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A review by thebacklistborrower
The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood
5.0
This adaptation of the Handmaid's Tale is a treat for the brain and the eyes. Renee Nault does an amazing job of taking Atwood's bestseller and translating it into a form that, while skimmed down in text, has so much added back with her beautiful and occasionally haunting illustrations.
The style employed by Nault made me feel like I was reading a Grimm's fairytale: something foreign but relatable, something to be absorbed fully and learned from. Her artwork makes very strong use of the colour already referenced in the books to add mood, and tone. A page of handmaids is so red you feel the colour change the tone of the text. So many wives on a page lends a sense of depression. The flashbacks are not so black-and-white (or blue or red), showing that while there is colour in Gilead, there was just so much more before.
As a rule, a graphic novel does not have the same level of depth that the "regular" novel has. This adaptation does not feel so. Whether or not you've read the Handmaid's Tale 50 times or never, this book will still have something for you.
The style employed by Nault made me feel like I was reading a Grimm's fairytale: something foreign but relatable, something to be absorbed fully and learned from. Her artwork makes very strong use of the colour already referenced in the books to add mood, and tone. A page of handmaids is so red you feel the colour change the tone of the text. So many wives on a page lends a sense of depression. The flashbacks are not so black-and-white (or blue or red), showing that while there is colour in Gilead, there was just so much more before.
As a rule, a graphic novel does not have the same level of depth that the "regular" novel has. This adaptation does not feel so. Whether or not you've read the Handmaid's Tale 50 times or never, this book will still have something for you.