To Be or Not To Be

by Ryan North

Other authors: John Allison (Illustrator), Kate Beaton (Illustrator), Brandon Bird (Illustrator), Sam Bosma (Illustrator), Vera Brosgol (Illustrator) — 65 more, Scott C (Illustrator), John Campbell (Illustrator), Emily Carroll (Illustrator), Ray Castro (Illustrator), Anthony Clark (Illustrator), Rebecca Clements (Illustrator), Tony Cliff (Illustrator), Danielle Corsetto (Illustrator), Alex Culang (Illustrator), Evan Dahm (Illustrator), Lar deSouza (Illustrator), Aaron Diaz (Illustrator), Becky Dreistadt (Illustrator), Ray Fawkes (Illustrator), Erica Feurstein (Illustrator), Jess Fink (Illustrator), Gillian Goerz (Illustrator), Dara Gold (Illustrator), Zac Gorman (Illustrator), Meredith Gran (Illustrator), KC Green (Illustrator), Dustin Harbin (Illustrator), Christopher Hastings (Illustrator), David Hellman (Illustrator), Tyron Hesse (Illustrator), Faith Erin Hicks (Illustrator), Mike Holmes (Illustrator), Andrew Hussie (Illustrator), Matthew Inman (Illustrator), Jeph Jacques (Illustrator), Chris Jones (Illustrator), Dave Kellett (Illustrator), John Keogh (Illustrator), Kazu Kibuishi (Illustrator), Mike Krahulik (Illustrator), Braden Lamb (Illustrator), Kate Leth (Illustrator), Joe List (Illustrator), Sam Logan (Illustrator), Mike Maihack (Illustrator), David Malki ! (Illustrator), John Martz (Illustrator), Brian McLachlan (Illustrator), Dylan Meconis (Illustrator), Marlo Meekins (Illustrator), Carly Monardo (Illustrator), Rosemary Mosco (Illustrator), Randall Munroe (Illustrator), Ethan Nicolle (Illustrator), Shelli Paroline (Illustrator), Emily Partridge (Illustrator), Ryan Pequin (Illustrator), Jonathan Rosenberg (Illustrator), Jeffrey Rowland (Illustrator), Andy Runton (Illustrator), Kean Soo (Illustrator), Noelle Stevenson (Illustrator), Kris Straub (Illustrator), Alex Thomas (Contributor), David Troupes (Illustrator), Zach Weinersmith (Illustrator), Tony Wilson (Illustrator), Steve Wolfhard (Illustrator), Chip Zdarsky (Illustrator), Jim Zub (Illustrator)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
781	20	28,775	(4.22)	8
The greatest work in English literature, now in the greatest format of English literature: a chooseable-path adventure! William Shakespeare's Hamlet has finally been restored to its original second-person non-linear branching narrative format. Now it's up to you to decide what happens next. Play as Hamlet and revenge your father's death. Play as Ophelia and make scientific discoveries. Play as King Hamlet, Sr. and die on the first page!… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 20 (next | show all)

This book was absolutely HILARIOUS. It was so much fun to explore the different routes and there were so many unexpected twists and just random quirkiness that would have been impossible to predict. And the fun pictures for each ending made it even better! (

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Oblivionsdream | Jul 18, 2022 |

Preferring the app in the meantime ;) (

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iffland | Mar 19, 2022 |

In all honesty, I haven't finished the book. That said, it would be pretty difficult. It's over 700 pages and there are literally millions of ways to go through this book (you know, probably).

Now onto the book. Ryan North is unable to go a single page without being hilarious. Seriously,, he has a problem. And a great grasp of Hamlet. Although he takes some insane creative liberties, North did his research. (And this is coming from someone who finished Hamlet and jumped right into To Be or Not To Be. It's fresh in my brain)

One caveat. Don't read this book unless you've read Hamlet. It's just so much better if you know what North is butchering (or staying true to). Just some advice. (

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astronomist | Oct 3, 2021 |

I've decided to work my way through the backlog of books I've picked up from various online bundle sales (humble bundle, storybundle, etc) and this was on the list.

Being a choose-your-own-adventure type novel, it's not exactly something one can read to "finish".

Instead, the book basically provides a series of humorous branching vignettes each capped off with a delightful illustration. Good for a few minutes enjoyment, or in small chunks, but not really something of any weight.

Pros: Humor, Ophelia, and the illustrations.

Cons: As an ebook, and one without hyperlinks, reading a book like this is pure frustration. The digital page numbers don't match the printed ones, which makes flipping to the right section a chore. (

)

MCBacon | Aug 2, 2021 |

i just finished my first playthrough and wow this is amazing!! everything from the artwork to the humor is top tier and i'm gunna go back through and be ophelia this time c: (

)

cthuwu | Jul 28, 2021 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Ryan North	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Allison, John	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Beaton, Kate	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bird, Brandon	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Bosma, Sam	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Brosgol, Vera	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
C, Scott	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Campbell, John	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Carroll, Emily	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Castro, Ray	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Clark, Anthony	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Clements, Rebecca	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Cliff, Tony	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Corsetto, Danielle	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Culang, Alex	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dahm, Evan	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
deSouza, Lar	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Diaz, Aaron	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Dreistadt, Becky	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Fawkes, Ray	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Feurstein, Erica	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Fink, Jess	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Goerz, Gillian	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gold, Dara	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gorman, Zac	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gran, Meredith	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Green, KC	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Harbin, Dustin	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hastings, Christopher	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hellman, David	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hesse, Tyron	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hicks, Faith Erin	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Holmes, Mike	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Hussie, Andrew	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Inman, Matthew	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jacques, Jeph	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Jones, Chris	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kellett, Dave	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Keogh, John	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Kibuishi, Kazu	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Krahulik, Mike	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Lamb, Braden	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Leth, Kate	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
List, Joe	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Logan, Sam	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Maihack, Mike	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Malki !, David	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Martz, John	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
McLachlan, Brian	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Meconis, Dylan	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Meekins, Marlo	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Monardo, Carly	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Mosco, Rosemary	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Munroe, Randall	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Nicolle, Ethan	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Paroline, Shelli	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Partridge, Emily	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Pequin, Ryan	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rosenberg, Jonathan	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Rowland, Jeffrey	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Runton, Andy	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Soo, Kean	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Stevenson, Noelle	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Straub, Kris	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Thomas, Alex	Contributor	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Troupes, David	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Weinersmith, Zach	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wilson, Tony	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Wolfhard, Steve	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Zdarsky, Chip	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Zub, Jim	Illustrator	secondary author	all editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Is a retelling of

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

▾Awards and Honors

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2013-07-16

People/Characters

Hamlet

Ophelia - Polonius' daughter

Laertes

Horatio

Important places

Elsinore, Denmark

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To Bea

First words

William Shakespeare (1564 AD - whenever he died) was well known for borrowing from existing literature when writing his plays.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Ryan North

To Be or Not to Be (book)

▾Book descriptions

The greatest work in English literature, now in the greatest format of English literature: a chooseable-path adventure! William Shakespeare's Hamlet has finally been restored to its original second-person non-linear branching narrative format. Now it's up to you to decide what happens next. Play as Hamlet and revenge your father's death. Play as Ophelia and make scientific discoveries. Play as King Hamlet, Sr. and die on the first page!

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