The Testaments: A Novel | 
Excuse the terrible photo, but it's 6:30am and I'm barely awake... 🤣 about to head on holidays and I can't wait to get stuck into this! The excerpt on NPR had me intrigued from the get-go: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/754859270/first-read-hear-margaret-atwood-tell-th...
pickSooo good! The perfect sequel. Maybe the only criticism is that it gives us fans pretty much everything we'd want. I'm not complaining! I loved it!
pickI wasn‘t sure what to expect from this novel.I love Margaret Atwood, adored The Handmaid‘s Tale & was slightly terrified this would fall flat.I shouldn‘t have worried &trusted Atwood. Nine months ago I ordered a signed copy (coming from Blackwell‘s) but couldn‘t wait,so listened to it.The voice talent was excellent.I can‘t wait to get my hands on the actual book to read it.I can only speak for myself but I feel as though the story is now complete.
My copy finally came!! And as a bonus, my BOTM came on the same day.
pickWhen this book was announced, I wondered if it had been produced by the sort of pressures that come with having a hugely successful show rather than the passion of an artist with a story to tell. Would it let me down? But I needn't have feared. This isn't The Handmaid's Tale come again, but rather, more satisfyingly, the story of Gilead that we need today. I am wholly satisfied. 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
so-soI read this on Sept 13-14, mainly on the Saturday and gave it 3.75 ⭐️. While it‘s an engaging read, it‘s not as good as The Handmaid‘s Tale is. This one is more of a thriller. I do think the 3 narratives does drag it down a bit and I would have preferred either one or just 2. I am not overly familiar with the TV series and i had no problem with the story.
“Being able to read and write did not provide answers to all questions. It led to other questions, and then to others.”
This is why literacy is dangerous to power.
pickI found this so compelling - I was kind of nervous because I just didn‘t know what to expect but it‘s really good! My full review is up on my blog now if you have a moment to read it!
https://lifewithallthebooks.com/2019/09/16/the-testaments-by-margaret-atwood-rev...
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This display is awesome! I felt like I was the only person in the store t excited about this. 😂😂😂😂
#margaretatwood #thetestaments #thehandmaidstalr
“Nobody is any authority on the fucks other people give ...”
pickThis book could never feel as visceral as our journey with Offred in the Handmaids Tale.We were in real-time with her trying to figure out what the heck is going on.Now it‘s 15 years later & the testimonies of a girl from Gilead ,a girl from Canada who learns of Gilead in school interwoven with the hidden writings of an Aunt ,the system seems to be degrading.
Atwood reminds us :Dictatorship/Theocracy have appeared before,they could again.Powerful!
Our local library has been closed for remodeling and just reopened this weekend. I went with my bookclub friends to check out the new space and OF COURSE checked out a few books. A BRAND NEW NEVER BEEN CHECKED OUT COPY!!! I‘m so happy just holding it!
pickIt‘s almost impossible for this book to live up to the hype it‘s received, but it‘s still a good book, and it bridges together Book 1 and the television show. The audiobook is well narrated and features some of the cast from the television show. Testaments has more of a YA feel to it than the Handmaid‘s Tale, but that‘s ok because 3 of the main characters are young women. It‘s well worth a read/listen for fans of series. Overall rating 4.41 stars
So tired but just … one … more … chapter … 💤
Coming up on Books On The Go! 🎧 we‘re doing a special Booker Shortlist week next - then A Single Thread - interview with Tracy Chevalier 🤩 - and Olive Kitteridge, in anticipation of Olive, Again. Read along with us! And let us know your thoughts if you‘ve read any of these. 📚 🤓
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I‘m currently reading The Testaments. Will withhold comment until we record on Wednesday. 😉
pickThis book was incredible. I wept at the end, and i‘m so glad that she focused on these characters (wont spoil their true identities) rather than Offred again. We do get a little moment with Offred, but that was all that was needed to make this an amazing sequel. 5 stars. Amazing. Incredible. Fantastic!!!
pickI really, truly loved this. I‘m grateful for the chance to learn more about Gilead, and I liked the new protagonists and found their arcs satisfying. And I would read thousands more pages written in Aunt Lydia‘s voice (and then happily devour them all over again on audio if Ann Dowd was narrating) - she‘s a problematic character, to be sure, but a fascinating one. A solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from this definitely biased Atwood fanwoman. 😁❤️
I was so nervous to start reading this because I love The Handmaid's Tale so much, but OMFG it is so good!
pickI was gripped from page one by both Margaret Atwood's writing and the eerie relevance of the tale. Each time I went to set the book down, I found myself reaching once again for the volume just moments later. The voice was different from that of The Handmaid's Tale, but fittingly so with the difference in approach and the time that passed between the two.
Finally able to start this jewel 💎
Almost halfway in. The cover intrigues me—the paper they‘ve chosen is rather smeary and has a tendency to show all your fingerprints, under a light. I wonder if it was intentional.
I just wanna read all day 💚but I do have to go grocery shopping so meal planning, reading, shopping is my plan for the day. Oh and seeing who else is reading with me and following them and liking their posts 🤣
pickI was so afraid that this book wouldn't live up to the hype. But it so did! I was hooked from the first page and didn't want to put it down at all. I loved how it was told from three points of view one of them being Aunt Lydia. Loved how it wrapped everything together!
Oh man - I‘ve hit the halfway mark - I vowed to take it slow and make it last. Save me from myself! 🤣
After reading an article about how Amazon violated the agreement with the publisher of The Testaments by shipping copies of the book a full week before last week‘s release & how that‘s yet another unfair practice Amazon used to kill indie book stores, I decided to order the book from an indie bookseller rather than Amazon. It arrived today with this adorable customized artwork. 😍😁 You made my day, Avid Bookshop!!
It feels so momentous to be reading this! I‘m enjoying it so far, but it‘s hard to leave Ducks, Newburyport. (I‘m mid-way through Ducks but we‘re recording our Testaments episode on Wednesday so I have to get reading!). 🤪📖
I'm about 1/4 of the way through this book, and I am so hooked. I don't want to spoil anything, but this is everything I was hoping it would be. 💚
I picked up my copy at Half Price Book and the cashier was like oh she wrote a sequel? I‘m thinking and they let you work here???? The book was the first display in the front 🤦🏾♀️
A gorgeous fall day (for Savannah) to start a new book!
pickOur return to Gilead is thrilling, more action-packed, more hopeful, but less hefty - it lacks the gut-punch of the first one, both story-wise and in literary style.
This story has three narrators: two teenage girls, one growing up in Canada, the other in Gilead. The third one is the notorious Aunt Lydia herself - as a powerful figure and keeper of Gilead‘s secrets, her narrative is the most compelling and revealing. Thrilling. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Look what arrived today! Complete with badge that says Down With Gilead
Is is a good idea to start this at bedtime?! 😂📚 📖
#Foyles
After my bookmaking summer school I‘m taking much more interest in endpapers!
Hello Littens! Happy weekend! How was everyone's week? I went on a hike, outlined a new book, & stopped by my local indie to grab this hot little number! I'm going to see Atwood speak at the end of the month and I. Cannot. Wait!
What's new with you? Anything interesting happen?
Really looking forward to starting this 📚
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#whatiread #TheTestaments #margaretatwood #agirlwhoreads #booksoflitsy #booksareforever #mybooks #books #readingisfreedom #readabook #booklover #bibliophile #wordnerd #fullshelves #reader #reading #follow #followme #library
pickOn its own, I liked this book. Did I like it as a sequel to The Handmaid‘s Tale? That‘s the part that I‘m not so sure about. It‘s a much broader view of Gilead, it‘s even seen from the outside, and told from different perspectives of power, and that all works for this story. My problem is that the lack of all of those things, and the confinement to Offred‘s perspective, were what I loved the most about The Handmaid‘s Tale.
Ready to dive back into The Testaments with my new bookmark that I got from Barnes & Noble this morning. I may go there a little too much. I was greeted by name this morning! 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
