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A review by csgiansante
Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
4.0
TL;DR: It was sad, cute, and kind of confusing at parts.
I flip-flopped a lot on where I stood with this one. I think the book gave a good depiction of grief for all the character involved and the aftermath of death. The book was also able to switch perspectives seamlessly and sometimes mid sentence which made for an engaging storyline. The other thing I liked was that the story, while tied to the 16th century, felt timeless. As I was listening, I felt like the emotions that the characters were feeling could be felt wherever and whenever. Like the story works even if you don't know Shakespeare or 16th century society.
Where my confusion came was the ties between Hamnet and Hamlet and how the two storylines converged. The last act of the book where it's in London was also kind of not my favourite, but I think the last line of the book was redeeming enough for me and tied the book together nicely.
I flip-flopped a lot on where I stood with this one. I think the book gave a good depiction of grief for all the character involved and the aftermath of death. The book was also able to switch perspectives seamlessly and sometimes mid sentence which made for an engaging storyline. The other thing I liked was that the story, while tied to the 16th century, felt timeless. As I was listening, I felt like the emotions that the characters were feeling could be felt wherever and whenever. Like the story works even if you don't know Shakespeare or 16th century society.
Where my confusion came was the ties between Hamnet and Hamlet and how the two storylines converged. The last act of the book where it's in London was also kind of not my favourite, but I think the last line of the book was redeeming enough for me and tied the book together nicely.