Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu

26 reviews

samisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

smashingstars's review against another edition

2.0

 Got pretty far then I started skimming until I got to the end because reading this book started to feel tedious after a certain point, especially reading Hayden's POV. I'm starting to realize that I don't care about what happens next. 

The romance is awkward and all the relationships between the characters feel stilted. I know there's history there but I just don't feel that connection or complicated emotions they would have for each other. It all just feels kind of emotionless. 

It's an interesting concept just not done well imo. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

lbelow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

5.0

Such a masterpiece of a book! The way it's written, cobbled together from "primary" sources and alternating from one to another to give a linear timeline, had me glued to my seat. The pacing is on point, the emotion is gut-wrenching, the relationships are convoluted, and the main character (Hayden) is so deeply, beautifully flawed and hurting. This book felt visceral in a way I'm sure I won't forget anytime soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Gun violence

lilacs_book_bower's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.5

This book is really interesting, and I definitely recommend it, but I don't want to read it ever again.  This is the weirdest locked room mystery, queer Hamlet re-telling that will ever exist.  Hayden's (Hamlet) father has been murdered and now the lab that the main characters are in has been locked down while Hamlet tries to avenge his father.  There are a lot of clever bits and allusions, and I definitely like that the Ophelia character has more of a personality, but she still feels lacking and her story still revolves around Hayden/Hamlet.  I am not sure how I feel about the Horatio character.  He is AI now and really in Hayden's head.  I don't want to say more due to spoilers, but I like the idea of Horatio and what happens, but I am not sure I buy into the execution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Self harm, Grief, Medical content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

laurareads87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

The Death I Gave Him caught my attention immediately: a queer locked room Hamlet? Yes! It did not disappoint. The structure - the story told through a combination of essays, pager transcripts, camera footage, letters, and some fictional insertions - is brilliant and effective. The writing is beautiful and the tension is at times unbearable. While there won't be too much 'surprise' in the plot elements for any reader familiar with Hamlet, Liu's book is a novel exploration of the themes of the play - an ambitious work. Highly recommend.

Content warnings: anything you'd expect from a Hamlet reimagination - death, murder, blood, minor gore / injury detail, suicidal thinking, grief

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Grief, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Violence, Confinement, Murder, Self harm, Medical trauma, Medical content, Grief, and Body horror

justkyliep's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

To be honest, my expectations when I read the words "Hamlet retelling" are very low. I've seen a lot of bad Shakespeare in my time in theatre, and a lot of terrible attempts to modernize it. The Death I Gave Him is NOT bad Shakespeare. (It's not bad sci-fi, either!) It is possibly the smartest and most interesting Shakespeare I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Liu's choices of when and how to deviate from canon were masterfully chosen—keeping the tone and soul of the original piece, but expanding and exploring characters in beautiful new ways. It mostly took me so long to get through, because I kept having to put the book down to go pace around my room. 

I really enjoyed the way this novel handled Horatio and Felicia (Ophelia). The ways they effect Hamlet's mental state and their own increased agency really added new life to the story. These characters are fan favorites, and a lot of adaptations have tried to increase their presence in the text... but I found that Liu is one of the first to be truly successful in a way that matches many of the themes of the original text. In particular, Felicia (and her father's) position within the lab (and in comparison to Hamlet's scholarly history) draws out a fantastic dynamic and discussion. It really was fun to get to know these characters all over again in this form. I very much look forward to more from this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, and Death

leanne_miron'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Grief and Gore

theknitpick's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

1.25

This book made me mad. It's too long, it's boring, and I think it's a poor treatment of suicide/depression. Additionally, I think it's a total mis-read/interpretation of Hamlet in its reinterpretation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Violence

anntharai's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

5.0

Jfc I don't even know where to start. All I can say is that I'll be thinking about this book - against my will - for probably years. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts