André
It's giving (bad) fanfiction. That twist is utterly embarrassing, badly integrated, and desperate.
The second person narration here is a lot less effective than it was in the first book due to some changes in framing and it does hold this one back, in comparison, but it's still deeply compelling.
A classic, and for good reasons, but with every reread I find myself feeling more and more that it’s a thought experiment more than a novel, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed the show but this story was really meant to be a book, and more specifically, an audiobook, read by Santino Fontana, who just has the perfect delivery for this second-person monologue. An exceptional, one of a kind deep dive into an absolutely broken mind. Makes a great case for different stories being suited to different media, and also to making smart changes in adaptation, as the TV adaptation did.
Usually, when an author goes back to create a new story in a world they last stepped foot in a quarter century ago, especially off the success of an acclaimed adaptation, it feels like a cheap money grab, or an admission that they have no original ideas left. But Atwood isn't like other authors. This feels like a necessary counterpoint rather than mere franchising. The Handmaid's Tale now feels like one of two halves rather than a standalone work.
It's Trixie and Katya doing their thing - it's gonna be good.
The obvious lack of spontaneity hurts in the dialogue sections while the solo chapters really benefit from tightly written, punched up jokes.
I have complicated feelings about this book. It occasionally dips into brilliance before grinding to a brutal halt again. The first half was genuinely engaging, and then you randomly crash into the most wildly transphobic scene in probably any recent novel not written by J.K. Rowling, and then the narrative moves on like it never happened.
There’s some fascinating worldbuilding here, a wonderfully crafted magic system, and an engaging setting, but it also feels very blunt and overstuffed, like 3 novels stuffed into one.
It starts promising, then meanders, then drives right off a cliff, only to catch itself again just a bit toward the end. I feel like it gestures at interesting things more often than it actively explores them.
The writing is a tad awkward at times but her personality shines through beautifully.
This man is utterly unaware of the wider context anything he does happens in, or the implications of anything he says or does. Growing up as part of the Royal Family has stunted his development into an adult and disconnected him from base reality. But if nothing else his heart seems to be in the right place, and I am absolutely certain of two things: he misses his mother, and he would burn down the world to protect his wife.