The Handmaid's Tale

"The Handmaid's Tale (1985) is a novel of speculative fiction by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Set in a near-future New England, in a totalitarian theocracy which has overthrown the United States government, the dystopian novel explores themes of women in subjugation and the various means by which they gain agency."

"The story is told in the first person by a woman called Offred. The character is one of a class of women kept for reproductive purposes, known as Handmaids by the ruling class in an era of declining births due to sterility from pollution and sexually transmitted diseases."

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Personally, I would give this book a ★★☆☆☆. I finished this book on my Kindle a week ago and it is actually the first book I have read on my Kindle yay. Honestly, it was a very underwhelming novel and I was expecting so much more. I guess I went in with high expectations since it was a popular novel and a Hulu show was even made from it.

Chapters after chapters, I kept wanting more to happen or things to pick up, but it never did. After finishing the last page of the book, I quickly turned to the next page expecting more, but it turned out that that was the end. I was shocked and thought to myself that it can't just end like that. I felt like some things were never clearly explained and wanted more backstory on why things were the way they were in Gilead. I think I prefer more plot-driven books and this is not that. It was a decent one time read for me and was interesting enough for me to finish it. I would recommend this book to anyone who is okay with a story that does not have a strong plot and enjoys reading dystopian novels.

Atwood's writing style also made it hard to follow at times and I found myself re-reading paragraphs because it didn't make sense the first time. She doesn't utilize quotation marks for dialogues which made it hard to decipher between conversations and the protagonist's thoughts. It also jumps a lot from past to present times in between paragraphs which got confusing. Her writing style is different and unique, but I am definitely not a fan of it.

It is scary to think that this dystopian society could possibly happen given certain circumstances and the parallels you see in the world today. Even though I did not like the novel, I can totally see why some people loved it.

There is a squeal to the book, The Testaments, which came out in 2019. It apparently takes place 15 years after the events of the first book. I think I plan on reading it, but probably not anytime soon. Someday I will. Hopefully it will be better than the first book and I will enjoy it more.

I started watching The Handmaid's Tale show on Hulu. Currently on season 2 out of 3 so far. I think there is going to be a season 4 which is expected to come out later this year. Let me say this, the show is so much better than the book! It is what I expected the book to be like. There is so much more going on in the show than in the book, which is exactly what I want. There are some aspects in regards to characters and how certain events play out from the book that the show changed for whatever reason. I am not complaining though because I like the changes. I am really enjoying the show so far and am excited to continue watching more episodes. Would really recommend the show, but be prepare, it is not a cheerful show.