Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

There isn't a whole lot to say that hasn't already been said. Shakespeare's sonnets have been studied as important works of poetry for years. This arrangement is refreshing and it's always fun to read new editions of familiar works.

Sadly couldn't finish it at , and the reason was the formatting issues it had , which was upsetting because I was so looking forward to this one .

Unfortunately this book expired before I had the chance to fully read it and therefore cannot give a full review.

I have read too many editions of Shakespeare's Sonnets, but I have to admit that this one is completely different. After a well-documented introduction, all Shakespeare's sonnets are included in a chronological order, and not in the traditional numerical order. Below every sonnet there is a section dedicated to commentaries and footnotes. The last section of the book includes all sonnet's paraphrases. Definitely a wonderful book, by great Shakespearean scholars like Dr. Paul Edmondson and Professor Stanley Wells, to consult in order to have a deeper knowledge about Shakespeare's sonnets and a great guide for English literature teachers throughout the world.

One of my favourite childhood memories is taking down the massive (at the time) and heavy collection of Shakespeare plays and sonnets that we had at home. As a Dutch 8-year old I wasn't majorly familiar with Shakespeare yet and my English also wasn't entirely there yet, but I loved the weight of it and loved trying to figure out the words as I went along. Eventually I ended up studying English literature and loving going to see plays, so Shakespeare was a solid favourite. Not until my second year at university did we get into his sonnets, however, and this edition would have come in very useful!

Edmonson and Wells do a great job at formatting a readable and accessible edition. Working chronologically, they also provide analysis and little sketches, which was lovely. I also liked their main aim of trying to incorporate the sonnets more into the plays, taking them together rather than strictly dividing them as completely separate areas of Shakespeare work.

Live on Goodreads.

I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the opportunity to review this book. I admit in my joy at joining NetGalley I may have been overzealous in my requesting numbers. As this book has already been published, I am choosing to work on the current upcoming publish date books in my que. As I complete those I will work on my backlogged request and will provide a review at that time. I again send my sincere thanks and apologies.

This is just the standard sonnets of Shakespeare. They were lovely to read. I am glad they were compiled into one collection.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love Shakespeare's work and when I saw this book. I immediately requested it.

This is a brilliant resource, packed full of notes and fascinating snippets of information. I really enjoyed revisiting these wonderful sonnets and I love the paraphrases and sketches of each sonnet.

Perfect addition to any home or library and especially for classrooms and literature students.
Highly recommend it and I am definitely adding it to my own collection.

I requested for an arc for this on NetGalley.

This was the first time I actually dove deeper into the sonnets of Shakespeare. In high school we did used to play out MacBeth and each got a copy of the book, but I never really looked further into it on my own. However when I saw an arc for this on NetGalley and I saw the cover I was persuaded.

The fact that this book includes way more sonnets made me a bit scared, because I'm not an avid reader of Shakespeare, but the reason why reassured me. I also liked the fact that they also showed how Shakespeare may have worked on certain sonnets multiple times to show that not even he can write down his best work in one draft. It gives me hope as a writer myself. I did also like the glossary beneath the sonnets to explain the meaning behind certain words and give a bit more context to them.
This was definitely a more challenging read for me, because I had a hard time keeping my focus which is important whilst reading these sonnets. However I was glad I picked it up and also that I got re-introduced to Shakespeare like this. Since it does make me willing to pick up more from him.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I recommend this as a fabulous holiday gift to a literature buff.

If you are a Shakespeare fan, this will book will undoubtedly prove worthwhile and valuable. It's not a casual read, however, and I found myself more eager to dip into it occasionally than read it straight through.

I learned much more about the sonnets than I ever thought possible!

This is a wonderful collection of Shakespeare's sonnets, including all my favorites! A must for fans of poetry and English literature alike!

I love the sonnets. Having them all in one book is so wonderful. I'm not sure I care for modern translations of them, tho, but I have found so many people who can no longer read middle English, it's sad. This would make a lovely gift for a Shakespeare fan or even for ones own collection.

This is a brilliant resource, packed full of notes and fascinating snippets of information. This is brilliant for a English Lit and from a personal point of view I really enjoyed revisiting these wonderful sonnets.

All The Sonnets of Shakespeare is a wonderfully concise and informative collection of Shakespeare's sonnets with a detailed introduction that sets up the rest of the book perfectly. A great read for students and educators.

This is a lovely collection of Shakespeare's sonnets- not only the 'traditional' collection of sonnets but also ones he incorporated into his plays. The editors do a great job in the introduction giving us background explanations behind some of the themes and they explain how new scholarship examines the language for clues to the timeline they were actually written. It includes explanations or "translations" of the poems in case the reader has trouble understanding some of the language, and is overall a good book- and a must read for English Lit scholars and Shakespeare fans.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is how much I managed to extract from the Bard's sonnets thanks to this excellent guide:

Less notorious than his plays, Shakespeare’s sonnets assimilate a secret map with hidden clues that lead to precious treasures. The intimate, even confessional tone of the 154 rhymes urges the eager reader to believe that the poetic voice is The Bard himself, who playfully volunteers the key to unlock the mysteries of his heart.
And yet… Do the sonnets tell a coherent story? If they do, is this story real or fictional? The fact that Thomas Thorpe, a poet, editor and admirer of Shakespeare, and not the author himself published this collection casts a shadow over the present order of the sonnets and their ostensible story line. Are they the product of literary artifice or the purest expression of the poet’s sentiments and his personal experiences?
Allow me to reply with another question.
Does it really matter?
The audacious imagery, the staggering metaphors, the musical alliteration, the ironic polysemies, the utter mastery of the language bursting into florid fireworks and the universality and relevancy of paramount themes such as the passage of time, the impending oblivion that comes with death and the convoluted nature of love constitute the invaluable legacy of the poet on their own. Everything else is mere speculation, but as per usual, Shakespeare teases with ambiguous piquancy as shown in Sonnet 144, which summarizes the main “plot” of the anthology in 4 stanzas:

“Two loves I have of comfort and despair,
Which like two spirits do suggest me still;
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman colour'd ill.”

A love triangle that consists of a “fair man”, a “dark woman” and the poet himself divides the sonnets in two noticeably different sections and presents a subversive approach to the foundations of courtly love employed by medieval troubadours because the “Muse” that stimulates inspiration seems to possess an adrogynous essence. Personal pronouns shift from verse to verse and the poet’s self-awareness plays an active role in the exulted display of emotions that becomes a faithful mirror for the complex gradation of the affairs of the heart. A prolongued meditation on the ethos of beauty and platonic love is interwoven with anguished cogitation about the inexorable passage of time that might wither the beloved’s blooming youth but never his élan-vital, which is immortalized in the poet’s writing:

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”
Sonnet 18.

Whereas the “fair knight” awakens tenderness, blind adoration and the purest expressions of affection in stanzas that are replete with natural imagery and astute analogies of daily life scenes, the “dark lady”, addressed only in the last 28 sonnets, disturbs the poet with her unchaste promiscuity and adulterous love. The transcendental undertone of the former sonnets fades away leaving space only for satire, sexual lust and aggrieved reproaches. The harmonic features of the male lover contrast with the sensuously dark eyes of the woman, which lure the poet into debauchery and temptation against his wishes. Lies, deception ad cynical rebuffs are the highpoints of the puns and wordplays in the last sonnets. The language becomes merely explicative, if also prodigiously lucid and accusatory, and loses the hiperbolic flamboyance of the opening sonnets.

“The expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight,
Past reason hunted, and no sooner had
Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so;
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.”
Sonnet 129.

Ironically enough, both lovers, fair man and dark woman, remain anonymous while the true identity of the poet has created havoc for centuries and his works continue to unleash passions among all kind of readers around the world. Shakespeare lives on in his words. In their suggestive rhythm, in their polifacetic meanings, in their musical texture.
Shakespeare’s poetry delves deep into the abysses of the human psyche, into the labyrinthine jumble of irrational, desperate love, into the stinky gutters of conscience, jealousy and betrayal, and still, he winks back with a lopsided smile and restores the magic of humanity in a single couplet:

“For nothing hold me, so it please thee hold
That nothing me a something sweet to thee:
Make but my name thy love, and love that still,
And then thou lovest me for my name is 'Will.' ”
Sonnet 136.

Miracles do not seem mambo-jumbo after reading Shakespeare’s sonnets, and art becomes magic, for divine providence is evinced stanza after stanza and my will submits to Will’s power...Subjugation was never sweeter!

We were about the discuss the sonnets of Shakespeare in our book club, and this book helped me a lot to revisit the subject with its comprehensive introduction section, which gives explanations about the usage of sonnet form at the time, how and where this form also appeared in Shakespeare’s plays, and how a look at the sonnets in chronological order gives a different perspective. It also provides information regarding several discussions about the effect of Shakespeare’s personal life on the sonnets, and the gender of the addressee.
Each sonnet, together with the additions to the original publication, is accompanied by some footnotes to clarify the context. There is also a chapter with literal paraphrases which I find extremely useful for some of the complex sonnets.
I should add that this work also includes a number of tables and lists which provide different categorisations and cross-references.
A welcome reference book for the lovers of Shakespeare’s sonnets.
Thank you NetGalley and Cambridge University Press for the ARC copy.

This is a great collection of Shakespeare's Sonnets that isn't just a collection - it has meaning, explanations and logical all behind it. It felt like I was back in high school English class - one of my fave places back in my high school days. Seeing how his writing evolved over time, and the beauty of Sonnets from both the collection of Sonnets but his plays was incredible. I truly enjoyed diving into this book! I highly recommend it for fans of Shakespeare and poetry.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cambridge University Press for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This is an excellent resource for educators and anyone interested in Shakespeare. The editors provide thoughtful and up-to-date commentary on the sonnets and their origins, and a carefully glossed presentation of each sonnet to assist readers.