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

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

📖 REVIEW 📖 

‘To want is to have a weakness.’

This book needs no introduction I guess, I’m extremely late to the party never having read it before, nor have I watched the TV series. Not only that, this was the first Margaret Atwood I’ve ever read. 

I guess the reason I’ve not previously read it is the fact I’ve lumped dystopian fiction together with magical realism, sci fi and fantasy in my personal genre reject bin.

Women stripped of their rights, the extremes of a patriarchal society are depicted here. I found Atwood’s writing a pleasure to read - I will certainly look at more of her work - and the detail in her world building is so precise. I had no trouble constructing a mental picture of the Republic of Gilead and understanding it’s rules and power hierarchy. 

This leads into my only niggle about the book, I felt the majority of it is in the scene setting and laying out the regime. Nothing much happened for the majority, I was expecting more in terms of dramatic events, risk taking and punishment. 

It’s full of intrigue, which keeps it interesting but there are plenty of questions left unanswered which is somewhat unsatisfying. Like, how or why did we get to this state of living, what led us here?

I’m going to follow up with The Testaments and I’m interested to see if this sheds any more light. Singularly, The Handmaid’s Tale is very much a middle of the road read for me, equally balanced pros and cons.