Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by karis321
The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu
5.0
~~Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion for the ARC!~~
This was simply incredible. I'm a senior creative writing major, and this is the sort of book my teachers would point to as an example of brilliantly written craft.
I devoured this in a day; I just couldn't get enough of it! The writing, the tension, the characters and their dynamics, the descriptions, the decline into madness, the queerness, it all drew me in so intensely and had its claws in me until the very last page.
I read Hamlet back in high school, but I remember it quite vividly. The themes of death, mortality, and revenge are universal and it still resonates with readers hundreds of years after te play was written. Liu takes the original story and expands upon it so goddamn well. I particularly enjoyed Felicia, the reimagined Ophelia, and her agency in this interpretation. The core elements of the original character are still there, as she does decline into her own madness, but she is so much more than the girl who went mad because her boyfriend killed her dad. Her relationship with Hayden is so complicated but I adored the depiction so much.
Another thing I loved about this book was that the story is framed from the perspective of a grad student compiling the entire story decades into the future long after the story has past. There are research notes dispersed throughout the book which expand upon little details in the story or directly cast doubt on certain elements in the story. There are even portions where the student takes creative liberty and fills in supposed missing gaps within the story. It is this type of creativity in books that makes me love reading so much; this is the sort of stuff I wanna see.
Overall, this is amazing. Read it. Buy it or request it at your local library. If you love Shakespeare and queer stories, then this is for you.
This was simply incredible. I'm a senior creative writing major, and this is the sort of book my teachers would point to as an example of brilliantly written craft.
I devoured this in a day; I just couldn't get enough of it! The writing, the tension, the characters and their dynamics, the descriptions, the decline into madness, the queerness, it all drew me in so intensely and had its claws in me until the very last page.
I read Hamlet back in high school, but I remember it quite vividly. The themes of death, mortality, and revenge are universal and it still resonates with readers hundreds of years after te play was written. Liu takes the original story and expands upon it so goddamn well. I particularly enjoyed Felicia, the reimagined Ophelia, and her agency in this interpretation. The core elements of the original character are still there, as she does decline into her own madness, but she is so much more than the girl who went mad because her boyfriend killed her dad. Her relationship with Hayden is so complicated but I adored the depiction so much.
Another thing I loved about this book was that the story is framed from the perspective of a grad student compiling the entire story decades into the future long after the story has past. There are research notes dispersed throughout the book which expand upon little details in the story or directly cast doubt on certain elements in the story. There are even portions where the student takes creative liberty and fills in supposed missing gaps within the story.
Spoiler
One of these gaps happens to be when Hayden and Horatio have sex, which I personally find so funny. I keep imagining the teacher reading that and just nodding to themselves.Overall, this is amazing. Read it. Buy it or request it at your local library. If you love Shakespeare and queer stories, then this is for you.