So, I finished this book a couple of weeks ago, so I've had some time to process it. I've never seen the show, and don't really plan to watch it, so I can't draw any parallels between them and if you do, you won't be spoiling anything for me.

Let me just say... This book wasn't what I expected. I don't like to read too much about a book's plot before reading the book because it will warp my initial impression. I knew the name and the general idea- a young-ish woman working for the upperclass during a time of patriarchy.

What I expected was a historical fiction along the same lines as The Help. What I got was a dystopian future controlled by a strictly religious society. Honestly, I didn't see that coming. Maybe I should have looked a LITTLE more into the plot, because... I didn't really like it.

The Handmaid's Tale is yet another first-person account of an alternate world from the perspective of a quiet, perceptive young woman. She's not exceptionally smart, pretty, or talented- she's just an ordinary person in an extreme reality (Katniss? Tris? Hell, even Bella?). This... I found to be pretty boring, unfortunately. Maybe it makes a great TV show, I'll never know, but this perspective isn't new.

It's a fascinating and surprisingly violent world (seriously, bodies are hanging from hooks around town as a warning to rebels) that we don't get to dive into because the narrator is too reserved. She doesn't take enough risks for us to really get the full experience. I found myself wishing it was narrated from Moira's or Ofglen's point of view. To see more of this world and how the characters interact with it and with each other- that's exciting! Instead, we get Offred, who somehow takes a religious dystopia and makes it bland.

And then, when something exciting finally happens- when she gets taken away by authorities who may either be the police or the rebellion- the book ends. What?? AND?? What happens? It's like if The Hunger Games was a book of just the first act and ends when Katniss volunteers as tribute. WHY would you end it there?

Sigh. I guess if a book filled with passive observations of an interesting world is your thing, then fine. I'd rather read something with a little more action.

Your thoughts?