The Handmaid's Tale + The Testaments

amejisuto sent me The Testaments, so I spent this weekend feverishly reading them both.

( reread of The Handmaid's Tale )

And, of course, that novel ends on such a cliffhanger. Atwood loves ambiguity so much. I'll never forget Emma reading Alias Grace and loving all the way up to the end at which point she was completely disgusted because Atwood never says one way or the other about An Important Thing. LOL

I have always wanted to know what happens to June (the academic notes at the end say the narrator is unnamed, but I've always assumed her name is June; in the list of names she recites at the beginning, June is the only name not given to another character in the book), so I was really looking forward to finding out in The Testaments.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the sequel I've been hoping for since I first read The Handmaid's Tale more than 20 years ago. I really enjoyed seeing more about the initial days of Gilead and about the way the world works from perspectives outside of the Handmaid. Very much enjoyed Aunt Lydia's POV and the POV of the two new main protagonists. Thoroughly satisfying in every way.



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( spoilery review )

So good. Very much enjoyed. Could never watch the TV show. This is harrowing enough to read about. LOL