Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O'Farrell

35 reviews

tinyjude's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Agnes' fierce love for her children and the portrayal of her grief were the absolute highlights of this novel. I loved how painful it was to read all those passages.

I also loved the moment in which she attends the representation of Hamlet and understands what her husband intended to do. It was a good callback to her words a hundred pages before, and what any parent would want to do for their child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, and Pregnancy

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Hamnet is a beautifully written fictionalized story of Shakespeare's life and that of his wife and family. Although little history exists about his wife and children, the author creates a rich sense of the daily life of each, and how tragedy impacts them all. Although the book became a must-read during the pandemic as a primer for how to navigate through grief, Hamnet is a strong enough work to stand outside that context. One of the shortcomings of the edition I read is the lack of trigger warnings; there is physical and emotional abuse depicted as well as the death of a child. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Child death, and Child abuse

bessmonet's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Child death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Violence

lizawood's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is literally the best book I’ve ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy and Violence

phoevincent's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent and Pregnancy

Minor: Violence

marijako's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Terminal illness, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

beauvisseau's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The prose is absolutely gorgeous, the characters are intricate and the plot is heartbreaking. One of the best audiobooks I have listened to. How the author managed to put the women in Shakespeare's life at the forefront, not even naming him, was amazing. The magical realism that the writer implemented was charming and fun. The jumps in time made me want to keep on reading, just like the great variation in chapter lengths did. A great representation of 'normal' lives with thematically intricate stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Mental illness, Medical content, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child death, Terminal illness, Grief, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Sexism, Animal death, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Infidelity

solybugs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

To be honest, for a book that is supposed to ignore Shakespeare and only focus on his family... He gets wayyyy too many pages either from his point of view or from the point of view of someone else talking to him. The only reason why I chose this book, since it's not usually my preferred genre, was to hear the story of his family and to focus on the people that history often glosses over. But then to hear so much about him gets pretty tiring. But, Hamnet made up for it with very descriptive and flowery writing that perfectly fit the style and time period of the book along with accurate descriptions of loss, emotional pain, and depression (or rather the point of view from an outsider, who is close to someone who has depression. Being that myself, I really loved the way Maggie O'Farell accurately described the feeling of not being able to help someone while they're going through that. Extremely relatable). 3.75/5, meh. Mostly meh, has some good parts tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Mental illness and Infidelity

Minor: Blood, Sexual content, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Child abuse

There is also a description of childbirth (with complications) and the mental illness mentioned is most likely depression although it is never really named in the book.

nhacco's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Beautiful and heartbreaking. Gorgeous writing, that madness fall in love with reading again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Infidelity

niaaaaa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Child death, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment, Animal death, Infidelity, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Pregnancy

Minor: Classism and Violence