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mangogo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book has raised the standard for five-star novels. Beautiful and heartbreaking in the fullest sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content
northernlitreading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.75
I really didnโt think Iโd like this book at first but wow, did that change. I know itโs fictional but what a believable story. Itโs an amazing exploration of fried and people living their lives in a way that is out of the status quo and I just adored it. I really think people will be reading this in classrooms in the future. (I would also argue that if you want to get into reading classics but find them too slow or descriptive this would be a great place to start.) Also, just a moment to appreciate Bartholomew - bless him for being a good brother.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell ๐งค
๐๐๐๐
๐ The plot: Stratford, 1596. An 11-year-old boy is desperately trying to find help for his sister, who has fallen ill. His mother is out of reach on the edge of town, his father even further away in London. No one knows yet that this boy will not survive the week - or that three years later, his father will give his name to one of the most famous plays ever written.
Hamnet is a feat of imagination from start to finish. It's vivid, it's moving. It's wildly overwritten at times - a hand movement or journey from room to room might take a full page - but it does something I think is really hard to do: it brings a famous person from history fully to life. Shakespeare is a character we know little about while having a huge idea of him in our collective consciousness, and O'Farrell writes him as just a man. A son, a husband, a father. A Latin tutor. Someone real, who you can feel for.
The result is a book that feels like a look into history with a lower-case "h". O'Farrell's not so much interested in the origins of Hamlet the play or in Shakespeare's artistic genius, but in the profound grief its name suggests for Hamnet the boy, and in helping her reader live that loss alongside his family. It's a novel that is both much bigger and much smaller than the question of how or why Shakespeare wrote, and I think that's why I liked it.
๐ฆ Read it for a complex portrait of a Midlands hero (big up Billy Shakes), deeply-felt characterisation, and if you want a nice big cry.
๐ซ Avoid it if you find excessive description or a slow pace exhausting (I love a nice slow novel, but this tested me at points!) - also if you're not in a place to read about child death or pregnancy at the moment.
๐๐๐๐
๐ The plot: Stratford, 1596. An 11-year-old boy is desperately trying to find help for his sister, who has fallen ill. His mother is out of reach on the edge of town, his father even further away in London. No one knows yet that this boy will not survive the week - or that three years later, his father will give his name to one of the most famous plays ever written.
Hamnet is a feat of imagination from start to finish. It's vivid, it's moving. It's wildly overwritten at times - a hand movement or journey from room to room might take a full page - but it does something I think is really hard to do: it brings a famous person from history fully to life. Shakespeare is a character we know little about while having a huge idea of him in our collective consciousness, and O'Farrell writes him as just a man. A son, a husband, a father. A Latin tutor. Someone real, who you can feel for.
The result is a book that feels like a look into history with a lower-case "h". O'Farrell's not so much interested in the origins of Hamlet the play or in Shakespeare's artistic genius, but in the profound grief its name suggests for Hamnet the boy, and in helping her reader live that loss alongside his family. It's a novel that is both much bigger and much smaller than the question of how or why Shakespeare wrote, and I think that's why I liked it.
๐ฆ Read it for a complex portrait of a Midlands hero (big up Billy Shakes), deeply-felt characterisation, and if you want a nice big cry.
๐ซ Avoid it if you find excessive description or a slow pace exhausting (I love a nice slow novel, but this tested me at points!) - also if you're not in a place to read about child death or pregnancy at the moment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
theayeaye's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A beautiful meditation on grief, loss and family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
anhe's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Minor: Domestic abuse
linesiunderline'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? Yes
5.0
A sensitive exploration of loss and grief, with masterful prose. This is an immersive and incredibly moving slim novel. And that ending is perfection.
โEvery life has its kernel, its hub, its epicentre, from which everything flows out, to which everything returns.โ
โEvery life has its kernel, its hub, its epicentre, from which everything flows out, to which everything returns.โ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy
carlafiorenzo's review against another edition
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
such a good exploration of grief in many forms, from many perspectives. how something that requires love, patience and dedication can be taken so quickly, for no reason. loved it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief
abbie_'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity
graceq22'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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
gigimussolin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Grief