The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.

This is my review of  The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, both the TV show and the novel. I will be discussing differences between the two, and which I enjoyed more than the other. I will also have spoilers for both, so if you have not read or watched,  you may not want to read this.

The Handmaid's Tale is a story about a "New" country made inside of the USA named Gilead. Gilead exists by the commanding group taking away the rights of privileges that women have come to know. Women can no longer own land, work, read, write or do anything that makes them similar to a man. The exception being the "Aunts" who are allowed to read and write. There are different types of women; Handmaids, Wives, Marthas, Econowives and Unwomen.

This story is about a handmaid named Offred. Handmaids are women who essentially get raped once a month to get pregnant by their Commander so his barren wife can have a baby. I kid you not, that is really her sole purpose for this whole new world. She is chosen by the government for this because she has done something they see as bad in her past, and have proven she is fruitful.

Her Commander seems like a dick. He does things because he can, and knows he will be able to get away with it. He breaks rules just to show that he has the power. He likes Offred because she was considered smart before all her rights and freedoms were taken away. The Wife, in the novel seems like a bitter old fool who just wants a baby. The Wife on the show I liked more than the woman in the book. Serena Joy in the show was younger, and you got more of a sense of who she was, and you get to see that she really wants that baby. Serena Joy from the show, you also get to see her back story a bit and they she was a huge part in bringing Gilead to fruition. As the second season happens, which is after the novel has finished you can see she has some regrets to what she has done, but won't admit it.

As the story moves on, you get to see that Offred, whose real name is June, gets paired up with Ofglen for all the Handmaid duties. These duties include shopping everyday, going for their walks, and being paired up whenever they have to do something as a group. While reading the novel you find out very little about Ofglen, just that Offred learns to trust her, and then she takes her own life to get out of being punished or killed by Gilead for not being a true believer. Ofglen in the TV is much more complex. You get to know that she is a married lesbian with a child. Gilead called lesbians and gays, gender traders. Ofglen being a gender trader which a child, is why she was made a handmaid.

Offred is not happy, but she learns to try to enjoy small things she has been given. She plays scrabble with the Commander, talks a bit with Ofglen, and has a sexual if not romance with Nick. The novel does not go into too much detail for what goes on between her and Nick, however the show played out the relationship more and showed how that little bit of love in weird world can make a huge difference.

One big difference from the novel to the show, was at the end of the show Offred was confirmed pregnant. She also defied the government in a public manner which is where Mayday was able to take her away with a reason before the bad guys could.

All in all the book and tv show were both good, I enjoyed both. The show however, I enjoyed a bit more.