thelittlebookowl

Hello all, it is once again Friday which means it is time for another book review. As you can see from the title I am going to be doing another 5 reasons to read type of review. The book that I am going to be reviewing is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. I first read this as part of my English Literature course during my A levels. It was my first book by the author and I loved it.

1. Even though it was published around 30 years ago now (1985), it is still widely read and loved to this day. We can still learn things from the messages in the text. It empowers people to think for themselves, outside of the conventional social norms, as well as the importance of independence.

2. In correlation to the first point, this book raises important issues. For example, how society places value on women, their bodies and reproductive rights, highlights violence against women and how religion influences politics.

3. The writing is wonderful. You are immediately immersed with beautiful writing. It definitely took a little while to get used to the writing style, but I could immediately see that the book is extremely well written.  The writing also does a great job of creating tension and suspense throughout. The book also contains some great quotes.

4. The story is compelling, and although the lack of names means the connection to characters are lessened, they are all still well written and interesting.

5. The world building is extremely well done. What makes it such an interesting and kind of scary read, in terms of its world, is that all of it is believable. You are completely immersed in this world throughout the book and it feels so real. It is just so well written.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is a classic dystopian book, so if you like the dystopian genre then you need to check out this book. It is also a great feminist novel and really makes you think about the state of society. The world building is phenomenal and the book is compelling throughout. Just  a quick warning if you can’t stand ambiguous ending, so if you hate them, maybe stay clear of this book. It is not an easy read, but I think it is an important one. Let me know your thoughts on this book, if you’ve read it or if it’s on your tbr. I hope you are all having a great day and I will see you next time.

Pippa