Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Hamnet

I have very mixed feelings about this novel.

On one hand, despite what many have said, I actually enjoyed the flowery prose (even if the plot did move slowly from time to time), and the drama of the novel is well-developed. It's definitely a vibes-over-plot book, but I don't tend to mind that, and enjoyed the small historical details the novel had to offer. The flashbacks in the first half are well-executed and tension is kept measured throughout. O'Farrell writes poignantly on love and grief, especially the effects it has on different people.

On the other, I was and still am very conflicted about the fictionalisation of real people, especially when they are as 1) iconic and 2) scant with historical evidence as Anna Hathaway, her children, and William Shakespeare. The ending was the worst offender I feel, as even though the story wrapped up satisfyingly, it felt lukewarm given the knowledge that most of us have going into the novel - this is Shakespeare. Named or not, this novel exists as a comment on his legacy somehow, and I don't know how to marry it with my enjoyment of the novel.

That is to say however that I did, in fact, enjoy the novel - a lot of these are personal gripes that will probably not impact others. This is a good piece of historical fiction that I would happily recommend, but not for those who are looking for anything concrete or definitive on the Shakespeares, as, as O'Farrell herself puts it, the novel is a product of her own "idle speculation".

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lizzym126's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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mmefish's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

I expected way, way more from this book. It is well written, atmospheric... But it's lacking so much.
The characters, for one, are underdeveloped; even Agnes, who we spend most of the time with. Hamnet himself barely shows up on the page. (Why is it even called "Hamnet", when it's really not about him? Though I'm not sure what this book is really about.)
It's tropey: a weird witchy young woman, an evil stepmother, twins switching places.
So many hints and secondary plots but nothing was done with them in the end.
The ending is a big letdown. We spend dozens of pages reading about depression and grief, and then it all ends abruptly.
It's... okay.

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