A review by seawarrior
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

It's difficult to review this book because I feel that everything that could possibly be analyzed about it has already been said, especially with the popularity of the television show. I really enjoyed reading it, although the scenario described was repulsive. Atwood cleverly set up a dystopia that seems closer to actuality with each passing day, although the book was originally published decades earlier. Demonization of sex work and women in the workforce spirals into a world ruled under Biblical fundamentals, where wealthy men still behave in ways that spit on their own supposedly held values. Offred's devastating descriptions of her time as a Handmaid and worsening mental state reveal how even someone who once had agency in the world are bludgeoned by systems of bigotry that seem inescapable. Atwood illustrates this world with a nuance that deftly critiques Biblical values, gender-based exploitation and violence, and the shortcomings of modern feminism. I definitely recommend this book to other readers, and wish I could have read it in a literature course to gain even more insight into its messages. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings