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laelyn 's review for:
The Death I Gave Him
by Em X. Liu
It's been a while since I read Hamlet, but I was still really excited when I heard about this book. Everything about it sounded intriguing, so I was all too happy when I got the chance to read this arc.
And damn, that excitement was warranted. "The Death I gave Him" is an amazing sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's play and some parts of it really hit hard.
Liu is clearly a very skilled writer, and their prose is just delicious (though not really lyrical as such, as the synopsis wants us to believe). To the point, straightforward, but with love for all the intricate details of their story they introduce us to Hayden Lichfield, our new Hamlet, on the very day he finds the dead body of his father in the Elsinore labs they both work at. Who killed his father? Well, only a few people have been at the lab at the time of his death, so suspects are sparse and Hayden goes on his quest to solve his father's murder and also, maybe save his chances of immortality. He's helped by his most trusted friend, the lab AI Horatio. Their relationship is one of the most intriguing concepts added to this retelling. Then there's our Ophelia, Felicia, who is just incredibly well written and complex and much more important to the plot.
Now, obviously most of the readers of this book already know who did it, and for those who don't it gets revealed rather early on. This is not a whodunnit, but more of a character study of broken people in broken circumstances. It's told in a mixed media kind of way, with snippets from interviews, chats logs, transcripts of video footage adding multiple perspectives to what is happening. It's cleverly done and I really enjoyed it.
You should be aware that while this is marketed as a queer, Gay Shapespeare kind of retelling, this might raise expectations that aren't met. There is a queer relationship (between bisexual Hayden and the genderless AI Horatio), and there are queer characters, but you might expect something else. It's great the way it is, though. They made me cry ugly, ugly tears, and both of their journeys are very emotional and deep.
All in all, this is a fantastic and unique retelling that will stay with me for a long time. 4,5 stars (because I felt there were little instances of dragging that could have been avoided by editing down some of the chapters, especially in the middle), easily rounding up to 5.
Many thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley for the arc!
And damn, that excitement was warranted. "The Death I gave Him" is an amazing sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's play and some parts of it really hit hard.
Liu is clearly a very skilled writer, and their prose is just delicious (though not really lyrical as such, as the synopsis wants us to believe). To the point, straightforward, but with love for all the intricate details of their story they introduce us to Hayden Lichfield, our new Hamlet, on the very day he finds the dead body of his father in the Elsinore labs they both work at. Who killed his father? Well, only a few people have been at the lab at the time of his death, so suspects are sparse and Hayden goes on his quest to solve his father's murder and also, maybe save his chances of immortality. He's helped by his most trusted friend, the lab AI Horatio. Their relationship is one of the most intriguing concepts added to this retelling. Then there's our Ophelia, Felicia, who is just incredibly well written and complex and much more important to the plot.
Now, obviously most of the readers of this book already know who did it, and for those who don't it gets revealed rather early on. This is not a whodunnit, but more of a character study of broken people in broken circumstances. It's told in a mixed media kind of way, with snippets from interviews, chats logs, transcripts of video footage adding multiple perspectives to what is happening. It's cleverly done and I really enjoyed it.
You should be aware that while this is marketed as a queer, Gay Shapespeare kind of retelling, this might raise expectations that aren't met. There is a queer relationship (between bisexual Hayden and the genderless AI Horatio), and there are queer characters, but you might expect something else. It's great the way it is, though. They made me cry ugly, ugly tears, and both of their journeys are very emotional and deep.
All in all, this is a fantastic and unique retelling that will stay with me for a long time. 4,5 stars (because I felt there were little instances of dragging that could have been avoided by editing down some of the chapters, especially in the middle), easily rounding up to 5.
Many thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley for the arc!