Reviews

The Dead Father's Club by Matt Haig

Only show reviews with written explanations

sassyyabby's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

sassypants1313's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

katykelly's review against another edition

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4.0

Hamlet reimagined for young adults

Told in a very convincing child's voice, Philip Noble is caught up in a family drama when his father dies in a car accident and he begins to see the ghost, who tells him that it was no accident, that his uncle was responsible and that Philip must get his revenge...

The style of writing, lacking some punctuation (apostrophes, speech marks) was a little awkward at first, though it became much more natural, and kept reminding me all the way through of the age and naivety of the narrator. It did work, though I know for some it will be an off-putting style.

As a fan of Hamlet, a play I knew well when at school, I enjoyed the structural similarities, working out the character connections and seeing lines and scenes crop up edited for the modern world. It was very well planned-out and brought into its new context.

Without knowledge of the Shakespeare it still works very well indeed as a ghost/revenge/grief story. The themes of Hamlet are even more relevant to the story of a boy procrastinating over killing his uncle.

This would work well used alongside the original text for English students, but the themes of parental death, step-families, grief and adolescence will hit home with many readers aged 12-15.

goodem9199's review against another edition

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3.0

I would recommend listening to this book. It is read by a young British boy, and he is amazing. I loved this book, although was a bit disappointed by the ending, hence the 3 stars.

carolyn0613's review against another edition

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4.0

Philip Noble is eleven and his father has just died in a car crash. He is grieving deeply when his dead dad appears as a ghost and tells him that Philip's uncle killed him and is after Philip's mum and the pub she now owns and runs. Dad tells Philip that he must get revenge on his uncle by killing him, otherwise Dad is doomed to be a ghost forever. The story sounds horrific when describing it, but there is quite a lot of black humour in there and some amusing side characters. The story is written in the first person from Philip's point of view and in a child-like style, which I'm not sure worked that well. It was a little too overdone. Aside from that, the book is easy to read and very intriguing. Funny and sad.
I read afterwards that it is a rewrite of Hamlet, but I'm not very familiar with the play and didn't pick up on that.

skylarko's review against another edition

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3.0

It was well written, from a preteens voice and perspective. But its NOT a tween book. It was messy and didn't have a happy ending, which is fine. I don't always need one. But it left so many open ends. And no accountability or help for the main character, who desperately needs it.