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grboph's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Pregnancy, Grief, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content and Abandonment
divinehealer14's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
I really really enjoyed this: the story is well told, gripping, well paced and the characters are fleshed out. I loved to see Agnes’ journey through motherhood and grief, and also liked to see the historical setting that surrounds her.
A well deserved, solid 4,75 stars
“Death is violent, death is a struggle. The body clings to life, as ivy to a wall, and will not easily let go, will not surrender its grip without a fight”
Graphic: Grief, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Infidelity
szuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Pregnancy, Grief, Misogyny, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Infidelity
georginathelibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
To hear her talk about a child that I hadn’t even known existed, despite studying Agnes’s husband at university, a child who may have died of a deadly epidemic, during that time of my own life secluded from our own deadly sickness captured my attention.
I immediately ordered a signed copy, and then it sat on the shelf as they often do, biding their time until the moment is right.
Finally the time had come to read it, prompted by my book club, and I am so glad I have. It was chosen for April as that is the month of Agnes’ husband’s birth and death, but the story is not just about that famous playwright, it is more about his family, and their grief at the loss of one of their own.
This story captured my attention anew, transporting me to Elizabethan Stratford, and had me riveted from start to finish, a feat that many books have failed to deliver of late.
I warn you, you will need tissues, this is not a happy story, but it is one that leaves a feeling of wholeness at the end, that all is as it should be.
In the words of Agnes’s husband “give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’er wrought heart and bids it break”.
Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Death, and Miscarriage
Minor: Sexual content, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Pandemic/Epidemic
emerentina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Infidelity
wrenny03's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content
august_ambrosia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
but i will end this long, rambly review by just saying. ohhh hamnet. dearest hamnet. it shall not be. he wills it so. its a story about a boy who, full with love and life, does the impossible. and meets the inevitable.
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content
theliterarylayla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Sexism
abfreda184's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying
laguerrelewis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Animal death, Terminal illness, Child death, Grief, Excrement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual content