Reviews

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

4.0

This started off slow for me but I really loved it by the end. Especially that ending. I love O'Farrell's writing and how a question she had, why Shakespeare never talked about the plague in anything he wrote, led her to write this book. "This novel is the result of my idle speculation."

fedorasommora's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad 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? No

3.75

annacrawf's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

mxunsmiley's review against another edition

3.0

I truly thought it would be a great novel at the outset (they had us in the first half, not gonna lie, to be lame with a meme) but it just ended up meandering on and on in the second part. I thought the constant jumps in time with every chapter was jarring in the first part, but it was preferable to how literally nothing of note happens after Hamnet dies. It would be different if the characters changed or had meaningful interactions with one another, but they really don't. I also thought the writing style, though I thoroughly mostly enjoyed it as it seems to be my kind of writing, led to a lot of confusion in plot details and events, some of it due to the awkward syntax and grammar--strangely placed commas were the worst offenders.

Hamnet and Judith's connection as twins was the most interesting which I wish had been explored a lot more, but obviously, the focus is on Agnes. The switch-up confused me when it happened; I feel like it really wasn't as clear as it should have been because I had to reread the same chapters several times to understand what happened. That magical element struck me as the most fascinating, but this is dumped for pointless recounting of the same, unchanging misery for 100 pages.

Another complaint I had with the first half of the novel was this very odd chapter in which the tale of how the plague reached England is told (also told very confusingly). I really didn't see the point at all. It is a strange addition that doesn't fit with the rest of the novel at all.

It had potential! That's as much as I can say.

erinlikestoread's review against another edition

challenging informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

wolfsong12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Outstanding 😍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

swansandroses's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

neve's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

i’m sorry i don’t like it that much !! i think i get why everyone else seems to love it, but i didn’t find it very interesting. it is beautifully written, but at times i found it overly elaborately so. also i know that she was trying to make it less about shakespeare himself by not naming him but i think that honestly has the opposite impact 

lenaoknihach's review against another edition

5.0

Být, nebo nebýt – to je otázka. William Shakespeare napsal jednu z nejznámějších her pár let po smrti svého jediného syna Hamneta. Bylo mu tehdy jen jedenáct let, když umřel na dýmějový mor.

Maggie O´Farrellová napsala knihu o jednom (ne)šťastném manželství, neobyčejné ženě, třech dětech a poutu mezi dvojčaty. Odehrává se v šestnáctém století ve Stratfordu. Co dalšího víte o životě nejvýznamnějšího dramatika?

Něžné, jemné, elegantní.. i přes smutný děj bych britský bestseller roku 2020 popsala právě takto. A svou zásluhu na tom má i Tereza Marková Vlášková (překladatelka), díky které se mi kniha tak nádherně četla. Nemělo to chybu a vše tak krásně plynulo. Kéž by i příběh byl veselejší... Vy víte, co přijde a víte, že je to nevyhnutelné.

Pro mě byl neskutečný zážitek číst tuhle knihu.

abigailforrest's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0