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badbadwolf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Vomit, War, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Confinement, Grief, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Slavery
iane_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Blood, Violence, Murder, Ableism, Death, Gaslighting, and Slavery
Moderate: Suicide, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, Child death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Confinement, Transphobia, Trafficking, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Bullying, Vomit, Animal death, Sexual content, Excrement, Abortion, Genocide, and Domestic abuse
crows_in_a_trenchcoat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent and Death
Moderate: Suicide and Blood
hanz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Kidnapping, and War
Minor: Transphobia
lucystolethesky's review
- 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
Graphic: War, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Slavery, Confinement, and Violence
Minor: Transphobia
lanid's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Body horror, Colonisation, Death, and War
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
Minor: Transphobia
sequelmage's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Very unique and quite interesting. A very enjoyable read
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, and War
Minor: Death of parent
rowancaskey's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I don't imagine I have much insight into the specifics of why this book worked for me beyond that, outside of a single spoiler which I will mention below. I enjoy Shakespeare, dark fantasy, trans characters, and grim stories-- a dark fantasy retelling of Hamlet was likely always going to end up being near and dear to my heart.
On a much shorter note, I particularly enjoyed the fast ramp-up of drama at the end, and the plummeting realization that despite Patience seeming truly unconditionally positive towards Eolo, Eolo is much more afraid of Patience than we, the reader, could have intuited before the final act.
Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Death of parent
quirkykayleetam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a slow-build of a book as the storyteller reveals the world building and their place in it gradually until everything slots into place at the very last second. It envisions Ophelia as an incredibly implacable badass who both Hamlet and Horatio are at least a little bit in love with and in awe of while turning Rosencrantz and Guildenstern into interchangeable cronies devoid of any and all of the humor from the original play. Unlike The King of Infinite Space, the novel does not reword or rework any of Hamlet's original soliloquies or speeches, instead commenting on the scope of the play and how personal the action is to its characters. While it may not have added anything profoundly new to conversations about Hamlet (which it is hard to do these days), I nevertheless found it engaging and engrossing. Both the novel's last line and its meditation on the connection between living and caring will stick with me for a very long time.
Graphic: Murder, Confinement, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Transphobia