The Testaments

Books | Fiction / Dystopian

(4.7K)

Margaret Atwood

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE • A modern masterpiece that "reminds us of the power of truth in the face of evil” (People)—and can be read on its own or as a sequel to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale. “Atwood’s powers are on full display” (Los Angeles Times) in this deeply compelling Booker Prize-winning novel, now updated with additional content that explores the historical sources, ideas, and material that inspired Atwood. More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third: Aunt Lydia. Her complex past and uncertain future unfold in surprising and pivotal ways. With The Testaments, Margaret Atwood opens up the innermost workings of Gilead, as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

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Author

Margaret Atwood

Pages

432

Publisher

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Published Date

2019-09-10

ISBN

0385543794 9780385543798

Ratings

Google: 3

Community ReviewsSee all

"This was a great sequel to The Handmaid's Tale! It really added perspective that wasn't in The Handmaid's Tale, and filled in a lot of the gaps. "

bookfrog

"If you love Handmaids Tale and the show you will love this is so good! "

Lucy

"Much better than the first one!"

PlayLyss

"This and the handmaids tale are a must read!!"

E V

Elizabeth Voorhees

"Good follow up to a tried and true classic. "

Stephanie

"I love Lydia in this one. I also really love that we get to know Hannah better. "

Whatever

"I will confess that I have not read the original “The Handmaid’s Tale” but I have watched the first season. I heard this point brought up by a booktuber who said that this book felt more like a direct sequel to the tv series rather than the original book, which I for one completely agree with. What I will say about this book in defence of it is that it did live up to the expectations I had for it just a little bit. With that being said, I feel that there were some missed opportunities in this book that could have been explored more. Those included going more in depth about Daisy/Jade/Nicole’s character, Aunt Lydia’s transformation into what she is presently (not just right after Gilead was created initially), and right at the end with the eventual fall of Gilead. The last point for me was why I just can’t give this book a perfect 5 stars. At the very end when they have this perfect ending with Agnes/Aunt Victoria and Daisy/Jade/Nicole being rescued and reunited with their real mother, who is not so subtly inferred to be Offred, it felt just a little bit contrived, although I am calling out as well because I do love a happily ever after. Also, when they have that conference/lecture about the fall of Gilead, they don’t have a lot of actual information about it other than the basics (Gilead is horrible, we will never go back to the way it was before). Maybe if there was more of the actual fallout of events after Agnes and Daisy were able to escape Gilead and the Commanders were shown collapsing into chaos over it, I could have overlooked some of the issues I mentioned before. I would hope that if/when this gets adapted, they take into consideration that because the audience was hoping for a full lay down of what happens when Gilead collapses, we would be able to see what happens after that does occur. I personally would really like to see what happens with Commander Judd and Aunt Lydia because this book does explore their very interesting, almost cat and mouse type foreplay game with each other."

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Erin Smith

"Point of view from Aunt Lydia, Junes daughter Nicole, and junes daughter Agnes, all tell their experiences and ultimately how the Down fall of Gilead happened. So so good. "

C K

Courtney Klassen

"It’s really good, the best after finish with the before book or the show"

D V

Diana Villalba Gonzalez

"Loved it"

J j

Jennifer johnston

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