Reader: Elise S
Age: 16
Title: A Wounded Name
Author: Dot Hutchinson
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Pub Date: 2013
Galley: Yes
Top 25: Yes
Convince us to read the book: Imagine a book that was so exquisite that every paragraph, sentence, word sparkled in a unique combination so that it caught the mind. That was this novel. Even if the plot and characters were iffy, the imagery used to make the story come to life would have put it into the league of fantastic. But all of the elements came together, and I loved it. This book is not just for teens - it is for anyone who loves the way that Shakespeare uses words to tell stories in pictures.
Memorable or Forgettable: When I heard that A Wounded Name is a rewrite of Hamlet, I was skeptical. My experience with "retellings" is that they lack creativity, and it's better to just read the actual thing. This, however, goes beyond that. Instead of telling Shakespeare's story from Ophelia's point of view, the author took this legendary tale and grew from it. It had similar aspects, but Hutchinson made it her own. This was very present in Ophelia herself, how she was still the broken, weak character, but more human. So many aspects of the novel were woven in, without ever being directly stated - like the magic, the pills, her relationship with Hamlet and her father, Horatio and Hamlet - I cannot wait to send a copy to my Shakespeare director!
Cover: I'll be excited to see a cover for this, so many cool, artistic paths it could go down!
Age Range: 14 through 18 and up
Quality: 5Q Hard to imagine a better book
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal
Additional Comments The cover is under development. We'll update this post once it's available.
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