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kaanda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, and Abandonment
himpersonal's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.0
I get why he is treated without being named. Names are so important and have been used as symbolism by authors for centuries. In this book, he is the least important person, the least deserving of my attention, and if anything, kind of the villain. But he is also the same as many other man - philandering, self-centered, grieving, privileged, and oblivious to the patriarchy. And he is as absent to me as he was to his family.
Agnes was a well written character worthy of my empathy and respect.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
kateships's review against another edition
4.25
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.
Graphic: Child death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Infidelity
Minor: Death of parent
jennipea382's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
harrirats's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic
szuum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Grief, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
cigarete_smoke'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Alcoholism, Infidelity, and Alcohol
georginathelibrarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
To hear her talk about a child that I hadn’t even known existed, despite studying Agnes’s husband at university, a child who may have died of a deadly epidemic, during that time of my own life secluded from our own deadly sickness captured my attention.
I immediately ordered a signed copy, and then it sat on the shelf as they often do, biding their time until the moment is right.
Finally the time had come to read it, prompted by my book club, and I am so glad I have. It was chosen for April as that is the month of Agnes’ husband’s birth and death, but the story is not just about that famous playwright, it is more about his family, and their grief at the loss of one of their own.
This story captured my attention anew, transporting me to Elizabethan Stratford, and had me riveted from start to finish, a feat that many books have failed to deliver of late.
I warn you, you will need tissues, this is not a happy story, but it is one that leaves a feeling of wholeness at the end, that all is as it should be.
In the words of Agnes’s husband “give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o’er wrought heart and bids it break”.
Graphic: Grief and Pregnancy
Moderate: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic
topodibiblioteca's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Blood and Death of parent