Book Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Inside the Book:

Title: The Testaments

Author: Margaret Atwood

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Publisher: Nan A. Talese

Genre: Dystopian Fiction

Format: Ebook/Paperback/Hardcover/Audio
Source: Sora/Overdrive

Purchasing:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

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AMAZON EDITORS’ PICK FOR THE BEST BOOK OF 2019

The Testaments is a modern masterpiece, a powerful novel that can be read on its own or as a companion to Margaret Atwood’s classic, The Handmaid’s Tale.

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.

I read The Handmaid's Tale years ago so wasn't sure if I needed to re-read it before reading The Testaments. I didn't and realized I didn't have to as they are truly two separate tales. 

I did enjoy this book and decided to give it 4 stars because the story did hold my interest throughout. I didn't think it was fair to compare it to The Handmaid's Tale and to be honest I don't believe that it really comes close in plot or character development. But, if i treat it as a standalone it was quite enjoyable.

Meet the Author:

Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning TV series, her novels include Cat’s Eye, short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; and Hag-Seed. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. She lives in Toronto with the writer Graeme Gibson.