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cstein's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A gripping examination of a tragic social order.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Infertility, Violence, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Gore, Body shaming, Classism, and Miscarriage
ramreadsagain's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is truly a piece of art, masterfully painting a picture of the time and place. Lucrezia was a great main character, and O'Farrell does an amazing job of showing us exactly what each character is thinking or feeling without actually telling us. The writing is the definition of 'evocative', and the descriptions, 'enchanting'. Potentially a bit too overwritten, actually, as I had to look up the meaning of a word every couple of pages which slightly took me out of the story!
I suppose my main complaint is the general plot of the book. Another reviewer pointed out that this just feels like a biography with extra descriptions and I tend to agree. It ambles along to a conclusion (of which we know most of the details) without much in the way of tension. And this isn't a bad thing, I'm not saying all books need shocking plot twists but it has just made the book feel a bit flat for me.
It has some commentary on the misogyny of the era, I guess, eg. Alfonso's obvious infertility being blamed on Lucrezia but it's not exactly a new topic to write about.
A very enjoyable read but I was just expecting a bit more. It's made me excited to pick up more by O'Farrell - Hamnet has been on my bookshelf over a year but it has always intimidated me.
I suppose my main complaint is the general plot of the book. Another reviewer pointed out that this just feels like a biography with extra descriptions and I tend to agree. It ambles along to a conclusion (of which we know most of the details) without much in the way of tension. And this isn't a bad thing, I'm not saying all books need shocking plot twists but it has just made the book feel a bit flat for me.
It has some commentary on the misogyny of the era, I guess, eg.
A very enjoyable read but I was just expecting a bit more. It's made me excited to pick up more by O'Farrell - Hamnet has been on my bookshelf over a year but it has always intimidated me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, and Infertility
Minor: War, Infidelity, and Animal death
jackbifrost's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Rape, Sexism, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Medical content, Animal death, Violence, Infidelity, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: War and Death of parent
natashamountney's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, and Death
Minor: Animal death
eeamiller's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Death, Child abuse, and Infertility
atamano's review
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Sexual content, Child death, Bullying, and Confinement
Minor: Vomit
pollyflorence's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Confinement, Sexual assault, Animal death, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Infertility, and Murder
your_true_shelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Animal cruelty
not_another_ana's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
1/5
This is the reason for their sudden journey to such a wild and lonely place. He has brought her here, to this stone fortress, to murder her.
Lucrezia suddenly comes to a startling realization: her husband, Alfonso, is going to murder her. Now, the 16 year old bride will have to confront this and, perhaps, try to avoid her cruel faith. While this tense situation is ongoing, we're taken back to Lucrezia's childhood as one of the daughters of Cosimo I de' Medici and Eleonora di Toledo. Her freedom at her parents palace, the events that led to her wedding, her relationship with her husband and the marriage portrait he comissioned. This is a retelling/speculation based on the true historical figure of Lucrezia de' Medici, Duchess of Ferrara. Wed at the age of 13, to her dead eldest sister's fiancé, her life was tragically cut short only 3 years later, either by some sort of illness or, as rumors said, by murder. Maggie O'Farrell explores that supposition and tries to bring some depth to Lucrezia, a girl who barely lived.
I hated this book, I really did. It was a huge let down that managed to upset me quite a bit. Firstly, it's horrendous to read. This one is probably on me, I get distracted easily with long descriptions (specially if they refer to arquitecture) while O'Farrell seems to adore them. The story did not need paragraph after paragraph of details pertaining the walls and the rooms. It felt cloying, heavy, like a student trying to reach a word limit, extending the words as much as possible. This book was 350 pages that felt like 600 which isn't a compliment. A lot of the narrative felt circular, with the reader stuck in Lucrezia's head as she minded and rotated her thoughts and preocupations. Only to suddenly have a small, quick change of POV for flavor? Or something? I also didn't like the jumping between timelines. It was clunky and uneven. Mostly, I feel cheated by the summary and the title. There's so much emphasis on the marriage portrait only for it to show up around 60% of the book and not matter much in the grand scheme of things.
Then there was Lucrezia. The writer was right in picking her as a character to develop, she's a historical figure that not much is known about and thus a blank slate. I could not stand her. There were two big problems with Lucrezia. The writer oversold her, immediately telling how special and smart she was but never showing that. Even her conception is special and different, her childhood "wild" and "unique", her artistic talents out of this world, her sensitivity like no other. And all I can say is bitch where. These attributes never came across on page. She wasn't particulary clever, she kept stuttering and second guessing herself with her foot permanently attached to her mouth. I understand being conflicted by the events and not having many options but you cannot claim that after setting her up to be some sort of gifted different kind of girl.
Related to that, the second issue with her is that she had such a modern voice. Feminist thinking isn't a new trend at all, but when a historical female figure starts to sound like a contemporary woman it immediately snaps me out of the story. A girl of her status, with the kind of education she was given, would not have loudly proclaimed her hatred of marriage nor would she dismiss traditional female pastimes just like that.
Besides Lucrezia we have a plethora of characters that are mostly superficially developed. Hilariously, for a book that seems to be going for a feminist retelling of some kind, the character that felt more human and complex was Alfonso, Lucrezia's abusive husband. He had a lot of depth and layers. Even thought I knew he had plans to get rid of his wife I found him sweet and attentive in the flashbacks and was shocked by his sudden violence. If O'Farrell wanted to portray a realistical abusive marriage she nailed it. Blowing hot and cold, the mercurial manner of his thinking, the way you could feel the tension building up the moment Lucrezia didn't conform to his demands... It felt realistic to a sick degree. If only the female characters in this book had been given half the attention and range as him. All women in this book were reduced to negative foils of the protagonist. They were either self absorbed and ditzy, girly used as a despective attribute like Isabella, Lucrezia's sister, or two faced like Elisabetta, her sister in law. Or perhaps they were described as ugly and annoying like Nuncià. Maybe naive to the point of idiocy like Emiliana. Surrounded by all that Lucrezia came across as having a bad case of not-like-other-girls-itis.
I should have DNFd this book, but I held on because this was a buddy read and I wanted to know in what way was the author going to spin this tale. This was a mistake on my part, finishing this brought me nothing but grief.
Don't get me started on the ending of this thing. I felt so infuriated by it mostly because the author seemed to expect me to read that and go WOHOO GIRL POWER!!!! In what universe is this a happy ending? There's no way I can be happy with a rich girl escaping a bad fate by letting a poor working young woman take the fall for her. I understand that she did not kill Emiliana but, indirectly, her disinterest for her servant and her selfishness caused her demise. Lucrezia never thinks of her during the escape, even thought prior to this she stated that Emiliana could be in danger simply by being in the fortress. And the book presents this as a good thing. Lucrezia is now free and nobody will ever look for her because a convenient corpse has taken her place! The available dead body of a woman who was brutalized quite thoroughly, may I add, because the book doesn't skimp on the description of the barbaric killing. And then her clever escape ended up being planned by someone else who I personally think didn't have a good reason to help her to that extent, even if she supposedly saved his life.
I never want to see this book again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Animal death
kirstym25's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Murder, and Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death