Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

172 reviews

alltyedup's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Child death, and Infidelity

bookiemadi's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Pregnancy

Minor: Death of parent and Infidelity

alliebliterary's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Child death

murphysmate's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Poetically written, with no sense of modernity.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy and Child abuse

Minor: Animal death

seanml's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

I'd never read Maggie O'Farrell before this. Her prose is immaculate. For a book with so many quiet moments, her fluidity perfectly captures the wandering  mind and all of its hiccups and shortcomings. The lack of formal acknowledgement of Shakespeare allows the audience to focus on the principal characters until it matters most. That's all; wonderfully written. 8.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Chronic illness and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol and Miscarriage

lauraturpin's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Child abuse

loserbook's review

emotional reflective 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

I was relatively nervous about starting this book; everyone had told me wonders about it and the idea that it would disappoint made me hesitant. However, it was not at all. This beautifully written novel on grief and motherhood has become one of my favorite books already. Its lyricism and sentimentalism style pulled me and prevented me from dropping the book at any point, always wanted to know how the current chapter would end just to continue another timeline's story in the next one... The alternating eras, that go from Hamnet's last days to his mother Agnes' younger years and the beginning of her marriage, creates an addictive loop that will make you want to see the mysterious characters' lives without missing a detail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Child death

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

sammyb's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Infidelity

aaliyah_lomas15's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

It personally didn't feel like a focus on and celebration of Hamnet's life like it promises. However, the ending is incredibly powerful, I loved it. I found it difficult to get into the novel at the beginning. The writing when focused on Hamnet and Judith being ill didn't grasp me. However, the chapters focused on the past with the Latin Tutor/Brother/Father (eventually) and Agnes hooked me, I couldn't wait to read those chapters. After Hamnet's death, the author explores grief superbly and beautifully lyrically. And, did I mention? WOW that ending. Powerful, beautiful, brilliant. The writing didn't hook me throughout the entire novel, I found it a bit clunky and very heavy on the similes and metaphors, but it works beautifully in that last third of the novel. Overall, I recommend this pretty highly just for the Agnes storyline and the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, and Child death

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Child abuse

leontyna's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

The prose in this book was just amazing, so devastatingly beautiful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy and Domestic abuse

Minor: Infidelity