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siobhanward's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
NYT Notable Books 2023: 49/100
Using Hamlet as a backdrop for this story really tied things together, and Hammad used it well. My biggest frustration in the story was Sonia. There was so much happening beyond her and despite moments of clarity, she was often tunnel-visioned into herself and couldn't see beyond her own challenges. I'm also not sure the side plot with Harold added anything apart from taking away time from the rest of the book. The book was impactful and well-written, I just wish Sonia had been a different protagonist.
Using Hamlet as a backdrop for this story really tied things together, and Hammad used it well. My biggest frustration in the story was Sonia. There was so much happening beyond her and despite moments of clarity, she was often tunnel-visioned into herself and couldn't see beyond her own challenges. I'm also not sure the side plot with Harold added anything apart from taking away time from the rest of the book. The book was impactful and well-written, I just wish Sonia had been a different protagonist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death, Violence, and Murder
mcmorgan's review
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol
nicmgray's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Colonisation
Moderate: Pregnancy and War
meltotheany's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
resilience can look so different and resistance can look so different. and this is a really powerful, and beautiful, and heartbreaking book about a woman finding the power of those two things (alongside her family and her culture) while coming back and performing hamlet in Palestine.
being born into this genocide, and knowing your parents were also born in this genocide, and your grandparents, and so on for over 100 years. all having first memories of realizing they were living under occupation. all having first moments of being a part of an uprising to protect their land. all having stories that may feel unspeakable to even pass down. and all the childhood trauma, growing up in this trauma, trauma still being inflicted in 2025, … it’s so harrowing i don't even have words for it.
but there is also such a strong message of hope, and finding art to help you, and finding power that others cannot take from you. i highly recommend this one. and please remember that Palestine should be free, and we all should be helping to contribute to that freedom, with our voices, our money, and our politicians.
trigger + content warnings: harassment with airport security, racism, xenophobia, colorism, talk of infidelity, genocide, occupation, colonization, war, murder, death, torture, starvation, gun violence, attacks, violence, talk of medication abuse for weight loss, mention of disordered eating in past, abortion in past, miscarriage in past, divorce in past, depression, grief, blood, bad medical care (unprofessional doctor giving pelvic exam care (mental / emotional abuse)
being born into this genocide, and knowing your parents were also born in this genocide, and your grandparents, and so on for over 100 years. all having first memories of realizing they were living under occupation. all having first moments of being a part of an uprising to protect their land. all having stories that may feel unspeakable to even pass down. and all the childhood trauma, growing up in this trauma, trauma still being inflicted in 2025, … it’s so harrowing i don't even have words for it.
but there is also such a strong message of hope, and finding art to help you, and finding power that others cannot take from you. i highly recommend this one. and please remember that Palestine should be free, and we all should be helping to contribute to that freedom, with our voices, our money, and our politicians.
trigger + content warnings: harassment with airport security, racism, xenophobia, colorism, talk of infidelity, genocide, occupation, colonization, war, murder, death, torture, starvation, gun violence, attacks, violence, talk of medication abuse for weight loss, mention of disordered eating in past, abortion in past, miscarriage in past, divorce in past, depression, grief, blood, bad medical care (unprofessional doctor giving pelvic exam care (mental / emotional abuse)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and War
risemini's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Abortion, Alcohol, and War
peppergp's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
Lots of really great things about this book, although overall it wasn’t my entirely to my taste. I liked the incorporation of the playscript-style narration to record group conversations and the stage. Hammad’s translations of the Arabic version of Hamlet are delightful to read and parse through as someone familiar with the original English text.
I think you’ll enjoy this book a lot more if you know Hamlet (and particularly the character of Gertrude) well, but it is not essential to enjoy the story or catch the more obvious parallel meanings.Mariam performing the Hecuba soliloquy in front of the soldiers gave me chills, as did Sonia claiming Wael as her son at the checkpoint.
The narration has a distant feel to it, even in emotionally tense moments, and Hammad leaves lots of conversations unspoken throughout the story. Her style is not really for me, but there were moments that got to me nonetheless. I enjoyed the subtle questions about motherhood, grief, and the ways that artists (and academics, and politicians, etc.) sometimes extract from suffering that’s proximal to them in ways that aren’t kind, but are human and possibly even necessary.
I think you’ll enjoy this book a lot more if you know Hamlet (and particularly the character of Gertrude) well, but it is not essential to enjoy the story or catch the more obvious parallel meanings.
The narration has a distant feel to it, even in emotionally tense moments, and Hammad leaves lots of conversations unspoken throughout the story. Her style is not really for me, but there were moments that got to me nonetheless. I enjoyed the subtle questions about motherhood, grief, and the ways that artists (and academics, and politicians, etc.) sometimes extract from suffering that’s proximal to them in ways that aren’t kind, but are human and possibly even necessary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Colonisation
Minor: Miscarriage, Islamophobia, and Abortion
waybeyondblue's review
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Police brutality
Moderate: Miscarriage and War
arcookson's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Eating disorder, Violence, and Abortion
azrah786's review against another edition
4.0
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
CW: violence, police brutality, colonialism, war, genocide, murder, death, grief, racism, xenophobia islamophobia, hate crime, miscarriage/abortion, infidelity
--
Enter Ghost is a story about a British theatre actress with Palestinian heritage who after years spent away returns to Haifa to visit her sister as a way to get away from the end of a bad relationship. Childhood trauma as well as family issues mean Sonia feels a detachment from Haifa and Palestine as a whole but getting pulled into doing an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank allows her to start renewing her relationship with her family’s homeland.
This is a multi-faceted book that not only brilliantly explores art as a form of resistance but also focuses on the casual drama that occurs within a theatre production as well as more personal relationship dynamics, both familial and romantic. This is all tied together with themes of identity, belonging and perseverance, particularly with regards to the lived experiences of Palestinians under occupation. Not only do we get perspectives from the West Bank but also that of Palestinians on the “inside” who have grown up post 1948 and currently live in those areas that were sieged during the Nakba.
There is never a preachy tone to how any of this is addressed but the underlying messages cannot be more clear-cut than when the exact events that are being immortalised via fictional text are being recorded on social media for the world to witness in real time.
Hammad’s prose is brilliant though I actually struggled with getting into the story initially as the writing is very much attuned to the personality and emotions of our protagonist. Sonia isn’t the most vibrant of characters and her mannerisms at times make her a little unlikeable. I was more drawn to her strained relationship with her family members than I was to her romantic life but it was the use and performance of Hamlet within the story which stood out most to me.
Hamlet is one of the Shakespeare plays that I didn’t study in school and never got around to reading but let me tell you when you read this book your understanding of the classic will be altered whether or not you’re familiar with the original.
The narrative does jump to a script format every now and again when the theatre group are assembled, rehearsing and speculating about the play which I feel at times worked and at others disrupted the flow of the overall story which was another minor grievance I had with the book. However, the portrayal of how culture and the arts are a source of hope in the face of repression by apartheid and occupation was beautifully done.
The place on the Women’s Prize shortlist was well-deserved. Go read it!
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
CW: violence, police brutality, colonialism, war, genocide, murder, death, grief, racism, xenophobia islamophobia, hate crime, miscarriage/abortion, infidelity
--
Enter Ghost is a story about a British theatre actress with Palestinian heritage who after years spent away returns to Haifa to visit her sister as a way to get away from the end of a bad relationship. Childhood trauma as well as family issues mean Sonia feels a detachment from Haifa and Palestine as a whole but getting pulled into doing an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank allows her to start renewing her relationship with her family’s homeland.
This is a multi-faceted book that not only brilliantly explores art as a form of resistance but also focuses on the casual drama that occurs within a theatre production as well as more personal relationship dynamics, both familial and romantic. This is all tied together with themes of identity, belonging and perseverance, particularly with regards to the lived experiences of Palestinians under occupation. Not only do we get perspectives from the West Bank but also that of Palestinians on the “inside” who have grown up post 1948 and currently live in those areas that were sieged during the Nakba.
There is never a preachy tone to how any of this is addressed but the underlying messages cannot be more clear-cut than when the exact events that are being immortalised via fictional text are being recorded on social media for the world to witness in real time.
Hammad’s prose is brilliant though I actually struggled with getting into the story initially as the writing is very much attuned to the personality and emotions of our protagonist. Sonia isn’t the most vibrant of characters and her mannerisms at times make her a little unlikeable. I was more drawn to her strained relationship with her family members than I was to her romantic life but it was the use and performance of Hamlet within the story which stood out most to me.
Hamlet is one of the Shakespeare plays that I didn’t study in school and never got around to reading but let me tell you when you read this book your understanding of the classic will be altered whether or not you’re familiar with the original.
The narrative does jump to a script format every now and again when the theatre group are assembled, rehearsing and speculating about the play which I feel at times worked and at others disrupted the flow of the overall story which was another minor grievance I had with the book. However, the portrayal of how culture and the arts are a source of hope in the face of repression by apartheid and occupation was beautifully done.
The place on the Women’s Prize shortlist was well-deserved. Go read it!
Final Rating – 4/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Infidelity, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War
jono_lawrence's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Colonisation, and War