The Handmaid's Tale

I found this book confusing for a good chunk of it. It starts off (and really stays) rather disjointed. The main character/narrator, whose real name you never know and for a while you don't know is even called Offred, is obviously recounting this story. And it's a dark story.

It's dystopian in nature, since society has evolved in such a way that women are really just things. The narrator is a Handmaid, who has one main job: get pregnant. But she won't be allowed to keep whatever child she might bear. She's essentially a surrogate and her child with her Commander will belong to him and his wife.

I won't lie when I say that some of the story is disturbing. The female characters are so broken down that they've started accepting that they are nothing, even the narrator, who occasionally recounts times from "before". She remembers her husband Luke and their daughter, who remains nameless. But she is obviously becoming accustomed to her life as a Handmaid, which sort of bothers me because she seemed to be such a strong woman "before".

The book ends rather abruptly. It leaves you wondering or even making your own ending. But I think that ending is necessary to this book. It's needed from the darkness of the entirety of the story.