This is definitely one of my biggest discoveries of this year! I absolutely loved this book, with its addictive and suspenseful plotline, the feeling of upcoming doom and fascinating relationships. I especially enjoyed the nuanced portrayal of Hayden and his relationship with both Horatio and Felicia - one of them deep to the point of codependency, the other full of history, dissapointment and betrayal. I honestly think about it often and find it to be the most compelling adaptation of 'Hamlet' I've encountered, and although I love it in novel form, I'd also really love to see it adapted to stage.

You had me at " lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet"!! Great sci-fi worldbuilding, in a future close enough to be recognizable, but different enough to cast this very old story in a fascinating new light. Making Horatio AI is an inspired choice!

I read this and almost dnf’d. It sadly wasn’t what I’d been expecting but I would still recommend other readers picking it up.

I loved everything about this. A queer human/artificial intelligence retelling of Hamlet? Yes please! I immediately jumped on this and I gave zero regrets. The style of storytelling was gorgeous, and the plot, beyond the retelling aspect, was engaging and high tension. I really enjoyed this book.

Hamlet is my favourite shakespeare - so to translate it into this modern, queer, sci-fi retelling? Genius.
Hamlet explores humanity deeply - and so does The Death I Gave Him - asking big questions and leading, rather than telling the reader, the answers. Brilliant - highly recommend

Not a retelling for me. The changes to the plot make the entire thematic point of Hamlet void and in vain and although the creative exploration of queerness and mental health is much appreciated it did not make up for making the tragedy essentially null and void.

I really wanted to love this book and there were parts of it that I liked a lot. I enjoyed the multimedia aspect of the narrative and I am always a sucker for footnotes. I liked Horatio as an AI and it's relationship with Hayden was really fascinating. Unfortunately, there were other things that didn't work for me. I found the locked room mystery set up a bit unnecessary and contrived and the narrative overall just left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. I think perhaps my expectations were unfairly high, but I was a bit disappointed nevertheless.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I thought I may struggle with this one as it isn’t my normal style, but I wanted to give it a shot as I thought my students may like it.

It wasn’t for me, I didn’t find it an easy or enjoyable read, even though it was well written.

I think my students would enjoy it though.

This was one I struggled to get into, but I loved the concept. I just don’t think it personally worked for me.

I think this is 100% a case of "it's not the book, it's me" here. I love the premise. A sci-fi locked room thriller but make it Hamlet and also gay, literally everything about this book screamed new favorite. And I was left... bored?

I want to believe it came down to my reading experience. I picked it up via audio in a rather busy time of my life so I found myself only listening a little bit at a time over a longer period of time than it usually takes me to read a book, so I was never able to sink into the narrative the way I would have wanted to. I also think that some of the narrative structure would have worked better reading with my eyes rather than via audio. Though Catherine Ho narrates and I have historically loved her work. So while this didn't 100% work for me, I will absolutely be trying this again at some point and reading it physically when I have more time to dedicate to the story.

As it is, there was a lot to love here. I liked the narrative voice a lot and will absolutely be checking out any more of Em X. Liu's work. I was impressed by the imaginative nature of the work and the way Liu wove in sci-fi elements throughout the story. This is ambitious and intriguing and I want so badly to love it.

I had a hard time getting into this book, but the concept is so incredibly clever -- a futuristic Hamlet, with time jumps and a mysterious setting. It helps to know the plot of Hamlet before reading, but isn't entirely necessary. A unique take on an already-compelling story.

Gripping, lethally smart and unlike anything I've read before. The Death I Gave Him is an absolute triumph of a book.

well. it sure is high concept! i'm just not sure if the setting serves the themes of a hamlet retelling. but that's just my opinion methinks

A fast-paced and intricate Hamlet retelling with a near-future science fiction setting. Enjoyed the exploration of consciousness, AI, and mortality.

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a little backlogged with my ARC’s so my apologies for not getting this read sooner. I really liked the concept of this book! Set in the future and told from the past tense, this book really got me thinking! Especially when it comes to AI and consciousness which has made huge strides lately. Really makes you wonder if a day will come when someone will actually be able to “live forever”. I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes science fiction and dystopian!

The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu caught my eye when it was described as a "A lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller". I mean, come ON?!

The year is 2047, and something is rotten in Elsinore Labs. Hayden Lichfield has walked into his father's laboratory and found him dead. There are several hours of camera footage missing from Horatio, the lab's AI operating system.

As the building quickly goes into lockdown, shutting the five remaining living people inside, Hayden tries to figure out what exactly happened his father. More importantly, he needs to protect the research that he and his father were working on - The Sisyphus Project could be the secret to eternal life. If someone would kill for it, then everyone there is in danger. He's relying on Horatio (his constant companion throughout the project) and the questionable loyalty of an ex in order to protect his work and avenge his father's death - but does he have enough time?

As the story progresses, we have extracts from interviews given after the event, and a book written by Felicia, the aforementioned ex. This makes for an engaging, yet tense reading experience as we go back and forth between waiting for the characters to catch up with us, and us to catch up with the characters.

The queer element of the story comes from the (frankly adorable) operating system, Horatio. He was such a fantastic character, and I got really emotionally attached to him (I cried 😌)

It's definitely full of action and deception, but it's also full of emotion. If you're familiar with the plot of Hamlet, you'll likely know what's happening from the off - if you're not, I would not look it up. Just go with it and enjoy this for what it is - an unusual, clever sci-fi adventure with a lot of heart.

I did get an advance copy of the book from Netgalley, but I had pre-ordered it the second I heard about it in 2023.

Nonetheless, I sincerely thank @solarisbooks for granting me eARC approval! I read this a couple of weeks ago and it's one I keep thinking about. I really liked it.
#sharonreadthis24 #TheDeathIGaveHim

I absolutely LOVED this book. The structure, prose, and tension had me HOOKED. I wasn’t sure how the sci fi aspect would go but it was great.

This is a true to form retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet but with a Sci-Fi twist. There is no denying this book was beautifully written. There is an art to writing sci-fi, using the specific lingo to describe the intricate workings of the human body, that I think Liu captures. But I found the plot to be a little meandering for what we are building to over the course of the novel. The way in which the story unfolds also is at turns unique and at others really hard to follow. The book takes place over the course of a single night combined with interviews and recordings and footnotes that fill in information along the way.

I also found the queer relationship to be interesting, I don't know that we were given enough build up to it but hat off to Liu for going there with it.

Thank you to unfortunately and the publisher for granting me free access to the arc of this book. DNF unfortunately and no one is more upset about that than me.

This unique crime thriller is a futuristic retelling of Hamlet and a superb immersive read. As a locked room mystery I thought I'd work out the plot, but this smart and pacey narrative wove expertly around relationships and setting and had me hooked right to the brilliant end. Edgy, but with soul, the book takes the reader through emotional highs and lows, with innovative tech and heartfelt romance, this is a very clever inventive book. Highly recommended, and no prior knowledge of Hamlet is really required, but readers may recognise the parallels.