The Dead Fathers Club

bailed

I was so excited when I realised this was a retelling of Hamlet (my favourite Shakespeare play). I was very disappointed almost immediately. The main character is 11, but his thought processes seem much younger. He throws around words like “fatso” because he‘s impatient with a bank teller, and his friends are stunningly and disturbingly misogynistic for prepubescent children. He repeats words over and over like a kindergartener.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

GingerAntics The kid who narrates is actually quite good as a voice actor, but even that couldn‘t save this. If I were his parents, I certainly wouldn‘t have been okay with him saying many of the things he said in the first 28% of the book. I literally cannot make myself continue. 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 18h

GingerAntics It‘s disgusting and does a disservice to both Hamlet and Matt Haig‘s reputation. For an author that recently posted that he misses “intelligent masculinity. Not this dumb cage fighting brotocracy,” this is utterly despicable. #MattHaig #TheDeadFathersClub #audiobook 18h

GingerAntics @TheBookHippie this author‘s rating just went down with me. I have 2 other books by him, but I don‘t want to read them at the moment. 18h

18 likes3 comments

GingerAntics

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

Really excited to take this one for a spin.
#MattHaig #TheDeadFathersClub #audiobook

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CSeydel

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pick

#14books14weeks

A little weird, a lot sad. Like “The Midnight Library,” this book tackles a universal philosophical question, and does a magnificent job describing the question and bringing to life the struggle inherent to the human experience.

Unfortunately (like TML) the final resolution feels a little shallow and cliche. But the writing is superb; his style here is very reminiscent of Angela‘s Ashes and it worked well to set the mood.

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Jess_Franzino

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pick

Absolutely stunning & a work of artistry. This is DEFINITELY not a MG or YA book, despite the narrator being 11. It‘s a retelling of ‘Hamlet‘ (not a single beat or character missed), with some hints of “The Oresteia” in it, but set in modern times. It‘s narrated by an 11-year-old boy whose father (a ghost) wants him to avenge his murder. The writing is kinda weird, but it‘s meant to sound like a young boy is narrating. (Con‘t in comments)

Jess_Franzino It‘s extremely haunting, especially if you listen to it on Audible, which uses a young boy as the narrator. I‘ve seen a lot of bad reviews about this book, but it seems that it‘s from people who didn‘t know what to expect. But, just stunning as a whole. 3y

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TheSpineView

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Hamlet

Klou Perfect! 3y

TheSpineView @Klou 👍📖 3y

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Jezebelsk

Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pan

Contemp Hamlet retelling. Dad dies, appears to son. Dad blames brother, Uncle Alan. Dad seeks revenge for murder; needs son to be weapon.
Might have worked as physical, not audio. Found it tough to like any character. MC's stream of consciousness seemed random, out of whack. Positive: some humor in book.
BLUE - Wicked Words challenge hosted by @AsYouWish .
Hamlet - FFS Retelling Bingo
Shan Yu (retelling) - FFS' main game.

AsYouWish Sorry you didn‘t like it, but yay for it counting for all the challenges!!!!💙💙💙💙 3y

Jezebelsk @AsYouWish it was short, so I didn't suffer long. I really think I might have enjoyed it more as a physical. :) 3y

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Magpiegem

Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

so-so

Book 35 - 2021 The plan worked- tidy clothes and finished my penultimate book for #booked2021 at it was ok. If I‘m honest I really didn‘t like the audio narrators voice which never helps! I liked the idea of the book but it just didn‘t quite grab me. It hasn‘t put me off reading other books by Haig though. Which is lucky as I have some in my shelves! ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2

Cinfhen, BarbaraTheBibliophage, alisiakae

Cinfhen Well done 👍🏻 3y

BarbaraTheBibliophage Tidy clothes is a win either way! 3y

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Magpiegem

Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

Just had breakfast and made a Plan for today- wade through the pile of toys and clothes and try to get the house back in order whilst finishing the above audiobook for #booked2021 #blackjack21. I‘m about half way through and I‘m not sure it was the best introduction to Haig as I‘m not enjoying it that much but care enough about the MC to finish it.

Cinfhen, BarbaraTheBibliophage, alisiakae

Cinfhen Sounds like a good plan/ too bad that book isn‘t working out for you. 3y

Dodi Hi @Magpiegem, I've never used audiobooks as I'm not sure they'd work for me. What platform do you use? Do you listen to books while doing something else that doesn't required mental engagement? Thanks 3y

Magpiegem @Dodi I use audible and also two different library apps (I live in a place where I have access to two different library systems) Libby and BorrowBox. So basically I listen to everything on my phone. It‘s great for when I‘m out walking the dog or the baby to sleep. Or when I‘m at home doing chores or the rare occasions I‘m in the car alone and can listen to what I chose. For me it‘s all about the audio narrator, that‘s makes it breaks it xx 3y

Dodi Ah thank you! Yes, I guess the narrator makes the difference, I'll try perhaps oh my walk and see how it goes xx 3y

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Jari-chan

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pan

After reading The Midnight Library I wanted to read more by Matt Haig, and this book just perfectly fitted one of my challenges. Sadly, this one wasn't for me. Even though I think the basic idea is good. Hamlet through the eyes of a child. The innocent and sometimes naive views and thoughts of a boy.

But that was exactly the point why I couldn't get into the book. The narration is close to the Stream of Consciousness, which makes it ⬇

Jari-chan a slow read. I often felt like the story is going nowhere, that we're just running in circles. The book felt slow and never-ending.

Since I acknowledge the thoughts behind the whole book, I'm not disappointed in the author at all, and still want to read more books written by him. He seems to be able to change his writing style widely. Therefore, I'm curious to learn more about Matt Haig and his books.

@TheAromaofBooks #BookSpinBingo 4y

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 4y

Jari-chan @TheAromaofBooks Thank you ☺️ 4y

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MommyWantsToReadHerBook

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pick

So incredibly good! Told from the POV of an 11-year-old boy, which is done really well. It's rather weird, unique and impossible to describe without a spoiler. I can't wait to read more from him. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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MommyWantsToReadHerBook

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

My first Matt Haig! He's been on my radar for sooooooo long. Really enjoying it so far.

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mrp27

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

#boundtogetherjune #father

I enjoy a good Matt Haig novel.

OriginalCyn620, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

OriginalCyn620 📚👍🏻📚 5y

30 likes1 comment

CrackedSpines

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

pick

This book was an insightful and comedic, page-turning retelling of Shakespeare‘s infamous Hamlet, with a pinch of inspiration from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time!

Check out my spoiler-free review!
https://aimeetxylor.wordpress.com/2018/07/18/the-journey-begins/

#blog #matthaig #YA #youngadult #hamlet #shakespeare #prose #novel

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The.Intentional.Reader

The Dead Fathers Club | Matt Haig

About halfway through another great one by one of my favorite authors, Matt Haig. A father murdered by a jealous brother and a son out for revenge. (Background art is from a previous Fathers Day😎)

11 likes