Review: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

Published: March 16, 1998

Format: via audiobook

Rating: 5 /5

Synopsis

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant because, in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now.

My Thoughts

I found The Handmaids Tale quite scary. Why? Because everything that happens in this book could very likely happen. The reality of the U.S. becoming like Gilead isn't such a far fetched idea. The idea that women could be treated like this and made to do such things is frightening and unbelievable.

In Gilead, women are merely there to serve men and to solely reproduce. They are the property of higher-ups in the government and expected to bare their children and they have no voice in what happens to them. They were taken away from their families and especially their children if they had any. We get the story of Gilead by one of the handmaids, she tells us about this new world and the experiences she has gone through. We learn about her story and her life as Offred. We also get the story of her life before everything changed. We see how she had a life with a husband and daughter and how one day everything she knew crashed all around her.

This is a masterpiece without a doubt. Its written in a way that breaks by heart but also scares me like nothing else. The fact that it relates so much with this day and age definitely makes you think that this could happen. The way the government wants to decides what happens to a woman's reproductive system is something that only women should have a say in. This story is as important now more than ever and one that I think everyone needs to read.

Late to The Game [2]: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Late to the Game is a little feature I’ve been doing that focuses on books that seems like everyone’s read but me. This one features…

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Published: February 28, 2012  

Format: Kindle purchased

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

Rating: 4/5

Seeing how it seems like everyone has read Divergent but me I won’t do this as a review so much but just some rambling about my thoughts on it.

I must admit I was a tad apprehensive when it came to reading this. I was back and forth if I wanted to start another series. Was I going to like it and feel as crazy about it as so many others seemed to be? Most importantly did I really want to invest the time to read that huge of a book? lol Well I went for it and what can I say I loved it!

I loved how Tris wasn’t your typical heroine. She just represents your average girl who was just trying to find her way and find out who she was. In the process she finds out she is more powerful then she could ever imagine. What wouldn’t be a great read without a little romance? Although I love the other parts a little more I love the interaction between her and Four.

Now seeing how the movie comes out today I must admit when I heard it was becoming a movie that made me want to read the book more. I know book to movie adaptations can be god awful! So when I first heard about the actors cast I was a bit scared. Though I like Shailene Woodley I didn’t see her as Tris. However when I finally saw the previews I totally bought it, I can’t wait to see it! The trailer looks so cool and very true to the book... dare I say it even looks better than the Hunger Games?? *GASPS* I know it’s not fair to compare the two they are totally different so I won’t.

So to wrap it up… I’m a Divergent believer now. I got sucked in once again by an amazing story and characters that leap off the page and take you on a ride you will never forget. Now I will admit I haven’t read the complete series…yet…but I will…if anything the movies put pressure for me to finish.

Do you have any wildly popular books you can suggest that I haven’t read it? 

Cover Reveal: What Remains by Nicole R. Taylor

What Remains by Nicole R. Taylor
Publication date: October 15th 2013
Genres: Adult, Post-Apocalyptic
Add to Goodreads
Buy: Amazon/Smashwords

Synopsis:

I’d never known true darkness until the lights went out.
I had never known what it was to be hungry.
Everyone I ever knew was dead. If they weren’t, then they wished they were.

I know I did.

Prue Ashford has been surviving alone in the Australian bush for the last three years. After an unknown virus wiped out most of the human population, she escaped the chaos and hid. Every town and city was locked down into quarantine, but that only led to the inevitable. Death.

Living off the land, avoiding other survivors turned bad, she’s led a lonely life, surviving on the edge of a very narrow cliff. The moment she begins to lose hope is when she meets the handsome and enigmatic, Shaw.

He’s the first human being she’s seen in three years that hasn’t tried to kill her and she doesn’t dare to hope. She’d given up finding anyone alive that still had goodness inside of them.

Her only option if she wants to live is to trust Shaw and he takes her to the isolated community he calls home. Being among people again is it’s own challenge and Prue finds herself tested on every front. Making friends was never easy for her and making them after an apocalypse is even harder.

Hannah, the town’s apprentice doctor, becomes the closest thing Prue has to a best friend and Nan fast becomes her surrogate mother. Shaw brings feelings to the surface that she would rather forget and Eva, the mayor’s daughter, seems hell bent on making her life a living hell.

In the end, Prue must make a decision. Stay in the town at the end of the world and learn how to love again, or go back into the wasteland of human civilisation and go it alone.

What Remains is a gritty story of human survival. When society crumbles and chaos reigns, people become desperate. They turn to violence and resort to extreme measures to go on living. Parts of this story may be confronting for some people. It contains violent situations staged by desperate people, the extremes that people go to to show their love and a dose of bad language. It’s recommended for readers 18 and up.

AUTHOR BIO:

Nicole R. Taylor is a Paranormal, Urban Fantasy and Contemporary Romance author from country Victoria, Australia.

Previously, she has written for various small street press music and entertainment publications as a gig and album reviewer before publishing her first Urban Fantasy novel in early 2013.

When she isn't writing, Nicole likes to spend time curled up with a good book and her 3-year-old rescue cat, Burger. She gets itchy feet more often than not and has lived in three countries and travelled to three times as many.

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Review: Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano

Perfect Ruin [The Internment Chronicles #1] by Lauren DeStefano
Expected Publication: October 1, 2013
Format: ARC provided by publisher
Publisher: Simon & Schuster BYR
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis

 On Internment, the floating island in the clouds where 16-year-old Morgan Stockhour lives, getting too close to the edge can lead to madness. Even though Morgan's older brother, Lex, was a Jumper, Morgan vows never to end up like him. She tries her best not to mind that her life is orderly and boring, and if she ever wonders about the ground, and why it is forbidden, she takes solace in best friend Pen and her betrothed, Basil.

Then a murder, the first in a generation, rocks the city. With whispers swirling and fear on the wind, Morgan can no longer stop herself from investigating, especially when she meets Judas. He is the boy being blamed for the murder — betrothed to the victim — but Morgan is convinced of his innocence. Secrets lay at the heart of Internment, but nothing can prepare Morgan for what she will find — or who she will lose.

My Thoughts

I received this book as a total surprise from the publisher. I’ll be honest I didn’t know if this was a book I could or wanted to get into. I had never read anything by Lauren DeStefano so I thought I’s at least give this a try and see what happens.

OMG!! This book blew me away from the very start. Lauren DeStefano? Awesome! Why haven’t I read her books sooner? This book took me on a ride I will never forget. She paints a picture of a world that’s mysterious, beautiful and one that I want to know how she could dream up. The setting and back drop, those of a floating city, curious people who want to explore more of the world than just their own known as "jumpers", and arrange marriages that are made way before individuals are born. How people are only live to a set date then die to make way for the next generation.

The story focuses on Morgan Stockhour who is a teen with curiosity burning inside her. She wants to know if there is a life better and bigger than Internment, if there is really a life down there on "the ground." She holds on this in because if she doesn't she knows it wouldn't be good for her or her family. While she holds these secrets inside of herself, a "murder" happens. Is it murder? Or just someone trying to cover up something, so the people of Internment who are willing to let their curiosity of the possibility of another world won't let it get the best of them. It's a world filled with lies, secrets and in my opinion possible cover ups to what's really going on.

This is a fast paced read one that DeStefano paints to perfection. I personally can't wait for the next installment, to see where this ride takes me. If you are looking for the next great series to get into, I recommend this wholeheartedly. Trust me you won't be disappointed!

WoW [18]

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly event hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

This week’s Wow feature is:

The Registry by Shannon Stoker

Expected Publication: June 11, 2013

Publisher: William Morrow

Summary via Goodreads...

The Registry saved the country from collapse. But stability has come at a price. In this patriotic new America, girls are raised to be brides, sold at auction to the highest bidder. Boys are raised to be soldiers, trained by the state to fight to their death.

Nearly eighteen, beautiful Mia Morrissey excitedly awaits the beginning of her auction year. But a warning from her married older sister raises dangerous thoughts. Now, instead of going up on the block, Mia is going to escape to Mexico—and the promise of freedom.

All Mia wants is to control her own destiny—a brave and daring choice that will transform her into an enemy of the state, pursued by powerful government agents, ruthless bounty hunters, and a cunning man determined to own her . . . a man who will stop at nothing to get her back.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT...

….This just sounds really good…plain and simple. All this action you can’t help but be taken in.

So what are you all waiting on? Please share.