Henry Hamlet's Heart by Rhiannon Wilde. 336 p. Charlesbridge, October 18, 2022. 9781623543693. (Review of arc courtesy of publisher.)
Teen Tuesday features Henry Hamlet's Heart by Rhiannon Wilde. This utterly beguiling debut comes to us via Australia and is publishing next Tuesday. I read it back in May and was dying to blog about it then, but the publisher asked me to wait until closer to the pub date. Today seems a good day to post my review, as it is National Coming Out Day.
Henry Hamlet is entering his final year at his boys high school in Brisbane and has no idea what he wants to do after graduating despite being class president and on the debate team. Not only is he not popular, he earned an unfortunate moniker after epically vomiting at a party. Luckily for him, his best friend, Lennon Cane, exudes effortless charm and Henry is content to ride his coat tails.
When Henry reluctantly attends another party, he's knocked for a loop when Len takes a dare to make out with Henry and Henry...likes it? Wow, it never occurred to him that he might be gay, but he's unsure how Len feels and absolutely does not want to jeopardize their long friendship. It turns out Len feels the same about Henry and the two embark on a secret romance.
Henry's penchant for overthinking is at turns hilarious, heartbreaking and infuriating. His internal dialogue is instantly compelling. Henry and Len are so charming, authentic and vividly drawn, they feel real. I wish they were real. I loved that Henry's extended family were so supportive and involved. He loved them unabashedly and I loved that. The dialogue between all the characters crackled with humor and energy. Not one missed note or caricature. Ms. Wilde captures the poignancy of first love so beautifully that my cynical self felt no need for an eye-roll. It was a pleasure to reread in order to write this post and I'd even read it with my ears, if there's an audiobook just to hear it in an Aussie accent.
Hand Henry Hamlet's Heart to teen fans of Simon v. the Homo Sapien Agenda or the Aristotle and Dante books.
No comments:
Post a Comment