omnombailey's reviews
95 reviews

 I've had plenty of friends over the years tell me I should read this book. My hesitance to do so was part due to some of the reviews that didn't give it high praise, thus it worried me. But it was mostly due to me trying to read Oryx and Crake a while back and I couldn't stand that book. Got halfway through and gave up. I didn't want to read something like that again.

Well, I finally got around to reading The Handmaid's Tale and I'm glad I did.

I'm a huge fan of dystopian stories, more so when they're done correctly and not just the YA trend of dystopias. This definitely delivered with painting the backdrop of this former USA now Gilead country. I kept wanting to know more about what was going on and how this all happened and how people are completely ok with this. Or as it's mentioned, change is good for some people and worse for others. It can't always be better for everyone.

And when I learned more of what was going on and the layers peeled back, I couldn't stop reading. Offred's paranoia about everything flowed through me, as well. You're second-guessing everyone and everything after awhile. I really didn't connect with her, but I was more interested in her story than her as a person, if that makes sense. I found myself enjoying side characters (shocker) like Nick and Moira and Offred's mother.

Some people have called this book lacking actual plot, but I found everything to be going on riveting, especially the last 30% of the book. And when it ended (or at least when I got the pop up in my kindle saying it was done and asked for my review), I said out loud, "Wait, THAT'S IT?!" The cliff hanger of an ending left me both furious and content. I think I could have done without the "epilogue", but it was nice to have the additional information.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it's not perfect. My biggest qualm with it, as is most people who seem to read it and don't like it, is the writing style. Or lack of one. I guess quotation marks aren't a thing, but hey, let's add in a bunch more commas! It was extremely hard to figure out who was speaking during the flashbacks and what was a flashback and so forth. It could have benefited from some much-needed formatting. And the way everything is written is... off. I get it's more stream of consciousness, seeing it's first-person from Offred's eyes, but she just rambles on about shit. All. The. Time. Not to mention she repeats herself a lot. And not even key information. It's shit like "the bed sheets are semi-sheer. I can see right through them." Yes. Yes they are. Because that is, in fact, what the word means. This happens all the damn time. That and rewording a single sentence two or three or more times to make... a point? I don't even know. Things like "I was afraid. She was afraid. We were afraid." (That's not an actual quote, but the other one more or less happened)

I don't know if it was done on purpose, but I didn't give a shit about Luke. I felt like over time, he was painted to be more and more of an asshole. I stopped caring for him after the scene with the cat. It frustrated me that Offred continues to cling onto him when he's most likely dead. Just really frustrating. I was also frustrated at the brief glimpse of homophobia on Offred's behalf via a flashback. I get it's "appropriate for the times" but it still had me rolling my eyes and left a general bad taste in my mouth.

This story was equally thought-provoking as it was horrifying. This isn't a leisurely mind candy sort of book; you actively take part in it. It's difficult for me to say I like this book or that it's a good book, not because none of that is true, but because my mind goes back to the topics and themes presented in it and how damn close to home they hit. That, however, still makes for good art, let alone story. Atwood has claimed multiple times that she doesn't write science fiction and brands stories like this as speculative fiction, but that doesn't do it justice. Nothing about this is speculative; there are plenty of people who have been exposed to violence like this and plenty of people who believe that said violence is completely appropriate and justified. The thing that horrifies me more than The Handmaid's Tale is knowing that a book published in 1986 still rings true, perhaps more so than ever, in the so-called modern age of 2017. 

 It's not often I say things like, "I've never read a story like this before," but it certainly applies to this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, maybe more than I should have, but I felt like a little kid again while reading it. And while it was amazing to read, there are definitely a lot of faults within the structure of the story that did make me raise an eyebrow on and off.

It's not that well-written, but it's a pretty easy read, though there are some random "big words" thrown in there every chapter that made the flow a bit jarring, like if you're reading something meant for a high schooler and out of nowhere there's a word better suited for an academic paper in grad school. Regardless, there's something quirky and whimsical with how it's written and for me, it was a breath of fresh air.

Trying to place this in a particular genre is difficult, too. It's equal parts a lot of different things and I really love that; it's not just a science fantasy book and not just a coming of age story and not just a pre-apocalypse "save the world" story. It's all of those things and more.

At the same time, it's hard to place what the hell is going on with the plot. This was far more a character-driven story than a plot-driven one. I must've been halfway through when my boyfriend asked what was going and while I told him about exact scenes I was reading, I also couldn't exactly tell him the overarching plot... because hell if I knew. There are hints sprinkled here and there, but by the time the plot fully reveals itself, you're in pretty far with the book and shit has already hit the fan. And while I was charmed by the earlier "books" within the story, I did find it annoying that

the actual premise, the one explained on the back of the book, didn't actually take place until around 30% into the story. It focuses instead on Patricia and Laurence as kids and teenagers. All of this could have been woven easily into flashbacks throughout the main story and that could have been interesting, but it wasn't. Oh well.

I absolutely loved Patricia. I empathized with her on many levels to the point where the narrative didn't need to explain her side of things; I just got it. On the flip side, Laurence annoyed me. I loathed teenager Laurence and was mildly annoyed at best with adult Laurence. Towards the end, I came to like him a bit more, but geez, I really wanted to hit him upside the head half of the time. Also, the romance between them? Really didn't care for it. There was obvious build-up and attraction, but then there were parts that felt like they came out of nowhere. There were parts of their relationship in general that I did enjoy, but I like them so much better as good friends that are shit at communicating.

Random note, even though it's not a major theme in the book, I was happy to see a bunch of LGBT+ stuff mentioned in there and just had it be normal instead of a plot point for a character who then angsts over their identity. That made me really happy. And bonus points for having a nonbinary character, even if I wasn't happy with their fate in the end.

There were also a lot of points where I felt like someone raising my hand in the back of a classroom and the teacher actively ignored me. <spoiler?What the hell ever happened to Patricia's cat back when she was a teen? Why feel the need to go into detail about every restaurant or haunt Laurence and Seraphina went to? What the hell was this other universe Priya was sucked into because that was apparently a thing? Where was, I dunno, the obviously missing chapter to link Laurence and Patricia hanging out a lot to now deciding to have sex, even though it's mentioned they hadn't even made it to first base??? Or what the hell was the point of bringing Diantha back and what was she doing anyways to help out? Why did the last 10% of the story feel amazingly rushed? And lastly, why did I find roughly five typos in a damn published novel WHO EDITED THIS THING?????

Despite the fact I could nitpick the hell out of this book, there was definitely something charming about the overall story and a lot of the meaning behind it. I love the meld of both science and magic. I love the sorta grey morality going on everywhere. I love all the flaws the characters have. I love the humor throughout everything and nothing is picture-perfect. I love how I had so many feels from the book and found myself laughing one minute and then swelling up with tears the next. I didn't want to put this book down. It was a wild, beautiful ride.