Perhaps because of when I am reading this (just two weeks after Trump’s second inauguration) or simply due to the weight of the subject matter, I found The Handmaid’s Tale to be a difficult read. At times, I had to put it down because the story felt so disturbingly real. Margaret Atwood masterfully creates a dystopian world that is hauntingly plausible, making Offred’s journey deeply unsettling. I found myself anxiously wondering what would happen to her, and while the ending left me unsatisfied, it also reinforced the book’s eerie and unresolved tension. A powerful but emotionally taxing read.