I wanted to like this book...I really did. There are other more eloquent reviews of it that say it all. Suffice it to say that I waited and waited to start to feel engaged with the characters or the plot and that moment never came. The pace is incredibly slow. It could have been 200-300 pages shorter and still done this story justice. I waited for the "big moment" at the end that was supposed to bring payoff for putting myself through this slog and found it to be disappointing. Conceptually, I understand what Atwood was trying to attempt. But in practice it was a boring read. 2 stars only because there were some passages of beautiful language interspersed. Hovering close to a one star for me.