Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

124 reviews

sehwa's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

I haven't read a book quite like this before. Not all that much happens in the plot, it's just a lovely storytelling of the past and present. Maggie's writing is absolutely wonderful, it took me a few pages to get used to it but it was a joy to read and I was never bored. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Pregnancy

tayaingrid's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

lchelle_bester's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

Minor: Domestic abuse

honeycrispp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

A deeply emotional, enthralling and immersive work of historical fiction set during the Black Death. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death and Gaslighting

sara_bera's review against another edition

dark 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

bcooper21's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Infidelity

bexdubyah's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity

terrik_'s review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

How do I describe a book that left me so utterly breathless from both awe and because I was sobbing like a baby? 

Hamnet is a story that gives you everything and then snatches it away. It gives you love, affection, sorrow, and takes it all away in turn. Full of morally grey characters, grief, and the intricate relationships between family, this book is everything I loved served on a silver platter. 

Throughout the book, my impressions of all the characters kept changing. As time passed in the books, all the characters seemed to grow along with them. I loved the emphasis on sibling relationships in this book, and Bartholomew, Eliza, and Edmond can do no wrong in my eyes. The parallel between Shakespeare and his daughter Susanna’s life is also very striking. 

This is the type of book that WILL be analysed for literature classes. It’s the type of book that you can scan the pages over and over again and still find more ways Maggie O’Farrell made this story so hard hitting. All the words that were used, all the sentences, the way paragraphs were structured… as someone who enjoy looking at the deeper meaning behind books, I couldn’t put it down. 

Shakespeare in particular was a character I never really knew how I felt about. At the start I was rooting for him, in the second half I was cheering him on, in the third and fourth half I couldn’t believe him, and in the last few pages I wept for him. 

And Hamnet. Oh, Hamnet. Sweet sweet boy. 

Agnes is definitely a different character from all those that I’ve read before. I wasn’t expecting any form of mystical powers during the book (I went in only knowing ‘it’s about the women in Shakespeare’s life’) but Agnes was very compelling. Despite how long I spent reading about her, I I was always being surprised with each switch of POV to her. There’s just so many layers to her that you peel away as the book progresses. She loves Shakespeare, she loves Bartholomew, and above anything, she loves her children. 

I got through this book slowly (a whole month gosh) because of other commitments, but the journey was worth it till the end. 

If you are looking for a book that deals with grief, the intricacies of family, and that will make you cry, this is the book for you. The writing style at the start could take a bit of getting used to but just stick it through and I promise you won’t regret it. 

(Oh but Shakespeare’s father, John… he can go AWAY. I wished he had gotten retribution for what he did. Can’t believe he got away scot-free) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Blood

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

coconut_'s review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity

annoyedhumanoid'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

4.25

4% of the (audio)book's runtime was dedicated to an arbitrary, pointless generational family saga of the flea that infected Judith with the plague. finishing the chapter, then the book, and it amounting to nothing was very insulting. i fully recommend skipping the chapter that begins "For the pestilence to reach Warwickshire…"

that out of the way, it was slow at times—part I alternates between past and present, and i felt that the past dragged on while being merely drip-fed the more interesting present—but it's a beautiful character study, heartbreaking and endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Sexism, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Alcohol