A review by august_ambrosia
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • 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

oh my god. easy 5 stars. ignore how long it took me to finish this book i was trying not to get invested and sob (it didnt work btw) but ooohh my god. o'farrell writes so BEAUTIFULLY. this is lyrical prose on another level. absolutely adored it i wanted to underline and highlight so many sections but alas i was reading in a library book. but i will be ordering my own !!!!! just... spellbinding. the way she describes everything so vividly, its like i can smell and see and touch everything. everyone feels so alive. the little note that the midwife had a jar of pennies at the bottom of the garden. we dont know her name but we know she wont tell anyone about them. everyone is SO ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!! there was something so terrible about reading it knowing the ending. (the ending that is on the blurb, btw. i didnt go in with any other 'spoilers') but its a beautiful exploration of grief and siblinghood and love!!!! and complex relationships, and flawed people, and a whole world is created with the tenderness of the descriptions. the cats and the boy with the monkey with the fleas. susanna!!!! the other women, and agnes. and the way we are told how to pronounce her name. and the horror with which the glover's son falls to the ground after reading his sister's letter about his daughter's illness. the description of grief is heart wrenching tbh. won't ever forget the passage where
agnes considers her three children. susanna? at the neighbour's house. judith? upstairs. and hamnet? (he is dead) and hamnet? (he is dead, he is dead.) but hamnet? where is he? (and his lifeless body rests in her arms.)


but i will end this long, rambly review by just saying. ohhh hamnet. dearest hamnet. it shall not be. he wills it so. its a story about a boy who, full with love and life, does the impossible. and meets the inevitable. 
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