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

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I heard good things about this show so I kept an open mind while reading the book and I usually do not read dystopian novels but I really liked this one. Atwood's description of the different settings and the narrator's feelings really stood out to me and adds an important element to this novel.

There were parts of the book where the plot went back in time to describe the narrator having a flashback. Although that was confusing at first, I slowly got used to it due to the fact that I understood the names and the settings better. It also played a big part in informing the reader about what previously happened and the current setting got less and less confusing as more and more questions were answered. 

I also have to say that finishing this book left me scrambling to google the sequel since the cliffhanger left me with various speculations. I quickly learned that season one of the show only covers the first book and the rest of the seasons may not be related to the sequel since it did not come out at that time yet. I will most likely read the sequel over watching the show since it contains sensitive content. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings