The Death I Gave Him

The Death I Gave Him is pitched as "a lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller". Um. How about you inject it straight into my veins? When his father is found murdered in their lab, Elsinore is put on lockdown, and Hayden Lichfield sets out to lure the killer into the open. Trapped with four suspects — his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul, Hayden must rely on his one ally: the lab’s resident AI, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and companion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies, and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.

What immediately stood out to me about this book is the authorial confidence and linguistic flair. Hamlet demonstrably lends itself to queerness, and the claustrophobic locked room atmosphere is reminiscent of COVID lockdowns and Hayden's own spiralling mental health. Having the relationship between Hayden and Horatio transposed to human/AI links so well with the original Hamlet's concerns of mortality, humanity and connection. Everything just works so well. I really liked the structure of the book, slotting in Felicia's extracts from her memoir and interviews, which brings a modern touch and lends the original Ophelia more agency and deserved interest. I received an ARC of this book but I am looking forward to purchasing my own copy so I can enjoy the language on the physical page. It's a truly beautiful work, respectful to the original story yet elevating it into something that captures our modern world.

I am grateful to have received an ARC of this book from Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I ended up loving The Death I Gave Him!
The book was pitched as a queer scifi retelling of Hamlet as a locked room thriller and If that doesn't make you want to read this book, I don't know what else could!
I really liked the writing style and the characters.
The story was also so good and I actually finished this book in a day as I couldn't put it down!
I definitely highly recommend this book!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A queer, sci-fi retelling of Hamlet? Sounds weird but it works extremely well. Author Em X. Liu has given us a fantastically written thriller that you will not be able to walk away from. More, please!

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu

This is a fantastic lockdown STEM thriller. It has so much to it. Going in I had no idea what to expect, and it took me a minute to really get pulled in, but I have to say, once I started it I couldn’t put it down. I read this book in one sitting.

There are moments when William Shakespeare seeps right into the words, and you feel him there whispering inside your ear very much, like Horacio did into Hayden’s throughout much of the book. It was beautiful the way this was done props to the author for their wonderful prose.

There are a couple of scenes between Horatio and Hayden that are spicy AF and I’m totally here for it. It was crazy cool, how well that was done.

Even the building itself, Elsinore Labs is a character of its own and you feel it there. You can see it the entire time. You feel like you’re in it this pristine lab waiting for the cleanliness and the sterileness of the environment to choke you; and I sort of wonder if that’s what happened to Hayden.

All of the other characters, Felicia, Paul, Charlie, Graham, Hayden, and Horatio were all phenomenally written.

There were a few grammatical errors, sometimes in the chapter headings we’re instead of saying Excerpted it says Excepted. But I’m sure all of these errors will be fixed before the book is actually published in September.

The other things that happened grammatically that bothered me we’re all of the times that it said “started” or “began.” For a particular example something “started ringing” when it should just say it rang. I like a stronger verb tense in my reading so that’s just a personal preference but it’s something that pulled me out of the story each time it happened. I did not highlight each of those because that would’ve taken too much away from the reading itself. But I did highlight it once so that I wouldn’t forget it in my review.

I will copy my annotations below. Anything in red is something I really enjoyed anything and Blue is a grammatical error that I found. Some of my annotations may or may not contain spoilers so if you do not want any spoilers for the book, please skip the annotations.

So my overall review was four stars. It lost one star because of the grammar issues; but because the overall story came together, so well, I am totally giving this book a five-star review phenomenal work by the author. They are a great author. I’m not sure if this is their first novel or not, but it is a great novel, and I will be picking up other stories from them. I look forward to when this book releases in September and I can get a physical copy. Maybe I’ll get really lucky and be able to get a signed copy by the author one day; that would be super cool.


The Death I Gave Him - Em X. Liu


# Chapter Eleven

> Hayden clenches my teeth so hard it hurts. “I know.”

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Red
- Progression: 40%

---

> The truth slips away, muddied like silt running into a riverbank.

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Red
- Progression: 41%

---

# Chapter Twelve

> Everything is too loud and quiet at the same time, like the shimmer before a thunderstorm, like the white-hot flash of a blow—pressure and weight before the pain hits. The kind of silence Hayden knows he can’t be the one to break.

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Red
- Progression: 46%

---

# Chapter Fourteen

> Did that mean that Charles’s moral compass was permanently broken? Once you kill one man, nothing matters anymore?

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Red
- Progression: 51%

---

# Chapter Sixteen

> Excepted from Tell Me A Tragedy

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 55%

---

> started ringing.

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 56%

---

> He learned up against the doorway,

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 57%

---

# Chapter Nineteen

> The upward crook of her lips drops

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 67%

---

# Chapter Twenty Two

> braces again him, rolls

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 79%

---

# Chapter Twenty Four

> Excepted from Tell Me A Tragedy

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 81%

---

# Chapter Twenty Six

> Excepted from Tell Me A Tragedy

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 86%

---

# Chapter Twenty Eight

> The snarling monster of a girl hiding in my chest, the one who wanted to shoot Hayden and blame Charles for it, she still exists inside me. Some days, she comes out, angry for no reason, hating the people she’s supposed to love.
> I want to smother her, but that only gives her more fuel, makes the tangled mess thicker and more snarled, until I can’t figure out where I end and where she begins. Or maybe there was never a division in the first place. Maybe I’m only deluding myself further.

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Red
- Progression: 94%

---

# Security footage; Armstrong Labs

> mostly likely

- Date: Apr 17, 2023
- Colour: Blue
- Progression: 95%

---



Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

damn. i did not know what to expect going in - or more like, expected something entirely different because i only read "queer hamlet retelling" and clicked request, but damn. wow. wow.

Liu's writing is poetic and immersive, drawing readers into a world full of beauty, darkness, and wonder. The characters are well-developed and complex, with Liana standing out as a compelling and multi-faceted protagonist. The novel explores deep themes such as grief, love, and redemption in a thought-provoking and poignant way.

The Death I Gave Him is an outstanding work of fiction that will appeal to readers of all genres. Liu has created a powerful and unforgettable story that will linger in your mind long after you finish the last page.

First, I’d like to preface this by saying that while I have a ton of interest in this genre (and have recently been on the hunt for more post human, emotionally intelligent AI stories) I have not read many books quite like this. To say I was blown away is a massive understatement!

I am still reeling and grasping for words to thoroughly explain how this book impacted me and everything I write just does not do this book or author any justice. I loved the way this story was put together almost like a research paper; footnotes to explain evidence, citations, insight on what was fact and what was a dramatization created by the narrator - it all came together to create a thrilling story from cover to cover. The authors background in biochemistry was present in the most important yet minor details; but not so in depth it deters readers without subject knowledge. I felt like each piece of evidence was revealed and reviewed in the perfect order to provide clues and context along the way. I do feel like there was some subtle foreshadowing thrown into the mix and by the end of the book I was chomping at the bit to find out if my theories were correct and if the betrayal the cast faced was even deeper than they suspected.

Again, nothing I have written here comes close to giving this author or book justice, it was a stunning read and I am looking forward to getting a physical copy for my personal collection when it’s released in September!

I would advise everyone to seek out TWs before picking up this book. There is material that some may find sensitive or triggering.

You had me at the cover! I would definitely pick this up in a bookshop. Well developed characters and a cracking storyline make this book a MUST READ for me. A modern retelling of Hamlet with new twists and turns to keep old and new fans of Shakespeare intrigued throughout.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publishers for this ARC.

BOY did I love this book. As a fan of thrillers, AI, robot romance, and Shakespeare, this book hit everything I wanted it to be. I've never loved anything more than I love Hayden and Horatio, and Felicia is also a new all time favorite character. This book was absolutely spectacular and I will recommend it to everyone ever. I will be preordering so I can reread a physical copy.

[4.5 stars out of 5, rounded up to 5!]

"Do you want to live because you want to live, or because you're afraid to die?"

The Death I Gave Him by Em X Liu has a super intriguing framework for the well known story of Hamlet to be told: I got pulled into the novel right from the start with the format that includes footnotes and quotations of legal documents. I'm a big fan of a fiction novel with footnotes, and I think Liu makes great use of them in this novel.

As a story, the characters are constantly grappling with the idea of death and dying, but not so much focused on the idea of living, nor on finding things to live for.

We've all seen what theater directors can do with Shakespeare—they bring us genderswapped Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing as a spaghetti western, steampunk Romeo and Juliet, and just about anything else that can be conceived of. This is Hamlet as you've never known him before: Hayden, his story told through the lens of a well researched text by an academic who was clearly passionate about the events of Elsinore Laboratories.

I found myself tempted to return to summaries of Hamlet and character breakdowns while I was reading, but resisted the urge to check in with what I remembered and instead let The Death I Gave Him re-shape the knowledge I have of this Shakespeare classic.

Horatio, in particular, was the character I found the most interesting, especially with the new dynamic of being neuromapped within Hayden's mind, but also existing outside of him as the laboratory's Artificial Intelligence. This novel spends just enough time on the science and engineering details but not too much that it's a barrier to reading as someone who has very little understanding of what the words they use mean.

As a heads up, there are some pretty gruesome descriptions of death and body horror in this book. If you can handle it, I definitely recommend giving this a read!

Thank you to Rebellion Publishing and Netgalley for access to an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

The Death I Gave Him is a genuinely unique, inventive novel. A really fresh take on Shakespeare packaged up in a genre that's really pretty undefinable. I admired and enjoyed this one

The Death I Gave Him is a queer, sci-fi retelling of Hamlet that explores themes of obsession and mortality. The book is presented as though it was written in the distant future about an event that occurred in the year 2047, a time in which the science of immortality was just reaching a breakthrough. One fateful night, scientist Hayden Lichfield discovers his father's corpse amidst their quest to scientifically manufacture immortality. When the building goes on lockdown, Hayden is trapped with his uncle, his ex, and everyone else thwas in the building as they try to uncover the culprit.

I really enjoyed the fictional nonfiction style. Throughout the book, different chapters are told from different perspectives in a way that makes the events of that night seem shrouded in mystery. For example, we have the recovered logs of Horatio (the autonomous security system), the first-person account of someone present that night, and transcripts of audio recordings, among others.

In addition, I loved the writing style throughout. The writing is lyrical and imaginative, and despite the other-worldly aspects of the story, I could vividly picture everything that was happening. In addition, there was strong characterization, despite the faux-nonfiction writing style. The characters felt very real and morally gray, and it was at times difficult to decide whether or not you really agreed with the characters' decisions.

This book may not be for everyone, though. It can be particularly gory in some sections, and it does not hold back in its depiction of mental health. While the author does include an in-text trigger warning for self-harm, there are still other depictions of things like dissociation that do not have trigger warnings. This is not necessarily a negative, it is just something to keep in mind as you read.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi, tragedy, and morally-grey characters. I would also recommend it for anyone who is alright with some gore and grit

I want to say that this is a book that has fundamentally changed me as a person.
I’ve always liked Hamlet. It’s a classic, it’s funny, it’s dark as hell. So when I read about this book I was immediately intrigued.
I was not prepared for how hard it would hit.
Liu’s writing is unique and poignant and sharp as a knife. They took a story that has been told for centuries and gave it new life and so much more depth. I highlighted so many parts of this book: lines that struck me deeply, moments of connection, things that I want to remember. I teared up repeatedly while reading, and ultimately read the last 15% while half sobbing. This book is a work of art, and I cherish it.

PS: eternally grateful for content warnings, especially the way they appeared in this story.

I went into this book not entirely sure if it was going to be for me, seeing as I’m not really a fan of tragedies, and this is a retelling of one of the perhaps most well known tragedies ever written.
My worries however turned out to be entirely unfounded and I ended up powering through this book in a couple of hours and I loved my entire experience... and yet as I’m trying to write this review I have a hard time putting into words exactly why this was both one of the most haunting and the most trippy reads I’ve had in a long time. Perhaps I won’t entirely succeed in explaining this well but there is something wonderfully tactile about this story, it feels like a mystery to be solved, not in the sense that the plot of the story itself needs to be solved but in the sense that the reader has to piece together what the meaning of it all to them is in the end.
The idea to reinstall the annotations and stage directions of an old play into this narrative by telling the plot primarily as a written thesis with citations and all, is truly and utterly genius and makes this book come together in a way that makes it stand on its own despite being a retelling.

A fascinating read, a solid sci-fi thriller elevated by its medium of storytelling, all in all an upcoming release to look out for!

This is one of those books where I finished it and had to lay on the floor for a little bit while my brain felt like it was turning into a smoothie (this is a good experience). One of my favorite pieces of literature of all time is Hamlet, and as someone who also adores reading about what it means to be human, the effects of being isolated, obsession with a project and queer characters who are just a little bit insane, this book was perfect for me. Our main character and Hamlet stand-in, Hayden Lichfield is the perfect mix of a slightly pathetic college dropout scientist (in fact, he feels a lot like if Victor Frankenstein in that respect, but dare I say much better), and a vengeance seeking murderer for him to be incredibly fun to read about and extremely lovable, and I really love how two of the characters who were given very little agency in the original play have a lot more in this book, as well as a lot more agency, as well as being great characters in general. Overall, this book was amazing, probably one of the best ones that I have read this year.

That writing! That structure! That tension! This queer Hamlet retelling as a locked-room sci-fi thriller is insanely good!!

I needed to recover for a while because the tension was so tangible in every sentence that I felt I had to keep my breath constantly while reading. So, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out!

Sometimes a book is fantastic because it’s different. Sometimes a book is fantastic because it’s original. Sometimes a book is fantastic because it’s ingenious. And this book has it all. The blunt, lyrical writing and the amazing structure kept me on the edge of my seat. The Death I Gave Him is only covering fourteen hours, but it doesn’t feel that way at all. It’s built up from an essay, camera footage, audio transcripts, letters, footnotes, Horatio’s and Hamlet’s POVs from the neuromapper log, etc., etc. It switches from lyrical, distant third-person prose to a somewhat prickly first-person narrative to objective facts, to transcripts of conversations, and back again. Add a natural trigger warning within the text and an unreal love story that felt so real, and a sensational novel is born!

The Death I Gave Him follows Hamlet’s main themes, like mortality and immortality, revenge, and doubt. There’s science to find solutions to reverse death, there’s ambition and madness to prove it’s possible to relive, there’s revenge for Hayden’s father’s death, and there’s doubt because the question is: who did it and who stole the Sisyphus Formula? But also Hayden’s fears and doubts are central in this magnificent story!

Everyone who knows Shakespeare’s Hamlet also knows Horatio and the deep friendship the two of them had. In this retelling Em X. Liu constructs a relationship full of affection and love that I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t read it myself. Hayden who never felt he was enough and Horatio so caring for the human he loved. So much that tears clouded my eyes in the last part of the story. I almost don’t dare to admit that I fell in love with an AI voice.

Shakespeare would have been proud of this retelling and maybe even jealous! Pick up this book, everyone! It’s phenomenal!

This was so cool! A locked room, sci-fi thriller that's also a queer Hamlet retelling? Always sign me up. And this, omg, this absolutely delivered. The tension in this story was palpable, and the writing was *chef's kiss*. This is probably one of my favorite retellings I've ever read, and ever will read. I am beyond excited to get physical copies of this at my library and promote them to patrons! I will also be buying a physical copy for myself, no questions asked! I cannot wait for more from this super talented author.

“How terrible death is, Hayden thinks, to take vibrant, vital people, and render them into nothing but their component parts, all greying flesh and hissing gas and frayed, useless nerves.”

A glorious, terrifying mix of cleanly rendered prose and fierce poetry, this is a potent combination.

“Queer, locked-room, sci-fi Hamlet” were the buzzwords that made me pick this up: but I was enthralled from the first chapter. The tale is told in a number of voices and ways, including the narration of the sentient AI living within the building, phone transcriptions, excerpts from a memoir. The conceit is that the book in its form has been compiled by an historian, first investigating the incident as part of a thesis, coalescing into the story presented. The narration is thus punctuated with explanatory footnotes, which only add to the foreboding and anticipatory horror.

Anyone familiar with Hamlet knows the nature of this catastrophe. The author does not match the Bard beat for beat: there is still room for unfamiliar scenes and surprises in this retelling. Liu’s skill is in unspooling the tension, thread by thread, until the inevitable tapestry of tragedy is woven.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC copy of this book!

I have scheduled promotional posts around release day for this book and I will provide a full review on my Instagram once I am able to get to this read.

Rating 5 stars on Netgalley as a placeholder for me to update later once the review is complete.

Will also complete a review on Goodreads once read.

Thanks again!

NOW THIS. THIS IS HOW YOU DO A RETELLING.

Not only is the writing and characterization absolutely superb, but the construction of the plot and the way the narrative is set up as a post-event research project is just so completely up my alley of ‘favorite thing to be in a book’ I am just speechless. This book is so impressive, it grabs hold of you and refuses to let go until the very last page.

After taking some time to fully process this incredible book, I am ready to share my thoughts. As someone who considers Hamlet one of my favorite written works, I was instantly drawn to this locked room, queer, sci-fi retelling. And let me tell you, it exceeded my expectations and then some.

In my opinion, a good retelling stays true to the themes and story beats of the original while offering a unique and refreshing take. This book accomplishes exactly that. Despite my familiarity with Hamlet, I couldn't predict how events would unfold in this retelling. The story kept me on edge throughout, aided by the locked room setting and the narration style. The book is written in the future by a researcher documenting past events, creating an outsider perspective. The narrator pieces together the truth from a single written account, scraps of video footage, and leftover data, resulting in an intriguing storytelling method that leaves certain information uncertain and incomplete.

The depth given to the characters is one of the highlights of this retelling. Felicia (Ophelia) stood out to me, as she was given agency and nuance beyond her original counterpart. I have always believed that her character deserved more complexity than being simply Hamlet's girlfriend who meets a tragic end, so seeing her make a significant impact in this story was refreshing. The relationships between the characters were also written with complexity and nuance. I was particularly struck by Hayden's relationship with his parents, which showcased levels of family dysfunction despite the clear love between them.

However, I must express some disappointment regarding the romance aspect. As a book that promotes itself as a "queer" retelling, I wished for more depth in that area. The romance felt somewhat out of place and abrupt. Flashbacks or further exploration of Hayden's queerness could have added much-needed development to the relationship and helped it feel more organic.

Overall, this creative retelling of Hamlet honors the source material while offering something entirely new and unique. I highly recommend it to both Hamlet fans and those who are unfamiliar with the original. If you enjoy a good sci-fi thriller, this book is definitely worth a read.

THE DEATH I GAVE HIM is a locked room retelling of Hamlet; and more, with changes to character that come into their own with echoes of the play, while always asserting a wholly new voice, and setting the reader up for thrilling story apart from its inspiration. Felicia is active, and doesn't hold back. The tension and chemistry between Horatio and Hayden is just a joy to read. Hopefully without giving anything away, some of their encounters reminded me of the elegance of RED SCHOLAR'S WAKE. I especially loved that the Sisyphus formula is itself a metaphor for the grief and death that haunts this work. How do we regenerate, make ourselves whole again from what we have left? Such a great read on so many counts.

I heard "lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Hamlet" and I got here so fast. I'm so excited for any speculative fiction take on a classic with more diverse representation. This one didn't disappoint, with the characters and the tension, and I know some people who will be excited to read it as well. Thank you for the advance copy.

I was thrilled to get an advance review copy of this book (thanks #netgalley) after hearing good things about it.
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Oh, it was brilliant. I was bereft when I finished it. Basically it’s a Hamlet re-telling, set in ‘Elsinore Labs’ where research is being conducted into immortality. People are being killed for access to the research and the lab has been locked down. It’s completely gripping. Also terrifying, and claustrophobic, even though you know from the start that it’s not going to end as badly as it might.
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The Ophelia character, Felicia (spoiler alert) has agency, isn’t a victim, doesn’t drown. Which is refreshing. The Horatio character is an AI who loves and looks after the Hamlet character. We get a lot of blood and guts and other bodily mess (it is a murder mystery) but also close detail of heart rate, temperature etc as Horatio pays careful attention.
Loved it.
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Review of "The Death I Gave Him" by Em X. Liu:

Em X. Liu's "The Death I Gave Him" is a breathtaking blend of lyrical prose, queer sci-fi, and a thrilling retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Set in a twenty-first-century world, the story follows Hayden Lichfield as he seeks to avenge his father's murder and unravel the mystery surrounding their groundbreaking creation, the Sisyphus Formula—a potential means to reverse death itself.

The narrative masterfully weaves together various forms of storytelling, including essays, camera footage, audio transcripts, letters, footnotes, and the perspectives of artificial intelligence, Horatio, and Hayden himself. The novel unfolds over a mere fourteen hours, yet it immerses readers in a richly detailed and suspenseful experience, leaving them on the edge of their seats throughout.

The themes central to Hamlet—mortality, immortality, revenge, and doubt—are deftly explored, giving depth and substance to the tale. The quest for scientific advancement, the relentless pursuit of revenge, and the complexities of familial relationships come together to create a compelling and thought-provoking narrative.

What truly elevates this retelling is the depiction of the profound and tender friendship between Hayden and Horatio. Em X. Liu has crafted a portrayal of love that feels both real and surreal, tugging at the heartstrings and leaving a lasting impact on readers. The emotional depth and authenticity of their bond are both surprising and moving, capturing the essence of true connection in an unexpected yet beautiful way.

Liu's prose is nothing short of remarkable, with the perfect balance of poetry and precision. The narrative seamlessly switches between various perspectives, offering a multi-dimensional reading experience that enriches the storytelling.

"The Death I Gave Him" is a magnificent triumph, a retelling that Shakespeare himself would have admired. With its queer, locked-room sci-fi setting and intricate examination of humanity, mortality, and ambition, this novel stands as a true masterpiece. Em X. Liu's ability to combine elements of Shakespeare's classic with cutting-edge science and heartfelt emotion makes this a must-read for anyone seeking an extraordinary and unforgettable literary experience.

"I will take madness if it means none of it is real."

If you liked:
- shakespeare retellings
- unique perspectives and hindsight commentary
- a formula for cheating death
- escape rooms in a creepy lab filled with secrets and murder
- compilated love

You absolute have to read The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu out on 9/12/23!!

TW: self harm, suicidal ideation, depression, familial death, gore, violence

The story is told between several perspectives as the "author" compiles all these sources to create one comprehensive expose of the event. We get Hayden told in present first person. Felicia told in excerpts from interviews and her biography. Horatio, the labs AI system, and his logs. There are foot notes from the "author"'s to add further context or justify their creative decisions. It creates the perfect picture for us as the audience.

I don't even know where to start on the characters, they are so real and raw that they walk right off the page. Hayden Lichfield is deeply depressed and suicidal and he hides it by fervently searching for a way to outsmart death. Felicia Xia is someone I have a hard time pinning down. Her morals are certainly ambiguous, she will lie and cheat to save her life. But she has lines drawn in her mind that she won't cross. I didn't really expect her to stick to these lines so her decisions shocked me even though they were the more moral ones. And then Horatio, he is a character fully dependent on Hayden. Their connection is so powerful and their romantic moments were equally unexpected but so expected.

Liu has an incredibly unique and enjoyable writing style. I highlighted so so so many lines just because of how they phrased everything from the most animalistic feelings to the most basic human actions. Liu is someone I will always trust to write a corruption arc. They are an expert at flawed characters who do nothing to fix their flaws but feed them until they are taken over.

"This is where I say: tell me a tragedy"

I was so excited to read this as I love Shakespeare and Hamlet is one of my favourite plays. I was also a little nervous that it would disappoint-but it didn't. It's a fantastic read.

I already plan to re-read and annotate (must be the Shakespeare!)

Give this book a read - even if you hated Shakespeare at school = just try it!

Thank you NetGalley and Solaris for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Death I Gave Him is a Hamlet retelling if Hamlet was queer, living in a near-future sci-fi hellscape, and trying to master death via scientific advancement. These are all positives, and I found that using a locked down lab gave this a wondrously claustrophobic atmosphere that heightened the tension. Of course, this is a Hamlet retelling, and I think anyone who’s picking this up knows Hamlet, so the point isn’t really “who did it???” (which, granted, at times this feels a bit like a whodunit, except we all know who it was because, again, this is Hamlet we’re talking about). It’s so layered and complex that I am still reeling from how much I enjoyed it!!!

I really loved the way that Liu crafted and framed this. I thought they did an excellent job at using different perspectives to build tension; this is told through essays, camera footage, audio recordings, the occasional text message, footnotes, letters, and a more traditional third person limited perspective. I thought that the switching between all of the forms was seamless and brilliant; there is nothing more delightful to me than seeing an author take creative risks in their storytelling. The tension was exquisite and I tried to squeeze as much of it in as I could in each sitting; oftentimes I would look up and not even realize how far through the ARC I had gotten.

As this is a Hamlet retelling, the themes of the original play are present throughout; madness, life and death, revenge, and so on and so forth, and I thought the concept behind the Sisyphus Formula plays into Shakespeare’s original play. I also appreciated how Liu breathed new and interesting life into the characters, especially Ophelia’s counterpart, Felicia. I liked how she got to diverge the most from the prescribed narrative and really become her own person.

Overall, I loved this! I had a great time and I absolutely adored the kaleidoscopic storytelling. I loved Liu’s prose and the way they’ve remixed the original Hamlet, I enjoyed the sci-fi elements and never wanted to put this down. I’m unsure if I’d go as far as calling it a thriller since I feel this is much more character driven than plot driven and also, again, you know how this ends, you’re here to watch how they got there, and the real delight is watching it all unfold.

This is such an intelligent and punchy way to reimagine Hamlet! A scifi locked room mystery is simplifying it — it plays with your expectations, keeps you coiled in tension, delights by meeting your expectations and them moves on to subvert them. I had such a fabulous time reading this arc, and I cannot wait to buy the book in hard copy once it comes out for the sheer joy of rereading this to savour all the layers. Do yourselves a favour and buy this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of the Death I Gave Him. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

Long ago, in another life, back when I was young and foolish, I was very interested in writing modernisations of early modern fiction – particularly Hamlet. This is because I was a pretentious young writer, and what I produced would almost certainly have been quite dull and navel-gazing. Thank goodness, then, that The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu is nothing like the scribbles of my youth. This a smart adaptation that has something to say, focusing hard on the themes of surveillance and modernising its ideas of self-destruction into a more pathologised era.

The Death I Gave Him takes place over the course of one night in the Elsinore research lab, where Hayden finds the murdered body of his father before quickly securing his top secret research. It is narrated by Hayden, a young researcher; Horatio, the lab’s all-seeing AI who shares a special connection with Hayden; and Felicia, Hayden’s ex-girlfriend and co-researcher. The lab is locked down following the murder, and Hayden must use his ground-breaking Sisyphus formula to speak to his dead father and try to get revenge on his murderer.

Liu moves Elsinore forward in time, creating a found document text that is annotated by a further distant future, in which it seems people can live forever. References are made to court trials following the single night, but the outcome of the story is never made fully explicit, nor do we really know our editor who has chosen what to show us and what to omit; what to fabricate and what to relay in full. In this way, the reader is just as misled and manipulated as the story’s characters, creating a complex text that might just hurt your head if you think about it too hard.

The movement of setting is surprisingly successful, as is the reduction in cast – we hear only from the play’s key players, with a wider world only hinted at. But the best thing about this book is the absolute beauty of the writing. I love Liu’s style, at once evocative and lyrical, but never pretentious (although occasionally the characters might be). In particular, Horatio’s narrated sections, as he starts to learn what life is like connected to and within Hayden’s body, getting to grips with physicality as well as his own controls over Hayden’s movements, are a sensory delight.

With a modernisation of a text as lauded as Hamlet, readers who don’t like diving into The Classics, who are coming at this perhaps from a sci-fi background, might wonder if the book is still enjoyable. I would say very much so. As a story, it stands strong on its own. The only benefit to a foreknowledge of the Bard is enjoying Liu’s little tweaks to the story, and a doomed sense of anticipation for the plot points the author surely can’t have changed. I would recommend The Death I Gave Him as a smart crossover of two literary worlds, enjoyable for both, and for those new to either genre.

Review written with thanks to the publishers and Netgalley.co.uk for providing an e-advanced review copy.

This book is close to a masterpiece! Hamlet for the future !

The locked room mystery begins when Hayden's father has been murdered in their lab. Hayden is trapped in the lockdown with four others—his uncle Charles, lab tech Gabriel Rasmussen, researcher Felicia and security head Paul. With only his AI companion Horatio to assist him, will Hayden avenge his father?

The books it patched together interviews, essay an autobiography, transcripts, camera footage, letters and footnotes including Horatio's own POV. Switching between Hayden and his AI the story drills down to the true questions of Hamlet! Bring on the adaptations! #Rebellion #solaris #Thedeathigavehim #EmxLiu

Astounding riveting devastating heartbreaking.

Stayed up half the night and sobbed at 3am over an AI Horatio.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance NetGalley copy of this book.

This book was an absolute dream. A refreshing, haunting, almost horrific retelling of (in my opinion) Shakespeare's greatest tragedy told through a modern lens. Meet Hamlet, or Hayden, son of Dr Lichfield a renowned scientist researching how to conquer death and, end it. Meet Horatio, an AI inter frame a la JARVIS in Iron Man who has a neuropathic link to Hayden which also involves simulated touch and linking memories. Together the two of them work together to discover--much like in true Hamlet--who killed Dr Lichfield. Even knowing the play as well as I do, I was not at all bored of this book. It is so refreshing, so melancholic and so devourable that you just have to keep reading to see if it all plays out like it does on stage. I won't spoil what happens and how it ends, but fans of the play will not be disappointed.

Liu's storytelling voice is commanding yet casual, like you are leaning in to catch every word. The science is (from what I can tell) based in fact, the atmosphere everything any Hamlet retelling should be: sad, suffused with grandeur, artful and maddened. I found myself noticing moments from the play written almost as afterthoughts into prose: Hamlet's monologue about his mother, To Be or Not To Be, mad Ophelia singing her truth, you don't go looking for these moments because you are so caught up in the plot, but they are most certainly there.

One of my favourite reads of the year, an absolute must for any Shakespeare fan or any fan of good literature.