*RECOMMENDED BY RACHEL UTZ AND HOT HANNAH CAISON

Better never means better for everyone...It always means worse, for some.

In a not-too-distant dystopian future, the Republic of Gilead has overturned the government, creating a theocracy in which women are relegated to subservient roles. Women who are not wedded to the governmental elites face intensive reconditioning, during which they are taught the value of shame. Then they are sent to serve the families of politicians, where they are humiliatingly forced to bear the children of their masters.

Offred is one of these women. She remembers the days before the religious uprising, when women had freedom of expression, when she was happily married with a young daughter. Now she has no idea where her husband and daughter are or even whether they are still alive. Cautiously, she begins to forge a friendship with the Commander of her household, caught between his desire for intelligent companionship and her own safety, which demands that she appear brainless.

Atwood's careful distribution of information keeps the reader guessing even beyond the end of the novel. The Handmaid's Tale will stay with you, forcing you to contemplate the world around you in order to prevent the society depicted from spilling into our reality.

Don't let the bastards grind you down.