Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

85 reviews

bodiesinbooks's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Pregnancy

Moderate: Terminal illness and Grief

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

Child birth

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Did I buy this (partly) because it’s just an absolutely beautiful cover? Yes. But I love historical fiction and this was beautifully, heartbreakingly good. Maggie O’Farrell’s writing style was wonderfully descriptive and felt almost dreamy. I often don’t like when stories jump around in time, but it didn’t bother me in this book.

I especially loved the chapter tracing the plague from a monkey in the Middle East to Italy and finally to England. I love when books deal with big or important historical events by breaking them down to the tiniest actions, and this was an amazing example.

I found it fascinating that O’Farrell managed to write the entire book (or almost the entire book? I don’t remember exactly) without ever mentioning the name William Shakespeare. It was such a good way to keep the reader’s attention on his role as a father rather than a literary icon.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe—although this is historical fiction so you really should know the ending already): Sad, but also a little bittersweet. I love the idea of tragedy and loss being turned into something beautiful, as so many artists have done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity and Suicidal thoughts

ophelia_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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

First third felt slow. Second third was painful but powerful. The ending was gorgeous and felt like a great payoff for the time spent on the first two thirds. This was my first Maggie O’Farrell book and it makes me want to read more. Her protagonist (not the title character) is thoughtfully crafted and easy to empathize with. I love how she handled Shakespeare, the character  who I expected to dominate the narrative (I was wrong.) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual content

bretagnereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content

eloiseisreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I liked the idea behind this book, of centring the family around a famous man when those people are generally forgotten, but I did not like the actual experience of reading it.

The writing is repetitious and florid (I get that it's for emphasis but some paragraphs just felt like lists of synonyms) and the characterization of Anne (Agnes) as this kind of stereotypical "witchy" wise woman was annoying. Her supernatural ability to randomly know things seemed like a literary device to tell information the author didn't know how to show. The vaguely supernatural cause of Hamnet’s death was also stupid. If this wasn't billed as straight historical fiction this probably wouldn't bug me so much, but it is and it does.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity, Racial slurs, and Abortion

rotatinglibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Racial slurs

rosalind's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Medical content, and Grief

zogg's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Sexual content