Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

123 reviews

marlensophie's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Infidelity

the_neeerd's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity

aidamaria_reads's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An extraordinary interpretation of the life Shakespeare’s family might have led, based on the few things we now know about the playwright’s life.

Maggie O’Farrell knows her grief and how to spin it into print. The descriptions of pain and agony are almost poetic and yet so clear, so moving, that you have no trouble imagining just how the characters feel. I almost cried at times, wanted to slap certain characters straight into tomorrow had they not all been dead yet, and enjoyed the beauty of this work of historical fiction tremendously.

I can’t put my finger on why it’s not entirely a five-star read for me, but I see how the author received the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2020 for this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

bluelilyleest's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Infidelity

sophiestasyna's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

hjb_128's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Infidelity and Classism

Minor: Sexual content

kateships's review against another edition

emotional sad

4.25

This broke me. I know it’s fictional as we know very little about the actual people depicted, but it was so beautiful. 

Agnes is the main character of this, really. I didn’t expect to find such a sweet love story, the heavy depiction of grief that I really felt, or the end that was abrupt but just right. 

It’s hard to recommend because once you get to the part where the big thing happens, it’s SO hard to read because of how devastating it is, but it was exceptional and I loved how the author ended it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent

jennipea382's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Medical content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

grboph's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This one took me a really long time to get through, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I've never been a fan of Shakespeare, but this book definitely gave me a new appreciation for his plays. I also really liked the descriptions of the time and place - they made the whole book feel very transportive. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction or Shakespeare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Infidelity, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content and Abandonment

divinehealer14's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

An absolutely outstanding novel, that brings to light the (unfortunately) less-known story of William Shakespeare’s family, in particular that of Agnes (or Anne) his wife, and his son Hamnet. 
I really really enjoyed this: the story is well told, gripping, well paced and the characters are fleshed out. I loved to see Agnes’ journey through motherhood and grief, and also liked to see the historical setting that surrounds her. 


A well deserved, solid 4,75 stars

“Death is violent, death is a struggle. The body clings to life, as ivy to a wall, and will not easily let go, will not surrender its grip without a fight” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Sexual content