The instant I saw queer handmainden’s tale I knew I would have to read this book. I thought the premise was very interesting even if it was in equal parts horrifying. To imagine a world that has been told that allowing men to marry men is the cause of the destruction of the earth (instead of global warming and our general disregard for our planet). I will admit the main character was hard to connect to, but I felt that pretty much fit the story given what she went through. Eleanor dreamed of getting her letter to one of the special schools where the best and brightest children went. When she got her letter for The Meadows she was ecstatic. This was her chance to leave her tiny home town of The Cove and become someone important. When she got to school she was surprised to find a finishing school that was only teaching her how to be a wife and mother, but she was more horrified when she realized that the school was not about finding the best and brightest but those most likely to stray from the strict societal gender norms and reform them. I liked the ending and overall enjoyed this story (although the back and forth between timelines was hard to follow at times and the story could have moved a little faster).