Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

37 reviews

lauriej's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

The language is beautiful and tells a tale of motherhood and love of your children I enjoyed how it centred around Shakespeare’s family, not just him. I can see why people love this book, however it just wasn’t for me. It was too a slow pace and I kept waiting for more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

abisnail564's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Pregnancy

tinyjude's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Agnes' fierce love for her children and the portrayal of her grief were the absolute highlights of this novel. I loved how painful it was to read all those passages.

I also loved the moment in which she attends the representation of Hamlet and understands what her husband intended to do. It was a good callback to her words a hundred pages before, and what any parent would want to do for their child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Hamnet is a beautifully written fictionalized story of Shakespeare's life and that of his wife and family. Although little history exists about his wife and children, the author creates a rich sense of the daily life of each, and how tragedy impacts them all. Although the book became a must-read during the pandemic as a primer for how to navigate through grief, Hamnet is a strong enough work to stand outside that context. One of the shortcomings of the edition I read is the lack of trigger warnings; there is physical and emotional abuse depicted as well as the death of a child. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, and Violence

bessmonet's review against another edition

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

lizawood's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This is literally the best book I’ve ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Violence and Pregnancy

phoevincent's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent and Pregnancy

Minor: Violence

marijako's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Child abuse and Violence

beauvisseau's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The prose is absolutely gorgeous, the characters are intricate and the plot is heartbreaking. One of the best audiobooks I have listened to. How the author managed to put the women in Shakespeare's life at the forefront, not even naming him, was amazing. The magical realism that the writer implemented was charming and fun. The jumps in time made me want to keep on reading, just like the great variation in chapter lengths did. A great representation of 'normal' lives with thematically intricate stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

solybugs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

To be honest, for a book that is supposed to ignore Shakespeare and only focus on his family... He gets wayyyy too many pages either from his point of view or from the point of view of someone else talking to him. The only reason why I chose this book, since it's not usually my preferred genre, was to hear the story of his family and to focus on the people that history often glosses over. But then to hear so much about him gets pretty tiring. But, Hamnet made up for it with very descriptive and flowery writing that perfectly fit the style and time period of the book along with accurate descriptions of loss, emotional pain, and depression (or rather the point of view from an outsider, who is close to someone who has depression. Being that myself, I really loved the way Maggie O'Farell accurately described the feeling of not being able to help someone while they're going through that. Extremely relatable). 3.75/5, meh. Mostly meh, has some good parts tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Infidelity and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Blood

There is also a description of childbirth (with complications) and the mental illness mentioned is most likely depression although it is never really named in the book.