The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

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The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel set in the New England area of the United States, which is known as the Republic of Gilead. In this society, the former United States government has been overthrown and has changed into a military dictatorship under Gilead. Since then, this new regime quickly expanded its power, ultimately controlling everything from the rights of individual people to religious studies. Offred, a Handmaid (a fertile woman whose role in this society is to provide children for high ranking men), narrates the story, which focuses on her individual experiences as well as the general day-to-day life of a Handmaid. Through Offred’s narration, she reveals her past and present, retelling how Gilead came to be, her current life as a Handmaid, the family she had and lost, the fall of women’s rights, and rising resistance. As Offred brings her story to life, she uncovers the horrors hidden beneath the utopia that Gilead appears to the outside world.

The thing that astounded and made me enjoyed this book immensely is that the details Atwood incorporates into the book draws from real events in history, thus making The Handmaid’s Tale under the category of speculative fiction. It’s incredible that when I read the book, I believed that every single detail came from Atwood’s imagination, because, in a way, they were too horrid for me to perceive they’re part of our history. It truly changes how I view the world from now on. Another thing that’s incredible about this book is how Atwood uses colors to describe the roles of different women in Gilead—Handmaids wear red, Wives wear blue, Marthas wear green, Aunts wear brown, and Econowives wear red, blue, and green stripes. For me, it’s interesting that every color fits the role of each category of women and because I believe it plays a vital role in the story though it’s not highlighted; it reveals the morals of Gilead and a glimpse of its functions. Overall, The Handmaid’s Tale presents warnings of all sorts to its readers and proves a wonderful read, that stands the test of time (did I mention it was published in 1985?!)

Though The Handmaid’s Tale is a great book, it’s certainly not for everyone. I would recommend this book to those who are not disturbed by darker themes and are open-minded; after all, it does not shy away from the corruption it presents.

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/18/20

Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus

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This book follows Liv Fleming, a high schooler whose biggest worry is performing well in school and maintaining her friendships – that is, until her dad goes missing for four days and makes his return by streaking through town, an act that is witnessed by most of Liv’s classmates. Upon Mr. Fleming’s return, he sets about teaching Liv and her friend Doug how to prepare alien traps, claiming he was in an alien lair during the time that he was missing. When Mr. Fleming disappears for a second time and doesn’t return, Doug assumes that the aliens captured Liv’s dad once again, and he thinks that the only way to bring him back is to continue monitoring the traps. Liv follows through the motions half-heartedly, not wanting to upset Doug but also not truly believing that aliens are real. However, on a day three years after her dad’s disappearance, she has to reconsider her version of reality when she discovers a creature in one of her dad’s traps that’s unlike any other being she had ever seen. She’s forced to make a difficult decision: should she turn this creature into the authorities, or should she try to collect information from it about where her father is?

I’ll admit, I was a bit hesitant to read this book at first because I don’t normally enjoy sci-fi novels, but I was drawn into the storyline after the first chapter, and I could barely put it down after that. My favorite thing about this book is how complex it is, with several plot twists, so the storyline isn’t too predictable. By the time I reached the final 50 or so pages, I found myself twisting my blanket anxiously because I was so nervous to see how the book would end. The one thing I didn’t like about this book is that there were some confusing aspects of the plot. Overall, I would give this book a 4.5/5 rating. It’s a great book for anyone looking for a thriller to keep them reading past their bedtime!

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/18/20

Poe Dameron: Free Fall by Alex Segura

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This book is about Poe Dameron, a teenage boy who is yearning to escape his home planet of Yavin 4. He often gets in trouble, and all he really wants to do is be able to fly his plane and have adventures like his mother often did. So when a group approaches him saying they are looking for a pilot to get them of off Yavin 4, Poe immediately wants to accept. The group seems a little shady though, and is he really willing to leave his whole life behind? But Poe realizes that this might be his only chance to get off the planet so he accepts. What he doesn’t realize is that he has just joined one of the most wanted groups in the whole galaxy… the Spice Runners of Kijimi. But Poe is already too deep in to escape now… what will happen to him now? This books goes on to show Poe’s adventures with the Spice Runners.

I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Star Wars, flying, and maybe adventure. However, if you are a fan of realistic fiction or dystopian like I am, I would not recommend this book. I found this book a little bit boring and it felt a little bit drawn out. Other than that it was a pretty good book, just not my style. The author did do a really nice job of writing the book, and I could see the thought that went into making this book easy to read.Overall I give this book a 3/5. If you like Star Wars or flying, this may be a good book for you, but other then that, I don’t necessarily recommend it. Thanks for reading my review 🙂

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/16/20

Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly

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This novel is a Snow White retelling with Sophie/the princess as the main character. Though some parts of the story definitely diverge from the original, many parts are kept the same, such as the existence of the stepmother. In this story, the stepmother/queen asks the mirror, “mirror mirror on the wall, who will bring about my fall” and the mirror ends up showing Sophie. Fearing that she might lose her beloved crown, the stepmother sends out her huntsman to take Sophie’s heart. While the huntsman succeeds, Sophie ends up living with the help of seven strangers who build Sophie a new heart. The story continues as we follow Sophie who tries to navigate her way through her new life and see if she can ultimately defeat the true evil behind it.

First, the characters. Sophie is described as too soft-hearted, too kind, and too foolish. The thing is, she was definitely too foolish. As a seventeen year old girl, I just could not believe that she couldn’t figure out the prince, Haakon, was a fraud. I knew from the moment we met him all he wanted from Sophie was the crown. It frustrated me greatly that Sophie would constantly yearn for him and even put herself in danger by wandering outside of the safe cottage that the seven men (they were so nice) graciously let her stay in until she realized that he was evil. However, I do love good character development. Sophie did grow a lot on her journey to find her heart. She acknowledges that although being kind can be a sign of weakness, it ultimately will win out over being severe. For the other point of view we are given besides the queen and huntsman, the King of Crows. The King of Crows who is later revealed to be Fear was the actual evil being. He manipulated the queen to kill Sophie. It was also revealed that he took many other people’s hearts and ate them (what?!). I personally do not have a strong opinion of Fear. He was neither great nor terrible. For the side characters, Arno and Will. Arno was probably one of my favorite characters even if he was not in the spotlight. He had a sad backstory that tied in nicely with his current state and even though he had many opportunities to abandon Sophie, he stayed with her as an almost father figure. The same can be said for Will, the love interest. He also had every reason to leave Sophie, as she stood for the crown that did nothing but harm Will’s family. I probably would have left, oops!

Time for plot. The plot overall was pretty convenient for Sophie. Every time she almost died, she somehow was alive again (oh wow!) Especially at the end, when the creatures trapped in Fear’s castle were released and immediately joined Sophie and her crew to take her crown back. Not too believable, in my opinion. The novel does pick up after around halfway through, after she meets Arno and Will and starts her quest to get her heart back.

The messages in this book were pretty solid. There was a lot of talk about a woman being in power and how it can affect someone’s mental state and how they perceive those around them as being untrusting and deceiving. Also I liked how the story was tied into the heart and love and how being loving does not equate to being too soft. 

Overall, I would give this book a 3.5/5 stars. I would recommend this medium paced book to people that don’t have a problem with not getting attached to characters and who like fairytale retellings that have a nice message behind it.

-Review by Teen Advisory Board Member, 12/14/20