Take a photo of a barcode or cover
terranstorm 's review for:
The Death I Gave Him
by Em X. Liu
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this and immediately raved about it to several of my friends.
Clever, effective use of a frame story. Largely epistolary narrative, but with a sci fi twist (neuromapping) so it has plenty of interiority and vivid first-hand experiences (something which to me can be lacking from some epistolary works). Jumping from one piece to the next, there's this ever-present sense of doubt... an awareness of what's sure to be missing between one fragment of the story and the next. Brilliantly uses the particular strengths/weaknesses/biases of different kinds of records to include and exclude certain kinds of details (the Hayden/Horatio POV via neuromapper, Felicia's post-mortem retelling, security camera footage via Horatio, transcripts of in-the-moment recordings made by Felicia, etc. etc.). Brilliant. A wildly effective tactic for teasing out a lot of the same questions as Hamlet--and similarly refusing to answer any of them.
I even liked the asides... usually. Sometimes footnotes feel too self-indulgent to me, but for the most part I thought these earned their keep. Kind of another layer of the meta-narrative? The whole thing is a Hamlet retelling, yes, but it's distinct in its own ways--feels more like it is in conversation with Hamlet than trying to be that, commenting on the characters and scenes and overall story that we know and making it fresh.
[[ some vague spoilers from here ]]
I really appreciated Felicia in this. Others have said it, I'm not the first, but she's kind of Ophelia and Laertes in one--a great choice to give her character agency and depth that, frankly, we don't get in og Ophelia. Rasmussen embodies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, a tidy elision to condense the cast and do more with less. Hayden (Hamlet)'s mother and her relationship with uncle Charles has a few layers for sure but I appreciated the emphasis on her betrayal being more professional than anything else. Very "in bed with the enemy" vibes but angled more for personal gain.
Then there's Horatio. I do not even have words for how much I adore this take on that character, the addition/expansion into a messy, co-dependent relationship, and the conclusion of it. I will come back and reread this just to feel those feelings again. Can't recommend enough.
Clever, effective use of a frame story. Largely epistolary narrative, but with a sci fi twist (neuromapping) so it has plenty of interiority and vivid first-hand experiences (something which to me can be lacking from some epistolary works). Jumping from one piece to the next, there's this ever-present sense of doubt... an awareness of what's sure to be missing between one fragment of the story and the next. Brilliantly uses the particular strengths/weaknesses/biases of different kinds of records to include and exclude certain kinds of details (the Hayden/Horatio POV via neuromapper, Felicia's post-mortem retelling, security camera footage via Horatio, transcripts of in-the-moment recordings made by Felicia, etc. etc.). Brilliant. A wildly effective tactic for teasing out a lot of the same questions as Hamlet--and similarly refusing to answer any of them.
I even liked the asides... usually. Sometimes footnotes feel too self-indulgent to me, but for the most part I thought these earned their keep. Kind of another layer of the meta-narrative? The whole thing is a Hamlet retelling, yes, but it's distinct in its own ways--feels more like it is in conversation with Hamlet than trying to be that, commenting on the characters and scenes and overall story that we know and making it fresh.
[[ some vague spoilers from here ]]
I really appreciated Felicia in this. Others have said it, I'm not the first, but she's kind of Ophelia and Laertes in one--a great choice to give her character agency and depth that, frankly, we don't get in og Ophelia. Rasmussen embodies Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, a tidy elision to condense the cast and do more with less. Hayden (Hamlet)'s mother and her relationship with uncle Charles has a few layers for sure but I appreciated the emphasis on her betrayal being more professional than anything else. Very "in bed with the enemy" vibes but angled more for personal gain.
Then there's Horatio. I do not even have words for how much I adore this take on that character, the addition/expansion into a messy, co-dependent relationship, and the conclusion of it. I will come back and reread this just to feel those feelings again. Can't recommend enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness