Book Review: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale

Author: Margaret Atwood

Series/Standalone: The Handmaid's Tale Series (Book #1)

Genre: Classics, Dystopian, Science Fiction

Pages: 320

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Year Published: 1985

Format: Paperback (Own It)

"The Handmaid's Tale is an instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from the 'patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction' (New York Times) The Handmaid's Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describe life in what was once the United States and is now called the Republic of Gilead, a monotheocracy that has reacted to social unrest and a sharply declining birthrate by reverting to and going beyond, the repressive intolerence of teh original Puritans. The regime takes the Book of Genesis absolutely at its word, with bizarre consequences for the women and men in its population. The story is told through the eyes of Offred, one of the unfortunate Handmaids under the new social order. In condensed but eloquent prose, by turns cool-eyed, tender, despairing, passionate, and wry, she reveals to us the prose, by turns cool-eyed tender despairing, passionate, and wry she reveals to us the dark corners behind the establishment's calm facade, as certain tendencies now in existence are carried to their logical conclusion. The Handmaid's Tale is funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing. It is at once scathing satire, dire warning and a tour de force. It is Margaret Atwood at her best."

My Rating: 4/5

This was a bit of a hard read. Not only for the emotional context and how it relates back to our current reality, but also the way it's written is a little confusing. I think though that this lends itself to the fearful and suspenseful telling of tale that feels to close to the world we current live. I'm looking forward to continuing the series, but I'm starting the television show as well.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Title: Starling House

Author: Alix E. Harrow

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Gothic, Adult Fiction

Pages: 308

Publisher: Tor Books

Year Published: 2023

Format: Audiobook (Library Copy)

"A grim and gothic new tale from Author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland- and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it's best to let the uncanny house- and its last lonely heir, Arthur Sterling- go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get ehr brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she's never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she'll have to fight for it."

My Rating: 4.5/5

This tale follows Opal, who feels like an unreliable narrator, but is she? Her love for her brother pushes her to the extremes and makes the reader wonder, what would I do for the ones I love. It also follows Arthur and his trials and tribulations with the land he owns, and the nightmares that follow him. Overall, this is the tale of two people finding home in places they least expect, and confronting things one never thought possible, while maintaining the suspenseful and at time horror based elements. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny