Reviews

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

achinglyshy's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

wait because this was actually sooooo much better than i was expecting??????? i'm such a sucker for dystopian books and this did not disappoint!! and don't get me started on the ending....ik a lot of people get mad when books end like this one did, but the historical notes section had my jaw on the floor like OHHHHHHH and everything clicked into place

i think i'm going to watch the hulu series sometime this summer after i finished doctor who (unless one of you yells at me that it's bad or something)

phantomnr's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

maike_kte's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

thealexarachelle's review against another edition

3.0

It’s hard for me to say if I would’ve loved this book since I started watching the series first. It is a good story, but I feel as if something may be missing. The show is not the same as the book, which was refreshing to read. Maybe if I read this 10 years ago, I’d feel differently. I’m kind of indifferent to it as you can tell by this bland review. Onto the next!

hollyxbear's review against another edition

5.0

THIS BOOK! The overall content of this book was intense. It is something that I could see happening in the world today. There are times throughout the book that it was just so boring and mundane, which I guess makes sense considering her life at that point was boring and mundane. It was just so intense, and the added keynote speech at the end where people were analyzing the Giliadeian Period was so interesting. It was such a great addition.

irachauhan's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

egajowski's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

katmuworld's review against another edition

4.0

I absolutely loved this book. The ending is what got me. I wish Atwood would’ve gave an ending rather than us guessing what happened.

blairfrank's review against another edition

3.0

I don't get the hype; I have haven't seen the show and don't plan on it.

stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition

4.0

I wish this story were different. I wish it were more civilized. I wish it showed me in a better light, if not happier, then at least more active, less hesitant, less distracted by trivia. I wish it had more shape. I wish it were about love, or about sudden realizations important to one's life, or even about sunsets, birds, rainstorms, or snow.

I wish that this story would have lost its relevancy years ago. I wish the people of Gilead feared different things than we do today. I wish that no country could draw parallells to a regime that treats women like products, disposable bodies. As inconveniences.

I wish that I could have the same distance to June's story as I have had with other futuristic novels, written by authors who could not draw me in to their reality. I wish this book had shocked me and left me unconvinced. The Handmaid's Tale came out nearly 50 years ago, and it is still not outdated. If that is the book's biggest strength, then our world's biggest flaw is that we can draw parallells between a futuristic novel and the oppression that women face today.

I wish that this future were distant and abstract, not one that we could see slivers of in this day and age.