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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An excellent re-telling of a classic tragic revenge story. Some wonderful twists and turns and beautiful prose. A few clunky scenes keep it from being truly perfect, but overall it was a thrilling and claustrophobic journey.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was weird. I kinda loved it for that fact. It's messy which adds to it's charm. It gave me vibes the locked tomb series gave me which i am always on the look out for.
The only reason i didn't rate this book higher is the fact that i think Felicia could have been a stronger character, I wish she could've made at least one solid decision.
The only reason i didn't rate this book higher is the fact that i think Felicia could have been a stronger character, I wish she could've made at least one solid decision.
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A group of unwell people making very poor decisions. I just want Hayden to make better choices, but it is a Hamlet retelling, so of course it could never happen.
Liu was very good at capturing the tense atmosphere in this locked lab.
I also enjoyed the visceral discriptions of the violence done to other and (Hayden) themselves, but distantly - through a scientific lens.
Also Horatio is amazing - I did enjoy the relationship to Hayden.
also many found the fates of the characters interesting - it was somewhat flipped who lived and died (poor Horation, you deserve better). And though it was not a happy ending, it was not, unlike Hamlet, an endning without some hope. I don’t really like when retold tragedies change the endings but I didn’t mind this, because it was still a tragic tale with consequences and the end was certainly not happy.(
Liu was very good at capturing the tense atmosphere in this locked lab.
I also enjoyed the visceral discriptions of the violence done to other and (Hayden) themselves, but distantly - through a scientific lens.
Also Horatio is amazing - I did enjoy the relationship to Hayden.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Violence
Thank you to Rebellion and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Okay, confession time: Hamlet is my favorite of Shakespeare's works. So to see this promising a "queer retelling of Hamlet?" As a sci-fi thriller? I was all over it. This is such a unique interpretation of what could have been a tired story, and I am absolutely delighted and more than a little horrified by it.
Hayden Lichfield (Hamlet) discovers the body of his father murdered in his laboratory, with the hours around his death wiped from the camera logs. The lab immediately goes into lockdown, trapping him inside with four other people: his uncle Charles, intern Felicia Xia (Ophelia), her father and the head of security Paul (Polonius), and lab tech Gabriel Rasmussen. The only one he knows is on his side is the lab's AI, Horatio, who he has known since its creation, and they have to work together as Hayden tries to avenge his father and figure out who is after the Sisyphus Formula that they have been developing, which might be capable of reversing death.
The Death I Gave Him has the same strength as it does weakness: it is a Hamlet retelling. If you have any familiarity with Hamlet, you know going into this story how the entire thing is going to go. There isn't much of a mystery of who is going to survive the book, or who the murderer is, or what the reason could be for their actions. On the other hand, Liu has done something amazing by choosing to make this a locked room sci-fi thriller - the scenario surrounding the well-worn story is completely unique. You might know the ending, but how we get there is the fun part. A murder for a formula that might one day help humans evade death itself? Horatio as an all-knowing AI in the lab who also has access to Hayden/Hamlet's innermost mind? AMAZING.
- The storytelling style is so much fun. A combination of retelling, research paper, found footage, and interview, it's like you're reading someone's thesis paper about what happened that night at the lab.
- The agency that Liu manages to give to Felicia/Ophelia by making her a morally grey secondary lead! Is she a hero? A villain? Just trying to survive? Just getting to ask those questions about a character like Ophelia is great.
- The relationship between Hayden/Hamlet and Horatio. I never thought I'd describe the relationship between a young man and an AI as tender and touching, but here we are. In a story that is relatively gruesome, Horatio is a spot of kindness for Hayden.
Overall, this was such a pleasant surprise and I cannot wait to see what Liu comes up with next!
Okay, confession time: Hamlet is my favorite of Shakespeare's works. So to see this promising a "queer retelling of Hamlet?" As a sci-fi thriller? I was all over it. This is such a unique interpretation of what could have been a tired story, and I am absolutely delighted and more than a little horrified by it.
Hayden Lichfield (Hamlet) discovers the body of his father murdered in his laboratory, with the hours around his death wiped from the camera logs. The lab immediately goes into lockdown, trapping him inside with four other people: his uncle Charles, intern Felicia Xia (Ophelia), her father and the head of security Paul (Polonius), and lab tech Gabriel Rasmussen. The only one he knows is on his side is the lab's AI, Horatio, who he has known since its creation, and they have to work together as Hayden tries to avenge his father and figure out who is after the Sisyphus Formula that they have been developing, which might be capable of reversing death.
The Death I Gave Him has the same strength as it does weakness: it is a Hamlet retelling. If you have any familiarity with Hamlet, you know going into this story how the entire thing is going to go. There isn't much of a mystery of who is going to survive the book, or who the murderer is, or what the reason could be for their actions. On the other hand, Liu has done something amazing by choosing to make this a locked room sci-fi thriller - the scenario surrounding the well-worn story is completely unique. You might know the ending, but how we get there is the fun part. A murder for a formula that might one day help humans evade death itself? Horatio as an all-knowing AI in the lab who also has access to Hayden/Hamlet's innermost mind? AMAZING.
- The storytelling style is so much fun. A combination of retelling, research paper, found footage, and interview, it's like you're reading someone's thesis paper about what happened that night at the lab.
- The agency that Liu manages to give to Felicia/Ophelia by making her a morally grey secondary lead! Is she a hero? A villain? Just trying to survive? Just getting to ask those questions about a character like Ophelia is great.
- The relationship between Hayden/Hamlet and Horatio. I never thought I'd describe the relationship between a young man and an AI as tender and touching, but here we are. In a story that is relatively gruesome, Horatio is a spot of kindness for Hayden.
Overall, this was such a pleasant surprise and I cannot wait to see what Liu comes up with next!
I am a huge, huge sucker for when an author decides to tackle a complex story via what I call the Rashomon effect (multiple POVs, unsure of which is the "true" one), and even more of a sucker when an author decides to fuck around stylistically. Throw in the spine of a Shakespeare story (Hamlet, turned into a locked room mystery with Horatio as an AI, Elsinore as their remote lab, and our Hamlet main, Hayden (and yes I absolutely pictured Hayden Christensen, unsure if that was intentional on Mx. Liu's part) chasing after immortality), and you have what is perfect catnip for me. Mx. Liu's prose is amazing, and darts around from style to POV as we try to find out what happened. They also have some things to say about Ophelia, to say the least. Add in some A++ queer, fucked up human/AI sex as the cherry on top. I have a feeling this is going to pop up in the 2023 awards cycle, so preorder this now and enjoy the ride. Gonna have to see if I can find more of Mx. Liu's writing!
To no surprise, I really liked the gay robot part… but struggled with the hamlet part
It reads super quick though!
It reads super quick though!
It may be better than three stars of writing but…Hamlet doesn’t deserve it. Felecia is fundamentally right— he’s a black hole we should all stop spiraling around and the spoiled prince of Elsinore didn’t need more ink spilled in for him. I would read more of the author though, just to see what she’d do with better material.
The Death I Gave Him is a gripping sci fi thriller, set in a futuristic lab where they have been developing a formula to reverse death. It seems this research is powerful enough to kill for.
The book is written as a retelling of this one fateful night in the lab by a third party, pieced together using a combination of interviews, recordings and commentary. This built the picture up in a really interesting way. Some of the interviews, knowing they were happening after the events of the night we were following, revealed outcomes of certain characters. Whilst this reduced some of the mystery, the tension was still kept high as you waited to see how things would play out to reach that ending.
The Death I Gave Him is a futuristic twist on Hamlet, but I don't think you have to be a massive Shakespeare fan to enjoy this. Whilst those more familiar with Hamlet might enjoy seeing the parallels and different character interpretations, it stands well in its own right as a Sci Fi.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
The book is written as a retelling of this one fateful night in the lab by a third party, pieced together using a combination of interviews, recordings and commentary. This built the picture up in a really interesting way. Some of the interviews, knowing they were happening after the events of the night we were following, revealed outcomes of certain characters. Whilst this reduced some of the mystery, the tension was still kept high as you waited to see how things would play out to reach that ending.
The Death I Gave Him is a futuristic twist on Hamlet, but I don't think you have to be a massive Shakespeare fan to enjoy this. Whilst those more familiar with Hamlet might enjoy seeing the parallels and different character interpretations, it stands well in its own right as a Sci Fi.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
