The Testaments

Maybe 2.5 stars.

This was very underwhelming.

While I did not LOVE the Handmaid's Tale, I taught it to my grade 11 english class this year and it worked really well for starting discussions about a lot of topics, both conceptually and in terms of writing. The narration of THT is so introspective and slow while so much traumatic and intense stuff is happening around the narrator. The Testaments, on the other hand...did not do anything innovative or different. It reads like YA - and not the fun, dramatic, whimsical kind of YA that can be really worthwhile, but rather just formulaic and plot-driven. It's way less scary and oppressive feeling than the Handmaid's Tale, and the world-building makes way less sense. And despite being plot-driven, the plot doesn't even make sense? For example: It is never explained why it matters at all that Baby Nicole be the person the transfer the information? It would have been safer and easier if it had been any random person. In the final chapter there is some feeble attempt at explaining why anyone would entrust these tasks to 13 year olds, but it falls flat. Also we are just supposed to believe that as soon as this information was released in Canada, Gilead self-destructs? In the acknowledgements Atwood says "Totalitarianisms may crumble from within...or they may be attached from without; or both" but it is not explained how this would have led to falling from within? Maybe Canada would be more likely to attach when Gilead was weakened but if Gilead is so good at keeping Canadian media from its citizens why would they ever hear about this information release at all? I could go on.... I will say, the parts narrated by Aunt Lydia were the most compelling in terms of writing. Although the Aunt Lydia character here is quite different than in THT. If she was supposed to be read as an unreliable narrator that should have been a little more...highlighted? For instance showing her actions from the other narrators' perspectives. the Agnes narration was fine. The Daisy narration was terrible and read as very fake. Her manner of speaking/thinking did not seem tied to one particular age. Sometimes she spoke and acted like a seven year old, other times a twelve year old, other times a badly-written “rebellious” teenager.

Idk, the whole thing just felt kind of bland and obvious compared with the Handmaid's Tale.