The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood Review

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Fiction; Classics; Science Fiction; Dystopia; Feminism; Fantasy; Literature; Adult Fiction
Goodreads Rating: 4.03/ 5 stars
My Rating: 5/5
Pages: 311 ( Paperback )
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: March 16, 1998 ( Original Publication: 1985)

Summary: Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...

"We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn't the same as ignorance, you have to work at it."

Margaret Atwood is an author I've heard mentioned countless times before, from readers of all genres. And now I finally understand why she is as beloved and praised as she is. The flow of her writing is wonderfully steady - not too slow and not too fast. Her excellent pacing creates an engaging atmosphere and cast of characters. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that it was difficult for me to put The Handmaid's Tale down.

"I avoid looking down at my body, not so much because it's shameful or immodest but because I don't want to see it. I don't want to look at something that determines me so completely."

I absolutely loved the story, the characters, and the conflicts that Atwood created; but, what struck me as the most moving and unforgettable was Atwood's insight into feminism, oppression, freedom, the power of memory, and the will of the mind. Not only did Atwood show the world its shortcomings, prejudices, and shame, but Atwood also showed the world how hate, fear, ignorance, and apathy are at the core of true wickedness. Atwood created a novel that instills a sense of authentic courage in the readers who choose to read with open minds and open hearts.

"Someone must be out there, taking care of things. I believe in resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light."

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- Anisa

Mini Review: The Queen of the Tearling - Erika Johansen (The Queen of the Tearling #1)

Summary: Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard - each pledged to defend the queen to the death - arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding...

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea's story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance - it's about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive...

Pages: 512

Goodreads Rating: 4.01/ 5 stars

Genre: Fantasy, Adult Lit, YA, dystopian

Series: The Queen of the Tearling #1

DNF.

It takes me about 60 pages or so to figure out if a book is interesting or worthwhile. This book only took reading the first 20 pages for me to realize that I was bored out of mind, I was disgusted with the poor self-imagery that the author had equipped the protagonist with and the endless judgement that our narrator continuously doled out, and did I mention that I was bored out of my mind?

The plot was going nowhere, that I wanted to be, fast. I felt zero sympathy for our protagonist losing all that she had known and being forced into the frightening reality of being royalty in a time of endless assassinations and uprisings. Quite frankly I didn't give a damn to read one more word. A pathetic protagonist/ body shaming female lead is the quickest way to end up on my book shit list.




The dialogue was choppy and unemotional, at best. About ninety percent of the descriptions and observations are irrelevant and make it even more challenging to muster up some interest for a book that is both uninteresting and listless when it comes to sticking with one train of thought. The flow of the writing is just about nonexistent. There's nothing more frustrating than attempting to read a book with zero flow or rhythm. The list of inconsistencies is ongoing. On one page our future queen is despairing over the fact that she has never come into contact with or known anyone aside from her two guardians, but on another page she has somehow come into possession of an all encompassing intellect and speaks as though from experience, even though she has literally spent all nineteen years of life in a small cottage. Mind blown.

Plain. Boring. Miserably ignorant in regards to self-image. Shelved as both YA and Adult. No real originality or groundbreaking concepts. Woe was me, Mary Sue complex. Placed in a post-apocalyptic world 300 years after the end of this world, but the real kicker is that after the apocalypse we somehow managed to revert to a Medieval society with modern day science. I think that this book is a bad case of attempting to tackle too much in one series. No, fantasy isn't meant to be realistic, but at the same time it has to be realistic enough in some form for the reader to be able to believe it and insert themselves into the world building.


My Goodreads Rating: 1/ 5 stars.


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