Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

48 reviews

gladosisreading's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I tried to read this book when it first came out and struggled to get into it, finding it a little slow. 4 years later, I picked it up again and found it to be a near perfect read. I can't remember the last time a book made me cry so much. The characters felt so human (heartbreakingly so at times), it's difficult not to see yourself within them. The writing is utterly beautiful and a brilliantly inventive way of exploring alternative POVs to history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

hjb_128's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Infidelity and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

jesstaurant's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic

jennipea382's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

gingervandorsten's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of the best books (i.e. books I enjoyed most) I have read this year. Devoured it. It felt like being taken by the hand and shown around the houses and the people living in them, and the depth of the relationships, especially between siblings and between parents and children is so impressive. There's such lovely detail and vibrancy to O'Farrell's writing. The book's structure was also really impressive to me, the way that the melancholy and the sense of tragedy are always there, but you don't really realise how far they've been building up until the tragedy actually happens. 

I've seen some people comment on the fact that very little actually happens in the story, and the narrative style and language of it cover this up. I get this, but personally this was actually one of my favourite parts about the book - the way that O'Farrell was able to pick out such exquisite detail in everything that you don't realise until you take a step back that not very much has actually happened. 

This book was so lush and it's going to take me. a while. to recover. Really recommend this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Domestic abuse

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one took me a really long time to get through, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I've never been a fan of Shakespeare, but this book definitely gave me a new appreciation for his plays. I also really liked the descriptions of the time and place - they made the whole book feel very transportive. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction or Shakespeare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content and Abandonment

harrimyers's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

lifeinsherds's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I really liked "Hamnet", the only thing that I didn't love was the constant changing time jumps. While some of them were emotionally heavy, I sometimes had to remind myself what had happened last time we switched times. I had a difficult time keeping track of some names in the middle. I think the beginning of the book, until a POV switch and the last hundred or so pages are the best.

I would definitely recommend it to someone who was interested or familiar with Shakespeare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Pandemic/Epidemic

benegesserwitch's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body horror and Child abuse

gabefiction's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Despite the titular name, the true main character shines through Agnes, the remarkably irrepressible wife of Shakespeare and mother to Hamnet. The interchanging timelines, oscillating between past and present, created an emotional and striking depiction of love, grief, family, and ambition. 

The last couple chapters absolutely wrecked me, I had to pause and put down the book before pressing on, mainly because tears were making it difficult to read. Dealing with death and its aftermath in all its raw vividness was tough. My only gripe is that there were more of Hamnet’s perspective to saturate the narrative, it would’ve added even more emotional depth to an already great story. 

This was profoundly sad, beautiful, and an easy 4.5 stars for me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic