Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

16 reviews

rosenau's review against another edition

emotional informative slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Death, Grief, Terminal illness, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Physical abuse

Minor: Miscarriage, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Sexual content

nikmalikov's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

beautifully, heartbreakingly haunting (mental health out the window over that ending i fear).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Miscarriage, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Pregnancy

alltyedup's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Child death, and Infidelity

seanml's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-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

4.25

I'd never read Maggie O'Farrell before this. Her prose is immaculate. For a book with so many quiet moments, her fluidity perfectly captures the wandering  mind and all of its hiccups and shortcomings. The lack of formal acknowledgement of Shakespeare allows the audience to focus on the principal characters until it matters most. That's all; wonderfully written. 8.5/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Child death, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Chronic illness and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol and Miscarriage

anastasiamakes's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

5.0

Absolutely beautiful and absolutely heartbreaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness

Moderate: Child abuse and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage and Death

amandahjy's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

karinaeliza's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense 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 Terminal illness

Minor: Miscarriage

yooniereads's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

mapscitiesandsongs's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed my reading experience overall, but I have one major problem with it: It's not really about Hamnet. I went into this book thinking the majority of the book would be either in Hamnet's POV or would, at least, be about Hamnet. Instead I got a book that's basically about his mother Agnes, which isn't a bad thing per se. It was really interesting seeing her get to know Shakespeare and her inner thoughts were quite intriguing, but I imagined something different from a book titled Hamnet. I also don't think the origin of the play is that prominent in the story even though it's clearly stated in the description that this book is about Hamnet and how the play gets developed because of his death. Another strange thing is the incoporation of magical realism of some sort. Additionally, all of the characters, besides Agnes, were flat and one-dimensional. So when Hamnet dies, I just didn't care. There is no connection, because we only get to see him for a few short chapters before he dies and the rest is basically about his mother. The ending was also quite rushed and underwhelming in my opinion. We find out that Shakespeare wrote said play about his son (which we have know for the entirety of the book!) and then it just ends. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, Infidelity, and Sexual content

paperbirds'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse