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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is a really good retelling. as in, i know exactly how it’s going to play out but i’m still invested. it’s really readable and the format is more complex than the prose. i found it to be an extremely impressive debut and enjoyed it a great deal.
later: coming back to this review a couple weeks later, i actually find this book to be really unmemorable. it doesn't have much lasting impact and I think I found Horatio's character a lot more off-putting that i realised as i was reading this. i think i would maybe lower this to a three star read. although i can not quite tell if my enjoyment has been pretty stunted by the fact that this has had a mediocre to bad reception within my circle.
later: coming back to this review a couple weeks later, i actually find this book to be really unmemorable. it doesn't have much lasting impact and I think I found Horatio's character a lot more off-putting that i realised as i was reading this. i think i would maybe lower this to a three star read. although i can not quite tell if my enjoyment has been pretty stunted by the fact that this has had a mediocre to bad reception within my circle.
A tense retelling of Hamlet set within the walls of a highly secretive laboratory run by a paranoid chemist in search of eternal life. The chapters of this story make use of diegetic materials from within the universe such as data logs revealed by the ensuing court case, an article written years after the books events by one of the characters that survived it, the footnotes of the researcher who made telling this story their dissertation. This choice alone, letting the present (in reality the past) and far-flung future intertwine raises this narrative to an entirely new level where otherwise a retelling of such a familiar text may have felt predictable. Instead, what The Death I Gave Him is, is a triumph of storytelling that consistently teases upcoming beats so that I always felt on the edge of my seat. Let alone, and perhaps my favorite divergence from the play, the inclusion of Horatio as the laboratory’s artificial intelligence. A character who becomes anything but artificial and, without spoiling anything, the standout of this narrative. A character who I will think about long after this book’s conclusion.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i have that dog in me and that dog is a fucking masters degree in shakespeare. 4.5 stars
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one did not flow so well in my opinion. There were too many aspects trying to fit into & carry the plot and it just didn’t work for me: the characters, ideas, and writing style….
Don’t get me wrong, when I saw “Queer, Locked room, Scifi, and Hamlet retelling” I didn’t know what to expect, but I was interested to see what would happen.
Give this one a try if any of the above aspects appeal to you as a reader!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Rebellion for a copy!
Don’t get me wrong, when I saw “Queer, Locked room, Scifi, and Hamlet retelling” I didn’t know what to expect, but I was interested to see what would happen.
Give this one a try if any of the above aspects appeal to you as a reader!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Rebellion for a copy!