Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

106 reviews

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.25

4% of the (audio)book's runtime was dedicated to an arbitrary, pointless generational family saga of the flea that infected Judith with the plague. finishing the chapter, then the book, and it amounting to nothing was very insulting. i fully recommend skipping the chapter that begins "For the pestilence to reach Warwickshire…"

that out of the way, it was slow at times—part I alternates between past and present, and i felt that the past dragged on while being merely drip-fed the more interesting present—but it's a beautiful character study, heartbreaking and endearing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Sexism, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

My second five star read of 2022! This book was phenomenal, and I 100% understand why it won the woman’s prize for fiction two years ago. The writing is lyrical and the character arcs are well rounded. Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell, is the story of Shakespeare’s son, who died at a young age from unrecorded causes (this author speculates the plague). Although Hamnet is the namesake of this novel, a majority of it follows his mother Agnes, (also knows as Anne Hathaway) throughout her experiences with  marriage, womanhood, and the loss of a child. Her other children and Shakespeare themselves receive perspectives as well, but we really dive deep into the complexities of Agnes. She is often overshadowed in history by the title of “wife,” and I was glad to see her receive the spotlight. 
The grief portrayed in the Shakespeare family was gutrenching, so much to the point where the emotions seemed to jump off the page. It was sad but healing, and I’m definitely considering trying more Shakespearean works. Hamnet is incredibly slow placed, therefore I wouldn’t recommend if you need action and a plot focus. But for all my literary fiction friends, pick this up wherever you access books:) 
*Some events in this book are fictionalized, fyi.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Classism and Injury/Injury detail

excritos's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Death and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism and Violence

azyef's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Animal death, and Colonisation

alisonvh's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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

4.5

I didn't know what to expect with this book, but I ended up completely loving it. It follows two timelines, one starting with William Shakespeare meeting his wife, and the other starting with Hamnet realizing his sister is sick and trying to get help. I loved the portrayal of this family, and I thought the author did an excellent job showing how grief affects everyone differently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Infidelity, Death of parent, and Death

mgcord's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

I have only one thing to say. This book is beautiful. Soul-wrenching plot executed with some of the best writing I have ever seen. Categorically a new favourite. I hope to see this become a modern classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness

lkbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Terminal illness

Minor: Infidelity and Misogyny

alrauna's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcoholism

bunnyreads2's review against another edition

emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed it but it took me a while to really get into it and more importantly, to be able to follow which character was which. Granted it’s probably an effect from listening to the audiobook while doing house chores, but still, not having clear pauses between different POVs made it pretty blurry at times. But still, the history and literary nerd in me really enjoyed exploring this part of Shakespeare’s life through this fiction setting. And the feminist in me enjoyed the attention being centered not on Shakespeare himself but his wife, kids and extended family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Grief, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Violence, Domestic abuse, and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment

aeriecircus's review against another edition

emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity