I finally read it! Twenty-four (plus some) Hamlet retellings, and it wasn't until just now that I've finally read the only one everyone else has heard of.

This is a retelling of Hamlet, but it's really not about him (Mawat). This is Horatio's story. And Eolo is ... fine. I love Horatio, which helps this book a lot. Ultimately, The Raven Tower has a myriad of brilliant ideas but is lacking in execution.

I'm very conflicted about this book. I really shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. There were some messier moments, but overall I thought it was a very competent retelling.

I kind of don't know how to feel about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. At the same time, though, I am interested in reading the other book by this author, Strange Houses. Ultimately it was just fine, and probably way overhyped.

I was looking for a book that was just a fun mystery, and this certainly qualified. The atmosphere was really well done, and the thriller aspect was really strong. And while I did have fun reading it, I don't think the execution was particularly spectacular.

I wanted to love this book so badly. I loved "If We Were Villains," and this book often gets recommended in hand with that, so I was ready to find a new obsession. And, honestly, I really had hope for Book 1. It wasn't perfect, but I was enjoying it an awful lot. And then we get to Book 2.

I'm not too proud to admit that I chose to read this book pretty much exclusively because the main character's name was a reference to Hamlet. And you know what? It was a quick, funny mystery that made just enough references to the classic play (and reminded me of Benjamin from The King of Infinite Space, although I think that was unintentional) to keep me satisfied. It's not a perfect book: far from it, actually. But it was decidedly good enough, and I had fun reading it.

I enjoyed this book. As a fan of Hamlet, I'm very easy to please. Of course I enjoyed the beat-for-beat retelling of a play that I adore. What's not to love? In fact, that's also my biggest problem with this book. I wanted to love this book because of what it was, not because of what Shakespeare already wrote.

This book was fine. It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful. It reminded me a lot of The Haunting of Hill House (both the movie and the show), but not as good. The concepts in this book had some real potential, but I don't think the execution matched up to expectations.

There are some books that are good as you're reading them, and then as you finish them you are suddenly flooded with the flaws. This was one of those books for me.

Looks can be deceiving, and in keeping with the tradition of Shakespearean tragedies, this book starts off in a rough spot and gets worse.

I enjoyed this book, but I'm worried it was overhyped and that hindered my enjoyment.

Overall, this book was fine. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it.

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