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sarahxify 's review for:

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
3.0
emotional reflective tense slow-paced
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

 I enjoyed this, although I can't say that I found it to be as much an exploration of grief as reviews have said. This book is obviously about the death of Hamnet, but I was suprised that he only dies about two thirds of the way through the book. The majority of this book is actually building up to this point, which is fine in and of itself, but it meant that there wasn't that much room left for the exploration of grief that this book is so lauded for. In this respect, I actually found it a little shallow, and that it was mostly about the sadness of someone dying than the months and years of grief that follow after someone has actually died. 

I will absolutely reread it at some point though and it got me back into reading after struggling to pick up a book for a while, so thank you Maggie O'Farrell for that!