Reviews

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein

margaret's review against another edition

4.5

I may never recover from this book

autumngore's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.5

the one word i have for this book is: Satisfying. 

callierowland's review against another edition

3.0

I have no concrete reason for giving this book three stars in place of five. Plot-wise and metaphor-wise, it was extremely well crafted. My rating is a matter of personal taste (when it comes to pacing).

That said, I went into this knowing little to nothing about Marlowe other than that he died young, so when I tell you I GASPED at this ending…

If you’ve read it, you SEE what I mean.

The whole last fifteen pages are a triumph, really. I could talk about the parallels in the scenes for at least an hour.

Needless to say, I’m going to go devour some more Elizabethan England content, thank you very much. Who needs Victorian England when you can have this?

khaleesimod93's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

Ok this book isn't bad, but I didn't enjoy it like I thought I would. While Epstien's prose is funny, witty, and thrilling, there was an extreme disconnect with the characters. Kit and others interacted with each other, but they didn't seem to actually connect or make me feel anything for any of them. With a story that's based loosely on history, there is some forgiveness on historical accuracy. But there is a such thing as being too fantastical. That's what I felt with Kit and his espionage missions. His mission with Queen Mary just felt too out of the realm of possibility. The best part of the novel was the romance between Tom and Kit. Though again, I struggled connecting with them both. So frustrating because there are things I liked but it dragged for me so much! 

lshatilla's review against another edition

4.0

Sobbing

katreadsalot's review against another edition

3.0

A beautifully written and fantastic historical fiction novel featuring Kit Marlowe. I loved the depiction of historical London.

zed_dog's review

• Strong character development? No

2.5

I found this book over-written: lots of paragraphs that could have been sentences; big pauses for thought that interrupt dramatic moments, and could have been illustrated through dialogue or action. The pacing also suffers from all the shifts in point of view: the reader gets too much information beyond what the protagonist knows, killing any mystery—and the

plotting against him

doesn’t go anywhere anyway. The

juxtaposition with Faustus

at the end was a nice touch, but

the web could have been woven much tighter around Kit, to give him a proper tragic fall (like Faustus’), inevitably precipitated by his actions, rather than an ambush.

Kit also doesn’t mature over the course of the book: he seems exactly as hotheaded and stupid at 28 as at 21, and I always find this lack of growth frustrating. He’s described as a clever, persuasive person—a good liar. But in action, he almost always makes rookie mistakes, and takes too long to figure out (or even remember) what’s going on. Basically, I wanted to like this book more than I did. I think I wanted either a KJ Charles book based on a true story, or a gay Wolf Hall—and this fell short of either. 

kimmag92's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

I discovered A Tip for the Hangman from a Substack I subscribe to about under-rated books and I am so happy they recommended this! I absolutely loved this book and it's the fictionalized version of Christopher Marlowe's life he deserved.  So many books that I've read that have Marlowe as a character have tended to treat him as a villain as well as being a one dimensional character.  Epstein's Marlowe has depth and complexities that make him a very interesting and compelling character.  Their depiction of Marlowe's and Tom's relationship was beautiful and I cared so much for them.  

I also really enjoyed that they acknowledged Shakespeare as a character.  Recently I've found books where Shakespeare is a side or minor character the author weirdly dances around him like He Who Must Not Be Named. If we acknowledge Shakespeare in a book the Trace will not be placed on us.  

anastasiacarrow's review against another edition

4.0

WHAT THE FUCK ALLISON I TRUSTED YOU

I AM A PROUD MARLOVIAN BC IF THAT THEORY ISN'T TRUE THEN THAT MEANS MY FAV IDIOT REBEL SPY PLAYWRIGHT DIED YOUNG AND TRAGIC FOR NOTHING. HE DESERVED SO MUCH MORE.

JUSTICE FOR KIT MARLOWE!!!! i'm SOBBING

jmronbeck's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-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

3.75