Something is rotten in the state of Denmark… and that ‘something’ is magic.
HELSINGØR, 1536.
Ophelia is a disgraced handmaid to the queen, the cast-off lover of Prince Hamlet.
She is also a witch, and a good one at that. And she can see that Denmark is rotting from the inside out, afflicted by dark magic.
WITTENBERG, 1536.
Hamlet is a useless son, a failed heir. He is the prince of a nation about to fight a war they won’t win.
He doesn’t know about magic, but if he did he would use it to destroy their enemies—no matter the consequences.
As Hamlet and Ophelia find themselves increasingly torn apart, they must decide: how much are they willing to sacrifice in order to save Denmark?
And, by the end of it all, will they be beyond saving?
- Title: Smile and Be a Villain
- Author: Yves Donlon
- Publisher: Self Published
- Publication Date: April 16, 2024
- Genre: Fantasy, Retelling
- Targeted Age Range: Adult
- Content Warnings: period-typical queerphobia, off-page outing, emotional abuse, physical assault, death, substance abuse, mentions of slavery, references to anit-semitism (specifically the expulsion of Jewish people from European countries), animal death, on-page depiction of war
- Rating: ★★★★.5
I don’t think by now that I need to wax poetic about how much I love Shakespeare, and Hamlet and Ophelia and how if a book is a Shakespeare retelling I’ll read it. You all know this already, so I’ll skip all of that. Aside from those obvious things, what drew me to Smile and Be a Villain was that there’s magic and Ophelia is a witch. I love magic and witchy stories, so when I saw that, I immediately put this book on my TBR.
What I love about this one (aside from it being a duology, meaning that I get to spend more time in this world) is that it’s a prequel retelling. The action of Smile and Be a Villain takes place in the events leading up to Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which I think is so interesting! Knowing what is going to happen but not knowing what leads up to it made this a really compelling story and I loved the background that was given to Ophelia especially.
I’m a big fan of dual POV stories, and I was so happy that we got both Hamlet and Ophelia’s POVs throughout the story. One of the things that I really loved was the deep connection between Hamlet and Ophelia that really showed throughout both of their POVs. Let me tell you, the use of “Doubt thou the stars are fire / doubt that the sun doth move / doubt truth to be a liar / but never doubt I love” got me every. single. time. Like I was crying. That one change from “but never doubt I love” to “never doubt our love” oh, that was brilliant. The true and deep love and care that they had for one another is such a beautiful part of this story, and I really loved that.
The characterization of everyone in this book was so well done. You see shades of the original characterization for Ophelia, Hamlet, Polonius, Claudius, and Gertrude, and I loved the further development of Laertes, Fortinbras, Horatio, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The scenes with Hamlet and Fortinbras especially were so interesting, I was pretty obsessed with their dynamic. The characters were all so well developed and very layered; there were some twists that I didn’t see coming and really did shock me.
I was also so glad to see so many queer characters in this retelling. I can’t speak to the representation as I’m not queer myself, but I thought that with Hamlet especially, his queerness was really explored well within his chapters and his POV. I really felt for him and just wanted to give him the biggest hug whenever he was struggling with how he was feeling or someone made him feel bad about what he was feeling. I loved how supportive Ophelia was of him and never made him feel like his queerness diminished his love for her. I really was completely captivated by the two of them. I don’t want to mention who the other queer characters in the book are but I think all of the choices that Donlon made in that regard made total sense and added so many layers to the relationships and dynamics — I just think that it made so much sense to have so many queer characters in this Hamlet retelling and I loved every minute of it.
The writing in this book is beautiful. The metaphors, the imagery, everything was so atmospheric. It was really easy to start reading and then get lost in the story. I’d start reading and then next thing I knew it was an hour later and I’d read an enter act. Whenever I was reading I was fully captivated and thought about it often when I wasn’t reading it. Additionally, I thought the magic system was really intriguing. I don’t want to go into too much detail because, well, one I loved learning about it as the story went on, and two, I don’t think I fully understood it 🤣 but I sure did love it! I really loved the parallel worlds and thought that was incredibly interesting.
I can’t wait to see what happens in the sequel, The Rest is Silence, which comes out in July and I am buzzing with excitement about it! If you’re a fan of Hamlet, or just really good fantasy, I highly recommend Smile and Be a Villain.
Links for Smile and Be a Villain: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop
Yves Donlon is an Irish writer based in North Yorkshire, England. They studied at Trinity College Dublin and the University of York, and they now spend their time drinking copious amounts of tea and researching local archaeology. SMILE AND BE A VILLAIN is their first published novel.
