at in the show, so it's clear she wanted to tread in territory far enough removed from Offred's story to give that narrative time to breathe. But it was really satisfying to read this, set in the somewhat near future with characters that are becoming familiar. Though there are some major differences particularly regarding Aunt Lydia that the show would not be able to adapt wholesale, should they ever get to this point in the story. It will be interesting to see how much of this they eventually choose to incorporate into the show, if they even get to this book's timeline in their planned series.

The audio narration is fantastic - that bumps it up to 4. In reality this a 3 maybe 3.5 story. Enjoyable enough but not as gripping at The Handmaid's Tale.

bit of a belter

Interesting book. The original still creeps me out, as does this. But it was interesting to see how Margaret Atwood wrapped this up. I watched the first two seasons of the show on HULU, and wondered how true they were to the book. It looks pretty accurate to me.

Spoiler beyond here.
Wonder if she was prompted to go back and “make things right” because people were unsettled, or if she had already been thinking about it.

J'ai adoré ! Je sais que cette suite a été beaucoup critiquée et du coup j'avais pas mal d'appréhension mais je n'ai pas été déçue du tout.
J'ai trouvé le dernier tiers un peu trop rapide mais tout le reste de l'histoire m'a absolument captivé.

Quero ler esse livro desde que foi lançado e ao msm tempo tinha receio de me decepcionar. Adorei. O conto da aia ainda ganha, mas achei uma super reviravolta e só o agradecimento da Margaret Atwood falando de totalitarismo no final já vale o dia...

Let's be clear: The Testaments is no Handmaid's Tale. As a sequel - even as an individual work of fiction - it doesn't measure up to the brilliance that is its predecessor.

What it is, however, is closure. For all of us who have yearned to know what happened - did she make it out - did Gilead ever fall - The Testaments brings answers to our questions. And it does so as a strong, engaging, fascinating work of fiction.

Atwood uses three voices to tell Gilead's continuing story, and while I found them all engaging, the voice of the Aunt was the most compelling for me. I found this novel to be a quick read - I was entirely engaged from page one, and didn't want to put it down until I had reached the end.

I think, for those of us who have loved this novel over the years, The Testaments will be satisfying. It doesn't reach the same levels as some of Atwood's previous work, but it is still a solid and welcome work of fiction.

I enjoyed this. I'm usually not one for reboots or sequels to things that had their time a decade ago. For example, I never made it through the “new” Gilmore Girl episodes, despite loving the series when it was on. This still feels timely.
I had quite a few people tell me NOT to read this until I was caught up on the tv show, so I waited. I'm glad I did.

My neighbour got this for me (shes gifted me alot of books over the years that i never read) but i remember a while after our power went out for nearly a whole day and being that at the time i was fully nocturnal i spent my time playing solitare on my mums work laptop until that died, couldn't draw or paint because i felt it was too hard with candle light and so read it as i had nothing else to do. Id not yet (and still havent) read the handmaids tale so some of it didnt make sense to me for a fair bit of the book, but i think i felt intrigued by that. I ended up reading this in under a week and feeling very surprised in myself, having not read a book outside of school since probably year 7 or 8. The jumping narrative format definitely helped keep me engaged and pull me along in the book as a non reader and i remember enjoying it a fair bit because of this!

Fazia tempo que um livro não me prendia tanto quanto este. Tão bom quanto o conto de aia, super recomendado