The story was interesting and is clearly the setup for the beginning of a series... but it felt like you're listening to a movie that's playing in theThe story was interesting and is clearly the setup for the beginning of a series... but it felt like you're listening to a movie that's playing in the background. The sound effects were too much for what you'd expect from an audiobook. ...more
I didn’t read The Handmaid’s Tale until 2014. Suffice it to say, I was a little late to the party. It was an incredibly visceral possibility of a poteI didn’t read The Handmaid’s Tale until 2014. Suffice it to say, I was a little late to the party. It was an incredibly visceral possibility of a potential future that only shows just how fragile women’s rights can be. But even after reading it and then seeing the show and how they expanded on the source material, I never felt that the book really needed a sequel.
When The Testaments was first released, I found myself caught up in the excitement of it, despite my reservations. I remember only getting a few chapters in, if that, before deciding I just wasn’t interested in this story. I blame my renewed addiction to the show for stirring up my curiosity once again and the reason I actually finished it this time.
Prior to reading, I had seen a lot of reviews refer to the writing style as being very much like a young adult novel. I didn’t think that this was at all possible… it’s an Atwood, after all. The Testaments is told from three different points of view: Aunt Lydia’s sections were unexpectedly enlightening and the most interesting of the trio. The other two were told from the points of view of two teenage girls, one living in Gilead and the other in Canada, and these were the sections possessing the young adult style writing style. Now, that’s not to say that these girls didn’t require a childish tone, it did fit. My issue was with the Canadian girl, especially, and her continued focus on this guy she had a crush on while in the midst of death and other atrocities that was the most ridiculous pill to swallow.
“I was getting more childish by the minute. He brought it out in me.”
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For fans of the show, hearing Aunt Lydia’s passages read in the voice of Ann Dowd was a real treat. As I said, Aunt Lydia’s sections were surprisingly the most interesting and gave readers a vastly different perspective compared to Offred/June’s in the original novel. It also answered a lot of questions that you may have had, but again, I’m not sure it was vital that we were given these answers. The Handmaid’s Tale held more sway over readers by leaving some aspects shrouded in mystery, forcing us to formulate our own answers. I’m not sure why Atwood decided that she would finally reveal all after thirty-four years, but some things are simply better left unsaid....more
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