3.75 stars. 

enjoyed: 

- the actual storyline 
- the different focuses rather than zoning in only on one characters experiences 
- the emotive descriptions particularly in part 2 
- the themes of grief and loss and remembrance 
- the chapter following the flea that spread the pestilence to judith

did not enjoy 
- the chapter lengths because i found it difficult to keep reading 
- certain aspects felt really dragged out 
- the writing felt TOO flowery at parts 
- shakespeare cheated on agnes

i would recommend this to certain people in my life because i think the history, the story, and the experiences we see in this book are interesting and insightful. the feeling of helplessness and utter uselessness when it comes to the death of your loved ones (and loss in general, even if they’re alive) were very touching to read. 

agnes as a character i grew to love - as a mother, wife, sister, daughter in law, friend - everything. she was a strong woman who deserved better 

shakespeare i loved throughout the book until hamnet died and he made the decision to leave and CHEAT on his wife. i’m sorry but that’s when my connection to him completely disappeared, and i cannot find a justification for it. that might just be me though because of my deep distaste for cheating in any form. 

my heart broke for hamnet, particularly when he asked death to close its eyes for one moment while he swapped places with judith. he was so young, so sad.