Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

104 reviews

lexcellent's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness

katie0528's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

3.75

I picked this up as a big fan of Maggie O'Farrell's book The Marriage Portrait. I liked this one but preferred the other boom better. Despite being the titular character, Hamnet isn't really the main character. Instead, the story alternates between his parents' love stoy and his twin sister Judith falling ill with the plague.

After his death, it becomes an exploration of his mother's grief

and how the iconic Shakespearean play bearing his name may have come to pass. The book is fiction, purely speculative, but I feel like Shakespeare's family is often forgotten in history, so it was intruiging to read something from their perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Medical content

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

ksilvio's review against another edition

emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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

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

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

gabefiction's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Despite the titular name, the true main character shines through Agnes, the remarkably irrepressible wife of Shakespeare and mother to Hamnet. The interchanging timelines, oscillating between past and present, created an emotional and striking depiction of love, grief, family, and ambition. 

The last couple chapters absolutely wrecked me, I had to pause and put down the book before pressing on, mainly because tears were making it difficult to read. Dealing with death and its aftermath in all its raw vividness was tough. My only gripe is that there were more of Hamnet’s perspective to saturate the narrative, it would’ve added even more emotional depth to an already great story. 

This was profoundly sad, beautiful, and an easy 4.5 stars for me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Pandemic/Epidemic

cigarete_smoke's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Alcohol