As an English teacher I often use the No Fear Shakespeare website (along with Royal Shakespeare Company videos) to help my students better understand Shakespearean plays. However, I have found that students only read the modern translation when using the website. The benefit of the book is that it forces the listener to listen to the Shakespearean language before offering up the modern version and the narrators do a phenomenal job bringing both to life.

Format: audiobook
Author: Spark Notes ~ Title: No Fear Shakespeare - Hamlet ~ Narrators: full cast
Content: 5 stars ~ Narration: 4.5 stars

The intro contains a few notes on the characters in the play. This audiobook has two major parts: the first is the original version, the second version is “translated” into a more modern language, so it’s easier to understand.

I like the sound effects at the beginning of scenes. The whole idea of simplifying and translating Hamlet is excellent. This audiobook is a great teaching accessory, and it is suitable mostly for scholars.

Narrated by the full cast. I didn’t like that actors in the first part have American accents. Another minor hiccup for me was that some female narrators had male roles.

Otherwise, this is a brilliant audiobook, and I would recommend it to all scholars and non-scholars who want to understand better Shakespeare and Hamlet.

Thanks to Hachette Audio the for the ARC and the opportunity to listen to this! All opinions are my own.

This was a really fun audiobook to listen to! I received it in exchange for my honest opinion from Netgalley to preview. I enjoyed hearing Hamlet in both the original and modernized version- I picked up some meanings that I hadn't originally realized!

A great performance of a timeless classic!
For people like myself who enjoy plays immensely, being able to listen to them while commuting to work is magical.. I would recommend this one and would check out others like this in the future

I found this audiobook very interesting, as I can't remember any Shakespeare books that I read at school, so it was great to listen to Hamlet, in an easy to read way. I liked how the audiobook explained everything in the play in a simple manner and it went through all of the characters too. The narrators of the book were outstanding and the sound effects were superb. I felt like I was sitting in a theatre watching the play in real life and I could feel the emotions of each person, as well as the suspense of the story. I look forward to reading more No Fear Shakespeare books in the future. I highly recommend this audiobook!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting format to have the play being performed in the original words and then followed by a modern adaptation. I was naively taken aback when I realised the cast was American but got used to it pretty fast. The actors were great but it is obvious that they didn’t record their lines together as the sound is often all over the place. You may be listening to one character clearly in one scene but the other character’s lines will be barely audible at the same time. Shame because otherwise I did enjoy myself. The modern version is interesting and my advice for those studying the play would be to listen to it first and then have a go at the original one for a better overall understanding.

We are in reality here to know how the Everyday English translation stands up as a representation of the original.

Overall I think SparkNotes did incredibly well, I particularly liked "You can push my buttons, but you can't play me for a fool". My instant thought was damn dude, it had an impact that I never felt when reading this part before.

I was initially disappointed was the change of "Get thee to a nunnery" rather then a nunnery to use the word Convent instead (since per the SparkNotes annotation this can mean a religious institute or a brothel), but in digging further the British Library says this was also the intent of the initial statement, So I was taught something new in returning to Hamlet.

Full cast performance which to me makes a HUGE difference. A great audiobook that had many narrators because it was literally a play for my ears! It reminded me of mystery theater when I was young.
I just watched Macbeth with my husband and had to pay very close attention because of the old English. This however was different because it had both versions and I really enjoyed it. I’m a huge fan of Shakespeare and highly recommend this as an audiobook. It’s a game changer. I hope this was helpful.
Thanks Hachette Audio via Netgalley.

I've never read or listened to one of the No Fear Shakespeares before, and I was impressed. the full cast audio gave life to the play and the "translation" into contemporary speech was done well. I was worried it was going to be cringey or miss a lot of the fun and jokiness of Shakespeare's language, but a lot of it was captured.

The preformance in this audiobook was breathtaking! I've always loved Hamlet, and I was so happy to reread this. I was curious to hear how they could possibly make "No Fear Shakespeare" into an audiobook and I was surprised with how much I liked it. I would definitely listen to more of these!

This was my first time reading/listening to Hamlet and I listened to the SparkNotes version with the full theater production. This was probably one of the best ways to read/listen to Shakespeare. I enjoyed the fact that it was read first in the original Shakespeare format, then read again the current translation with a few side notes added. I do wish it was performed the other way around.

The cast was pretty much perfect, but there were a couple characters that read the Shakespeare version very monotoned. The guy who performed Hamlet was spot on and very funny.

I will definitely be listening to more Shakespeare this way!

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I’m one of those people who always needs more Shakespeare in their life. This was a fun, enjoyable way to get more familiar with Shakespeare’s works!

The cast, the way it was performed and explained, it was all magical.

Audiobooks are a great way to keep up with your reading and also get on with boring chores around the house that you unfortunately can’t avoid by the time weekend comes around. For those of us who work all week, and then have busy weekends, this is the perfect audiobook.

This audio recording ticks so many boxes! I always tell my students that Shakespeare wrote his place to be spoken, and performed, not to be read like a book necessarily. This is why I always try to make sure that we are listening to the play, rather than having them simply read. Not only is this an amazing audio version, with stellar voice actors, but immediately following the Shakespearean language performance, there is a second performance that imagines the play in modern English.
I do not like using the “No Fear “versions of the printed play because I do think that learning the language and interpreting for yourself is an important skill, and I have found that if the modern English is right next to the Shakespearean English, students can be lazy and just look on the “left side” of the page. Here, they must listen to one, THEN the other! By doing that, in either order, students are forced to make the connections between the words and meanings without relying on the more easily accessible version. I consider it like using training wheels when learning to ride a bike... slowly you wean yourself from the stabilization and soon you can ride alone.
I’m really excited to have heard this audiobook - now I know which play to choose for next year’s class!

This audiobook was SUPER helpful. I've always struggled with Shakespeare, and I've always came back to No Fear Shakespeare for help comprehending the original text, but I have a short concentration and audiobooks are much more accessible for my learning style. I'm so glad audiobooks of No Fear Shakespeare are being made, and I have to say this really helped me out because I have my AP English Lit test next week and I needed to review Hamlet.

The actors for this book were amazing, their voice acting was super immersive and the audiobook itself wa sof a very high quality. Thank you very much for the opportunity to listen to it!