If you have thoughts/questions about how Christians should help the poor, this is a GREAT resource. It’s probably the best one out there.

The first thing you should know is that the author reads this audiobook and it GREATLY enhances the reading experience! He reads with so much delight and wonder!

And maybe that’s the only thing you should know? I don’t know what to share with you except this book is TERRIBLY CREEPY.

Roxane Gay called this:
Love letter to black girlhood.
How can I argue?

This book was fairly short, if I recall, and it was beautifully written, but it did not affect me significantly.

This book has had quite the insurgence this year! Claire Danes was an AMAZING audiobook reader, because she can imbue so much of her acting with anger/horror/tears. (I’ll probably not have the fortitude to watch the new series based on this book, so Danes will be the Offred in my mind for years to come.)

As a Christian, I was a bit confused by the hubbub around this book. On one side, people are claiming “This is what happens when people of faith are in control!” And on another, Christians are banning this book because…I don’t even know? Perhaps in rejection of the first interpretation?

What I encountered in a book was scripture distorted to justify heinous actions. I saw the dangers that people face when they cannot rightly interpret scripture (or do not want to). I saw a cruel power structure with the facade of a cult, and I was most horrified by the realization that nobody understood or could explain how this came to occur.

Yes, I could see the warning in Serena Grace, someone who supported the turn of events when she was able to rule/lord over others, but who was shocked to realize that she was still going to be placed in the middle of this totem pole. But that warning/judgment could be pointed in many directions.

I felt like this was a stunning dystopian novel, but I had trouble understanding all of the cultural responses. In some ways, I feel like those interpretations detract from the text.

This is quite a detour from the last book (and wait until you see what’s next). I have been participating in a training at my church this past year and one of our final series of classes were covering this text. It is DENSE. I honestly couldn’t read through it on my own before the classroom discussions, but thankfully I could pick it up and track with it fairly well once we completed the series.