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foggyoblio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, and Infidelity
amystainton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Child death, Pregnancy, and Grief
Minor: Animal cruelty, Terminal illness, and Domestic abuse
lauraportalupi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Animal death
ada_henry's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reading Hamnet right after A Little Life was... a choice. I had heard great things about Hamnet, and several semi-reliable sources said that it made them cry. That being said, A Little Life kind of ruined everything for me. (Not in the sense that it ruined my life, just in the sense that I don't think I'll ever read any character study that is that good.) Hamnet was good, but it didn't nail the slow pace, intertwining story lines, or long character descriptions in the way that other books I've read recently have.
My main complaints were as follows:
1. We hear WAY TOO MUCH about Agnes's life pre-Hamnet. Yes, it's great. Yes, it's kind of interesting. But there's so much of it. Her entire childhood story, how she met her husband, and everything about her family could have been condensed into one chapter, but Maggie O'Farrell really tried to drag it out FOREVER.
2. There were some overall great moments and the plot was good, but it really dragged. Again, a lot of the little details felt unnecessary and they just really weighed the whole novel down.
3. The two connecting stories didn't play out as well as they did in Young Mungo, which was a little disappointing. While they connected nicely at the end, they felt too far apart in the beginning, and I found myself wanting to skim Agnes's early chapters in favor of Hamnet's story.
4. Four million things were happening in this book: Agnes's story, Hamnet's story, so many different POVs... I just kept getting lost. Unless Hamnet was being directly referenced, it was easy to forget that this book was even about him.
5. Agnes's chapters were not needed. After
What I did like included:
1. It was sad. And I love sad books. I didn't cry, but I nearly teared up a few times here and there. It felt so, so real. Agnes's grief was tangible, and it stayed with her for so, so long. The different reactions to loss (anger, crying, depression, etc.) were explored in such a delicate yet unflinching way.
2. It really was rather interesting. I never knew that Shakespeare had children. In fact, when I was reading Romeo and Juliet a few years ago in eighth grade, I was convinced that Shakespeare was made up. I spent weeks researching conspiracy theories about other poets who could have been the 'real' Shakespeare, only to determine that I was wrong. But Hamnet was such a good insight into both life in general in very old Europe and specifically Shakespeare's life. It also correlates nicely with some of our recent units in AP World, so that's fun!
3. Not to be dramatic, but I would die for Judith. She was so sweet and cute and lovely, and I felt so bad for her. We all need a Judith in our lives. Go be a Judith.
Overall, 4/5 stars. It was good, but not my favorite. It was also super slow paced, and despite not being very long, it took me several weeks to read. I'm unsure what my next book of ✨ Sad Book September ✨ will be, so maybe I'll take a break and read something more upbeat.
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Animal cruelty
felijhn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Grief and Child death
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Animal cruelty
mmefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.75
The characters, for one, are underdeveloped; even Agnes, who we spend most of the time with. Hamnet himself barely shows up on the page. (Why is it even called "Hamnet", when it's really not about him? Though I'm not sure what this book is really about.)
It's tropey: a weird witchy young woman, an evil stepmother, twins switching places.
So many hints and secondary plots but nothing was done with them in the end.
The ending is a big letdown. We spend dozens of pages reading about depression and grief, and then it all ends abruptly.
It's... okay.
Graphic: Animal death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse and Animal cruelty
rosenau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child death, War, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse
Minor: Miscarriage, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Sexual content
pollyhall's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Gore, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Child death, and Infidelity
bookmark3brodi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
haley313's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty and Child abuse