Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Hamnet

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

94 reviews

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review

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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ireanirean's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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emmacb's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book was on its way to a lower rating to be honest. It's not that it isn't beautifully written, so much as that it feels like the description/writing style is more the point than the story at times. I liked the flashback/forward style of the chapters but also found it frustrating... I don't know, maybe at first this book was at the wrong time/mood for me?

However. I don't think it's a real spoiler to say that this book contains

a death

. It's literally in the blurb.

The second part of the book where Agnes and her family were dealing with the death hit me a lot harder, possibly because I've had some of that of my own to deal with recently. I'd have liked to read more of the conversation between Agnes and her husband (also a bit funny how much the book skirted round the fact that he's literally SHAKESPEARE) after she saw the play. Her thoughts were explained, and her perspective if his thoughts and she is the main narrator I guess, but that's got to have been an interesting conversation, and it felt like a shame to miss it!

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sevensableyes's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved this book from start to finish.

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annamolpus's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I don't generally gravitate towards historical fiction - this one was for a book group - but the writing was so strong here that I couldn't put it down. I became totally immersed, particularly because I cared so deeply for these characters. The book may be named after Hamnet but his mother Agnes was the star.

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