Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

59 reviews

allison_claire_chang'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, and Pregnancy

erenreads12'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

O'Farrel shows total mastery over her craft and an outstanding flare. I really enjoyed the unusual use of present tense and her elegant, richly detailed style. It is a testament to the author how beautifully and compellingly this was written that I had to put the book down in several places because it felt so terribly real and raw. 

This was no doubt a book written for analysis and has a huge amount to unpack in terms of womanhood, motherhood and feminism, death and loss, trauma, love, forgiveness and family. Every single word is intentional. This is probably not a breezy beach read and does require the reader to be incredibly involved with the story in order to get all they can from it - but for those who are willing to commit to the process, this us truly a stunning read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Violence

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-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? Yes

1.0

I liked the idea behind this book, of centring the family around a famous man when those people are generally forgotten, but I did not like the actual experience of reading it.

The writing is repetitious and florid (I get that it's for emphasis but some paragraphs just felt like lists of synonyms) and the characterization of Anne (Agnes) as this kind of stereotypical "witchy" wise woman was annoying. Her supernatural ability to randomly know things seemed like a literary device to tell information the author didn't know how to show. The vaguely supernatural cause of Hamnet’s death was also stupid. If this wasn't billed as straight historical fiction this probably wouldn't bug me so much, but it is and it does.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion, Infidelity, and Racial slurs

rotatinglibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Grief, and Medical content

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Racial slurs

fancygirlsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Infidelity

rosalind's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content and Bullying

Minor: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

zogg'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

tashayns's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death and Rape