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vintagecassette's review
2.0
I thought I’d be absolutely down for a queer retelling of Hamlet, but this book was something of a dumpster fire to me. Faye rewrites the ending in a way that is completely different from how Hamlet really concludes, and it just didn’t land the way she intended. Also, this book was marketed as a feminist retelling, but I’m not too sure what about (SPOILER:) Ophelia being an alcoholic who’s been dead for the entire novel struck Faye as a win for feminism.
joshualeggs's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
4.0
julietvandoornik's review
2.0
this book had a lot of potential but fell incredibly flat for me. the story was rushed in nearly every aspect (but especially the romance) and at times difficult to follow. the base story line was good (possibly because it’s an adaptation) and I liked the added element of magic. there also were few good, if minor, plot twists. all in all a bit of a frustrating and disappointing read.
mamma_calls_me_francis's review
2.0
This was a rough book for me. It was hard to stay hooked into the story because there was so much build up- maybe even too much. Ben doesn't really appreciate what he has in front of him, he is kind of dramatic. A lot of the concepts brought up throughout the book were hard for me to understand. I couldn't see how a lot of them fit into the book. There were scenes between Ben and Horatio that were steamy, but I just wanted to yell at them to get together! I did not like the ending. It was a little depressing. I thought it was a cool idea, but all the action happened in the last 200-ish pages. There were a lot of quotes from the book that I really liked;
Location 4730
“May we live every day till we don’t,”
Location 6442
“Life isn’t a noun, it’s a verb.”
Location 6591
"We know what we are, but we don’t know what we might become.”
Location 4730
“May we live every day till we don’t,”
Location 6442
“Life isn’t a noun, it’s a verb.”
Location 6591
"We know what we are, but we don’t know what we might become.”
debchan's review
2.0
it was not bad at all
i like the Shakespearean aspects of course
it's just that i never connected to the characters. ben as a concept is attractive and interesting. but ben as a character is just quite sad. he'd make a mistake, apologize profusely and infuse a bit of self-hatred in there, and then make the same error a couple of chapters later. i don't fault him of course but the connection was never there.
horatio had a few moments where he remembered he had a spine but most often he was like a limp noodle. again, that's the point so i don't fault him, i just don't connect with him.
lia had her moments but it really read like she was just telling us things that happened. her thoughts consisted largely of ben and her own demise. without anything too spoilery, that's also the point.
it could be the prose that didn't click with me, though. i do not mind intellectual infodumps or posturing between characters. but this had a forced effect to it. i definitely enjoyed some moments but after a while, it grew suffocating. ben's fonts were interesting and very apt for his character but personally, it made his sections difficult to read. on the other hand, it was a glimpse into his mind and intentional so my frustration with it makes sense. and another minor thing: i don't mind characters who sound like the author is literally typing their thoughts into dialogue for their characters. ben is probably what a normal person sounds like today. it's just the fact that every other character sounds the same. it seems like a giant echo chamber of the author talking to a character who really is just the same author attempting to make conversation with herself.
all in all, it was not terrible. i enjoyed the connection between ben, horatio, and lia. individually they annoyed me. but together i really liked them and their united front.
i like the Shakespearean aspects of course
it's just that i never connected to the characters. ben as a concept is attractive and interesting. but ben as a character is just quite sad. he'd make a mistake, apologize profusely and infuse a bit of self-hatred in there, and then make the same error a couple of chapters later. i don't fault him of course but the connection was never there.
horatio had a few moments where he remembered he had a spine but most often he was like a limp noodle. again, that's the point so i don't fault him, i just don't connect with him.
lia had her moments but it really read like she was just telling us things that happened. her thoughts consisted largely of ben and her own demise. without anything too spoilery, that's also the point.
it could be the prose that didn't click with me, though. i do not mind intellectual infodumps or posturing between characters. but this had a forced effect to it. i definitely enjoyed some moments but after a while, it grew suffocating. ben's fonts were interesting and very apt for his character but personally, it made his sections difficult to read. on the other hand, it was a glimpse into his mind and intentional so my frustration with it makes sense. and another minor thing: i don't mind characters who sound like the author is literally typing their thoughts into dialogue for their characters. ben is probably what a normal person sounds like today. it's just the fact that every other character sounds the same. it seems like a giant echo chamber of the author talking to a character who really is just the same author attempting to make conversation with herself.
all in all, it was not terrible. i enjoyed the connection between ben, horatio, and lia. individually they annoyed me. but together i really liked them and their united front.
libristella's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
jperine's review
1.0
I never thought I’d be bashing a “magical, queer, and feminist retelling of Hamlet,” but here we are.
This book is a mess. Let’s start with the buzzwords:
“Magical”: the light fantasy aspects of this novel really made no sense and seemed like an afterthought solely to make the book appealing to an additional audience. The ways that the magical characters discuss the ways that they wield their power are bogged down in senseless prose (which we’ll circle back to) to make much sense.
“Queer”: congrats, Lyndsay Faye, you wrote an Achillean romance in the 2020s. And STILL managed to drop a “f*ggot” in there! Nice! Literally the hate speech had NO purpose in that moment. Also the romance is boring because both characters are boring. Bonus points, however, for Ben identifying as demisexual.
“Feminist”: LITERALLY WHERE. Literally where? The female lead winds up being dead the whole time and just about every single moment of her arc circles back to the men in her life. The villain is SURPRISE! the mother, who is warped into a comical villain who is also incredibly boring and falls flat. Literally none of the women in this story are dynamic not hold any agency. The only “feminist” aspect of this novel I can figure out is the fact that it’s written by a woman.
“Retelling of Hamlet”: okay here’s where we get into personal preference—if you’re going to craft a retelling, let’s have consistent rules. There’s a one-for-one transfer from the original to this retelling (we are missing Laertes, however). Everyone in this novel either holds onto their original name, or goes by a shortened name (Lia, Trudy, Claude), EXCEPT for Hamlet, who is now……BEN. What?
I think the greatest flaw of the novel comes down to the rotating perspective, third-person narrative. Faye tries to imbue unique viewpoints/voice for each character, which in third person makes no sense (Horatio’s narrator using annoying British colloquialisms that felt incredibly out of place, and Ben’s narrator doing strange things with formatting and fonts to try to convey his neurodivergence…).
I genuinely do not understand how this novel has a 4-star average rating.
EDIT: and OH MY GOD how could I forget the unfathomable lack of understanding of the amount of power literally anyone who works in theatre has. Ben should’ve been the son of politicians.
This book is a mess. Let’s start with the buzzwords:
“Magical”: the light fantasy aspects of this novel really made no sense and seemed like an afterthought solely to make the book appealing to an additional audience. The ways that the magical characters discuss the ways that they wield their power are bogged down in senseless prose (which we’ll circle back to) to make much sense.
“Queer”: congrats, Lyndsay Faye, you wrote an Achillean romance in the 2020s. And STILL managed to drop a “f*ggot” in there! Nice! Literally the hate speech had NO purpose in that moment. Also the romance is boring because both characters are boring. Bonus points, however, for Ben identifying as demisexual.
“Feminist”: LITERALLY WHERE. Literally where? The female lead winds up being dead the whole time and just about every single moment of her arc circles back to the men in her life. The villain is SURPRISE! the mother, who is warped into a comical villain who is also incredibly boring and falls flat. Literally none of the women in this story are dynamic not hold any agency. The only “feminist” aspect of this novel I can figure out is the fact that it’s written by a woman.
“Retelling of Hamlet”: okay here’s where we get into personal preference—if you’re going to craft a retelling, let’s have consistent rules. There’s a one-for-one transfer from the original to this retelling (we are missing Laertes, however). Everyone in this novel either holds onto their original name, or goes by a shortened name (Lia, Trudy, Claude), EXCEPT for Hamlet, who is now……BEN. What?
I think the greatest flaw of the novel comes down to the rotating perspective, third-person narrative. Faye tries to imbue unique viewpoints/voice for each character, which in third person makes no sense (Horatio’s narrator using annoying British colloquialisms that felt incredibly out of place, and Ben’s narrator doing strange things with formatting and fonts to try to convey his neurodivergence…).
I genuinely do not understand how this novel has a 4-star average rating.
EDIT: and OH MY GOD how could I forget the unfathomable lack of understanding of the amount of power literally anyone who works in theatre has. Ben should’ve been the son of politicians.