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barf_mobile's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.5
kkouh's review
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.5
sjsreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet is so good. Life and death, murder and suicide, what it means to live forever, what is the cost.... all interwoven together brilliantly. Liu takes the foundation of the play and puts their own spin on it for this technological age.
lcgordon's review against another edition
3.5
not really sure this needed to be a hamlet retelling? the ai sex was fun
timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
Hamlet's famous, AI is hot, how can a mashup fail?
This is how.
First, market it as queer sci-fi locked-room.
The queer part is too weird to count and even then only a maybe; but it did make me think that Horatio should have been called Fellatio. Also it was mostly "wait, what, how could THAT work?" where the answer was always "it can't."
The sci-fi was OK but Liu lost me with the old hack-open-your-arm instant healing nonsense.
The locked-room only works if you don't know Hamlet
ANd when you put it all together, and there isn't a single spark of likability in the characters, it's like Cold Comfort Farm without any of the humour. You can't just take a play that's four hours of dithering and despair and ends with all the starters dead, and make a thriller out of it. I was frankly amazed that any of them survived this one, and if Liu had snuffed them all it might have been better.
There are some well-written scenes, and the structure was fine, but I think it flopped because the components just can't work together, like a chocolate kettle.
This is how.
First, market it as queer sci-fi locked-room.
The queer part is too weird to count and even then only a maybe; but it did make me think that Horatio should have been called Fellatio. Also it was mostly "wait, what, how could THAT work?" where the answer was always "it can't."
The sci-fi was OK but Liu lost me with the old hack-open-your-arm instant healing nonsense.
The locked-room only works if you don't know Hamlet
ANd when you put it all together, and there isn't a single spark of likability in the characters, it's like Cold Comfort Farm without any of the humour. You can't just take a play that's four hours of dithering and despair and ends with all the starters dead, and make a thriller out of it. I was frankly amazed that any of them survived this one, and if Liu had snuffed them all it might have been better.
There are some well-written scenes, and the structure was fine, but I think it flopped because the components just can't work together, like a chocolate kettle.
nightwillowfox's review against another edition
3.0
This 3 stars is being very nice. I don't see why it was called a Hamlet retelling but hey maybe I am slow. But I do know that reading footnotes takes me away from the story. If they didn't do that and do interludes then maybe I would like it a little more. Maybe I should have re-read Hamlet before I read this one.
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, Violence, and Medical content
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Suicide and Infidelity
rafritz1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Murder, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Abandonment
lilgnocchi's review against another edition
2.5
firstly the romantic relationship between the main character and the ai living inside his brain made me very uncomfortable. didn’t enjoy the book or story. the only reason i finished it was because the different and unique povs kept it somewhat interesting.