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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A locked room is hard to do - but The Death I Gave Him does it really well. The title, of all things, kept me away for a long time - and I don't think I love it, even at the end - but I'm so glad I have it a shot.
I loved the varied perspectives, the contextualizing footnotes, the changes to the Shakespeare that all worked well. I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a long time.
I loved the varied perspectives, the contextualizing footnotes, the changes to the Shakespeare that all worked well. I'm gonna be thinking about this one for a long time.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Emotions and tragedy and all that, of course. Of course. It's Hamlet, and that's all very well done. I had a lot of feelings.
AND, I'm impressed to say that even with as much robot/human intimacy as I've read (and written!), this book still introduced me to a new logistical approach.
AND, I'm impressed to say that even with as much robot/human intimacy as I've read (and written!), this book still introduced me to a new logistical approach.
The Death I Gave Him is pitched as "a lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller". Um. How about you inject it straight into my veins? When his father is found murdered in their lab, Elsinore is put on lockdown, and Hayden Lichfield sets out to lure the killer into the open. Trapped with four suspects — his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul, Hayden must rely on his one ally: the lab’s resident AI, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies, and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.
What immediately stood out to me about this book is the authorial confidence and linguistic flair. Hamlet demonstrably lends itself to queerness, and the claustrophobic locked room atmosphere is reminiscent of COVID lockdowns and Hayden's own spiralling mental health. Having the relationship between Hayden and Horatio transposed to human/AI links so well with the original Hamlet's concerns of mortality, humanity and connection. Everything just works so well. I really liked the structure of the book, slotting in Felicia's extracts from her memoir and interviews, which brings a modern touch and lends the original Ophelia more agency and deserved interest. I received an ARC of this book but I am looking forward to purchasing my own copy so I can enjoy the language on the physical page. It's a truly beautiful work, respectful to the original story yet elevating it into something that captures our modern world.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
What immediately stood out to me about this book is the authorial confidence and linguistic flair. Hamlet demonstrably lends itself to queerness, and the claustrophobic locked room atmosphere is reminiscent of COVID lockdowns and Hayden's own spiralling mental health. Having the relationship between Hayden and Horatio transposed to human/AI links so well with the original Hamlet's concerns of mortality, humanity and connection. Everything just works so well. I really liked the structure of the book, slotting in Felicia's extracts from her memoir and interviews, which brings a modern touch and lends the original Ophelia more agency and deserved interest. I received an ARC of this book but I am looking forward to purchasing my own copy so I can enjoy the language on the physical page. It's a truly beautiful work, respectful to the original story yet elevating it into something that captures our modern world.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The Death I Gave Him is pitched as "a lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller". Um. How about you inject it straight into my veins? When his father is found murdered in their lab, Elsinore is put on lockdown, and Hayden Lichfield sets out to lure the killer into the open. Trapped with four suspects — his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul, Hayden must rely on his one ally: the lab’s resident AI, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies, and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.
What immediately stood out to me about this book is the authorial confidence and linguistic flair. Hamlet demonstrably lends itself to queerness, and the claustrophobic locked room atmosphere is reminiscent of COVID lockdowns and Hayden's own spiralling mental health. Having the relationship between Hayden and Horatio transposed to human/AI links so well with the original Hamlet's concerns of mortality, humanity and connection. Everything just works so well. I really liked the structure of the book, slotting in Felicia's extracts from her memoir and interviews, which brings a modern touch and lends the original Ophelia more agency and deserved interest. I received an ARC of this book but I am looking forward to purchasing my own copy so I can enjoy the language on the physical page. It's a truly beautiful work, respectful to the original story yet elevating it into something that captures our modern world.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
What immediately stood out to me about this book is the authorial confidence and linguistic flair. Hamlet demonstrably lends itself to queerness, and the claustrophobic locked room atmosphere is reminiscent of COVID lockdowns and Hayden's own spiralling mental health. Having the relationship between Hayden and Horatio transposed to human/AI links so well with the original Hamlet's concerns of mortality, humanity and connection. Everything just works so well. I really liked the structure of the book, slotting in Felicia's extracts from her memoir and interviews, which brings a modern touch and lends the original Ophelia more agency and deserved interest. I received an ARC of this book but I am looking forward to purchasing my own copy so I can enjoy the language on the physical page. It's a truly beautiful work, respectful to the original story yet elevating it into something that captures our modern world.
I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
~~Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion for the ARC!~~
This was simply incredible. I'm a senior creative writing major, and this is the sort of book my teachers would point to as an example of brilliantly written craft.
I devoured this in a day; I just couldn't get enough of it! The writing, the tension, the characters and their dynamics, the descriptions, the decline into madness, the queerness, it all drew me in so intensely and had its claws in me until the very last page.
I read Hamlet back in high school, but I remember it quite vividly. The themes of death, mortality, and revenge are universal and it still resonates with readers hundreds of years after te play was written. Liu takes the original story and expands upon it so goddamn well. I particularly enjoyed Felicia, the reimagined Ophelia, and her agency in this interpretation. The core elements of the original character are still there, as she does decline into her own madness, but she is so much more than the girl who went mad because her boyfriend killed her dad. Her relationship with Hayden is so complicated but I adored the depiction so much.
Another thing I loved about this book was that the story is framed from the perspective of a grad student compiling the entire story decades into the future long after the story has past. There are research notes dispersed throughout the book which expand upon little details in the story or directly cast doubt on certain elements in the story. There are even portions where the student takes creative liberty and fills in supposed missing gaps within the story. It is this type of creativity in books that makes me love reading so much; this is the sort of stuff I wanna see.
Overall, this is amazing. Read it. Buy it or request it at your local library. If you love Shakespeare and queer stories, then this is for you.
This was simply incredible. I'm a senior creative writing major, and this is the sort of book my teachers would point to as an example of brilliantly written craft.
I devoured this in a day; I just couldn't get enough of it! The writing, the tension, the characters and their dynamics, the descriptions, the decline into madness, the queerness, it all drew me in so intensely and had its claws in me until the very last page.
I read Hamlet back in high school, but I remember it quite vividly. The themes of death, mortality, and revenge are universal and it still resonates with readers hundreds of years after te play was written. Liu takes the original story and expands upon it so goddamn well. I particularly enjoyed Felicia, the reimagined Ophelia, and her agency in this interpretation. The core elements of the original character are still there, as she does decline into her own madness, but she is so much more than the girl who went mad because her boyfriend killed her dad. Her relationship with Hayden is so complicated but I adored the depiction so much.
Another thing I loved about this book was that the story is framed from the perspective of a grad student compiling the entire story decades into the future long after the story has past. There are research notes dispersed throughout the book which expand upon little details in the story or directly cast doubt on certain elements in the story. There are even portions where the student takes creative liberty and fills in supposed missing gaps within the story.
Spoiler
One of these gaps happens to be when Hayden and Horatio have sex, which I personally find so funny. I keep imagining the teacher reading that and just nodding to themselves.Overall, this is amazing. Read it. Buy it or request it at your local library. If you love Shakespeare and queer stories, then this is for you.
*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*
"The Death I Gave Him" is a queer, scifi-ish "Hamlet" retelling, which seeks to reconstruct (retelling of a retelling, nice!) what happened in the laboratory after Hayden (Hamlet) finds his father's corpse. If you know "Hamlet" well, as I do, you expect certain plot twists but you can never be sure if or how the story will unfold. The novel also plays, partly, into the found fragment trope and overall I was quite entertaining. The entire book is very violent and dark and none of the characters are likeable at all. I was very entertained by the book and found it very enjoyable. Especially Horatio was fascinating but I have to admit that some things did not work for me: a) The scientist's son who has no real qualifications but somehow became a prodigy? b) The ending which left some questions open c) The World Building which was either unexplained or just plopped in (apart from the fancy research facility) and also b) Horatio in connection to world building.
But I enjoyed this, so 4 stars
"The Death I Gave Him" is a queer, scifi-ish "Hamlet" retelling, which seeks to reconstruct (retelling of a retelling, nice!) what happened in the laboratory after Hayden (Hamlet) finds his father's corpse. If you know "Hamlet" well, as I do, you expect certain plot twists but you can never be sure if or how the story will unfold. The novel also plays, partly, into the found fragment trope and overall I was quite entertaining. The entire book is very violent and dark and none of the characters are likeable at all. I was very entertained by the book and found it very enjoyable. Especially Horatio was fascinating but I have to admit that some things did not work for me: a) The scientist's son who has no real qualifications but somehow became a prodigy? b) The ending which left some questions open c) The World Building which was either unexplained or just plopped in (apart from the fancy research facility) and also b) Horatio in connection to world building.
But I enjoyed this, so 4 stars
Going into this book, I wasn't aware of just how HAMLET it would be. I've read/watched many modern takes on classics but I just wasn't expecting how much this book would simply just BE Hamlet. As someone who wishes that they were more familiar with Shakespeare than they are, The Death I Gave Him really breathed new life into the original play for me. The way it engages with the original text... It's one of those books that I would love to sit with and analyze a lot more closely.
The book also succeeded at being unsettling at all the right moments, thanks to the excellent prose, and manages to maintain the tension even though we all know how it (mostly) plays out-- it's just an all-around delicious tragedy.
Also we love freaky AI sex. The yearning!! God!!
The book also succeeded at being unsettling at all the right moments, thanks to the excellent prose, and manages to maintain the tension even though we all know how it (mostly) plays out-- it's just an all-around delicious tragedy.
Oof. I crawled through this because the hook (Hamlet as a queer sci-fi locked room thriller) was so intriguing and I wanted it to pay off.
It didn’t.
There really isn’t much to the mystery and I didn’t really find any of the proceedings to be particularly thrilling. The characters were all cold and distant, with none of them jumping out as remotely interesting or engaging for me.
There’s some gore (eh, whatever) and bizarrely out of nowhere WTF-is-happening sex scenes between That could have been interesting narrative territory but it felt embarrassingly unearned since the characters weren’t exactly dynamic to begin with.
I liked the format of the book, with each chapter presented as a different “source” (like an article excerpt or transcript or data log). Switching voices in this way was really the main thing that kept me going and even then, quite slowly.
1.5, rounding up to 2.
It didn’t.
There really isn’t much to the mystery and I didn’t really find any of the proceedings to be particularly thrilling. The characters were all cold and distant, with none of them jumping out as remotely interesting or engaging for me.
There’s some gore (eh, whatever) and bizarrely out of nowhere WTF-is-happening sex scenes between
Spoiler
the main character and an AI.I liked the format of the book, with each chapter presented as a different “source” (like an article excerpt or transcript or data log). Switching voices in this way was really the main thing that kept me going and even then, quite slowly.
1.5, rounding up to 2.