Emily Reviews

The Handmaid’s Tale is not a book I would call enjoyable. It was an interesting, thought-provoking read, and one I will probably re-read before the year is out, but I did not enjoy it. It’s a chilling read that made me very uncomfortable at times - when I realised Offred was not a weird sci-fi style name and meant Of Fred I actually had to stop reading. 

It felt horribly realistic, especially with the descriptions of how everything began. Details like it being blasphemy to dare call a man infertile really clinched the world-building as a world where the woman have nothing left. 

The style was a little confusing to get used to at first, as the book jumps between the past and present under our unnamed protagonist’s narration (speculation suggests her name is June, and this is the name the TV adaptation chooses to use) without much to mark it, but it works with the nature of the story and June’s circumstances.

I’ve been recommending this book left, right and centre, and feel it should be more commonly read - there are messages in it I think we could benefit from.