"How do you un-know someone, if you only know most of you because of them?"

Set in Brisbane, "Henry Hamlet's Heart" is a whimsical, endearing story about coming to terms with who you are, and growing the courage to embrace it. This is Henry's last semester at high school, and he has no clue about what comes next. Thankfully, his family doesn't push him to make all his big choices right away - and he can always count on his best friend, Len, to be there for him. Until Henry catches feelings after a fateful party, and things start spiralling out of control even further.

Someone should've warned us all that Aussie writers have perfectly understood the queer YA assignment. I really do hope that this book blows up, because it's a delightful read from cover to acknowledgements! In essence, this is a slice of life tale about a queer teen realising and accepting his feelings, as well as trying to handle high school, debate team, his grandma's wedding, and the difficult and delicate task of being by a friend's side as the latter deals with unresolved trauma and family issues. In summary, our nerdy main character doesn't have it easy! I could relate to Henry a lot as he stumbled his way through all of these challenges, which I suspect would be what most of us would end up doing.. He's an anxious mess at times, and he has no clue what he's doing half of the time. If that doesn't scream "Relatable Teen MC", I don't know what will!

The other character that shines is, of course, Len. I personally have a thing for enigmatic boys who hide secrets behind their crooked smiles, and mister Fancy Socks To Work was no exception. Despite how frustrating his choices were at times, I really loved his bond with Henry for the most part. The little gestures he had with him throughout the book made me really emotional, and I believe that the author did an amazing job at showing the duality of him - he's both confident and insecure, both warm and distant, both strong and in need of help. I was glad to see him get closure regarding his career aspirations, and it was very sweet of him indeed to do what he did towards the final pages of the book.

Characters aside, the romance itself was super sweet and realistic. It truly did feel like a first love, and a strong one at that - those of us who can relate will find themselves sighing more than once! Far from being perfect, the characters' relationship has its bumps and setbacks. While I wasn't happy that things weren't quite working out, I was so to have a realistic portrayal of what most teen romances actually look like. And that ending! I'm still swooning!

All in all, this was a very cozy read that brought me a lot of happiness, written with an excellent prose and carefuly spun into a tale about two boys learning how to love each other right. I couldn't recommend it enough, and I'll definitely keep an eye out for future Rhiannon Wilde books!

If you loved Boyfriend Material and Red, White & Royal Blue but want a change from the Enemies to Lovers trope - Henry Hamlet's Heart is just the thing.

It's funny, the chemistry between our two boys is wonderful, we've got fully fleshed out side characters with their own issues, worries and stories and this overall human-ness that gets forgotten so easily sometimes.

The only thing that threw me off every now and then was the fact that it's set in 2008, since it's not 'now-enough' for me to relate and not far-away-enough for me to have historical knowledge on the time.
In 2008 I was six, so that was a little weird, but that's really not the book's fault.

This was such a charming novel with a fun storyline and the most loveable characters. We got to see Henry’s character arc, both emotionally in regards to acknowledging his feelings for his best friend and also becoming more confident in himself and realising that he does not have his future completely mapped out. This is an inspiring story for so many people.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a heartwarming coming of age story at its core that showcased all different kinds of love. It is narrated by 18 year old Henry Hamlet who, in keeping to his namesake, is a walking emotional wreck trying to balance being on the cusp of graduating high school and, after a game of truth and dare gone awry, falling for his childhood best friend, Len. I loved seeing the individual relationships between Henry and his family, friend group, and boy and girl best friends, and how this love looked different for all of them. I especially loved the australian school setting and am amused to see that we all lived the same schooling system experience.

Thus is a perfect comfort read that had me beaming for most the book and i definitely recommend -truly a hidden gem of a book.

This story is so cute and sweet. I enjoyed reading this one. Nice potrayal of teenage love and romance. I loved the little family of Hamlets.
This book is so light and you can enjoy it while reading.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with ARC

In a word: heartwarming. Henry is the type of lead that you can easily root for from the start; awkward and endearing. His entire family was lovely to read about and instantly made me want to be adopted by them. (A bisexual grandma in 2008? Hell yeah!) And I enjoyed every single scene with the boiyss.

Now moving along to the romance. I am an absolute sucker for a best friends to lovers trope. The yearning, the hesitation, all of it. It’s a bit of a slow burn for obvious reasons which made the story that much more believable. I loved Len and how his character was practically the opposite of Henry. He was also really sweet and charming.

The reason I put this as 4 stars is because the ending left me wanting a tad more. I feel like with the way the story played out it definitely needed some sort of epilogue or additional chapter.

Thank you so much to Charlesbridge and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a really weirdly formatted ecopy of Henry Hamlet's Heart. Throughout the entire book there are random letters and words missing. I try not to let errors and typos bother me especially with arcs. I understand that they aren't usually the final finished polished copy. But it bothered me here to the point it was making my head hurt. And as I am not enjoying the writing or the story at the moment, I will be temporarily setting this book aside with the hope of picking up a different copy later. I appreciate the opportunity to review Henry Hamlet's Heart. Thank you for providing me with a review copy.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in return for my honest feedback.

Oh. Where to start with this review... This will be a hard one to write because ultimately I really really liked the book, but I cannot put a single finger on why I liked it as much as I did.

I do know at the start I was a bit bored. I took a good 20% of the book for it to start rolling for me,

I will say, one of the best things I really enjoyed about the book was the focus of a lot of the main character's Drama (not exactly the word I am looking for but the word I can think of right now).

Henry is not necessarily obsessing over the fact that he is Queer, but a lot of the main focus is the fact that he is with his Best Friend. Many internal monologues are spent on him questioning if this is worth it to lose his friend, not so much as if he is unsure of himself too much. Don't get me wrong, that if definitely there, and shines through in some key actions and moments, but I do enjoy a Queer coming of age story that is not just focused on the characters internal struggles of being Queer, but on other things that can come with young romance as well.

While the story seemed a bit dramatic at times, it oddly fit . When Henry was upset, and he felt it deeply, it bordered between too much, but the book was aware enough of itself to keep it mostly on the right side of the line. It was self aware in places, but also made sense because you were witnessing a teenager experience these things for the first time. EVERYTHING hits hard the first time.

Some gripes with the writing were that sometimes I had a hard time following what was happening. Like things were too vague at places, instead of artfully fade to black vague. Also, since I am American, some of the Austrailianisms were a bit difficult to wrap my brain around, which brought me out of the story (Mainly things like remembering their summer is our winter, and their school terms thus work differently etc etc. Nothing the author can help, but something to be aware of since it can jar you a bit out of the story). I also wasn't a fan of the ending, mainly because I just kinda hate open endings like that.

Overall, this books can be summed up as a pleasant reading experience. I wasn't on the edge of my seat. I wasn't brought near to tears or whooping for joy. I was just happy to sit and relax and enjoy a lovely story when I could catch a minute of free time in a busy life. It worked like a nice cool balm from stressful days, and sometimes that is exactly what you need out of a book.

This book felt like going back to my roots. It's a lovely queer YA romance that reminded me why I fell in love with reading in the first place. Also love the fact that it's set in 2008 and there are so many references to the emo music I love(d) in middle school. Really glad I gave this one a shot!

[4.75]

Okay wow I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would which is amazing!

Henry Hamlet's Heart is a YA contemporary queer romance about an Australian boy graduating high school, he's a bit nerdy, very into writing and debate... and in love with his best friend but he doesn't know it yet.

I'm a big fan of friends-to-lovers (ESPECIALLY best friends) because of all the yearning and the angst so naturally, this book scored a lot of points for me even though it was pretty cliché otherwise. It was simply a typical (queer, coming out) romance. I'm talking about the "kissing your same-sex friend on a dare and having a gay crisis because of it"-trope, as well as the public coming out in the end, the 75% break up et cetera. However, I really enjoyed all of those tropes in this book and I think others will too.

The characters and their relationships could have been a bit more fleshed out, I think, especially Len but they're not flat or boring in any way, I would have just enjoyed a little bit more character and relationship development. Henry's friends were all very realistically written and each had their own distinguished personalities which I really enjoyed.

The queer representation in this book is well-written and fleshed out. The Gay Crisis was relatable and I really loved all the queer joy. This book is perfect for anyone looking for a fluffy romance or just a cute queer romantic coming out story. If you're not the biggest fan of the coming out trope or want queer protagonists who already know they're queer before they fall in love, maybe this isn't for you. However I do have to say I would consider myself the latter, so you never know. Life is full of surprises.

Overall, I loved this book and I may or may not have cried a wee bit over it. I am taking off .25 stars because the ending was a bit rushed and I would have liked to see more of Len and Henry's relationship but I'm very excited to see what Rhiannon Wilde (amazing name btw) comes up with in the future.

This story is one that exceeded all of my expectations! There's nothing like a good friends to lovers queer romance, and the pining in this one is done especially well.

Both MCs are done very well, and are developed, unique, and dynamic. I especially like how they interact in their friend groups. For a relatively short book, the side characters are done pretty well. The romance is absolutely amazing and relatable. I was completely enamored and could barely put the book down to go to work, and I ended up staying up late to finish it the same day I started.

There are very few things I would change, but I do wish the story had been a little longer (probably just because I'm obsessed), and went into a bit more detail on the relationship between Len and his Father.

All in all I CANNOT wait to get a physical copy!!

As soon as I saw this book and read the description I just knew that I would have fallen in love with it. I also knew that this would be one of those books that even though it does makes you suffer you'll want to read it again and again.

I loved it, I couldn't stop thinking about it, it's so beautifully written, especially the characters I fell in love with them, they felt so real I could feel what they were going through and all I wanted to was hug them (and shout at them too).

This story is so relatable, it brought me back to my teen years when I was going through the journey to find my true self, and this book would have helped me so much.

I was sad when I finished it all I wanted to do was keep reading their story.
I can't tell you how much I loved it, I highly recommend it.

This was a great Read! Such a heartfelt and emotional story with memorable characters 🥺
Loved the LGBTQ+ representation with childhood friends to lovers.....my heart is bursting with emotions. Definitely recommend

What a beautiful, sparkling little gem! This book was such a heartfelt, adorkable and sweet queer YA romance, full of relatable, fleshed-out characters to root for, a swooning friends-to-lovers romance, amazing friends and family, and some truly gripping and heartbreaking moments. I read this book in one sitting, completely hooked from the very first page!

Set in Brisbane in 2008, Henry Hamlet’s Heart tells the story of Henry Hamlet and his best friend Len during their last High School year; at that moment in life when you’re supposed to make important decisions impacting your whole future, but still struggling with the journey of growing up, finding out who you are and learning to love. There was so much Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Red, White & Royal Blue vibes to the story, but with some darker layers in the form of trauma after losing a parent, social awkwardness and anxiety, and bad/abusive parenting.

Henry and Len have been friends forever, despite their differences. Len is a heart-throb, a popular jock who is also on the debate team and love photography. Henry is clumsy, socially awkward and too smart for his own good sometimes. But somehow they’ve always matched. Even more than Henry had realized until a truth-and-dare kiss changes everything.

I absolutely loved Rhiannon Wilde’s writing style and the amazing friendship and dynamic between Henry and Len. I loved their banter and the humor, and not to mention the burning chemistry… Both of the characters immediately stole my heart in their own separate ways. I also really appreciated the little twist that the most popular of them both, Len, was the one that had been secretly pining for Henry, not the other way around as one would expect. The way Len always looked out for Henry and how he truly loved him for him and for all his quirks was truly adorable.

I also absolutely loved the side characters (except Len’s mean and abusive father). Their friends and family were all so well developed as characters and so sweet, hilarious and supportive.

The story dragged a little in the middle, but it was still addictive enough to stop me from putting it down even for a second.

All in all, this was an adorable, quirky, heartfelt and emotional friends-to-lovers story that I recommend with all my heart!

Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for the free review copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

3.5 Stars

This was such a fun read!

Henry Hamlet’s Heart follows our titular character, Henry, as he tries to make it through Year 12, still not knowing exactly what he’s supposed to do with his life after he graduates, all the while trying to navigate how to deal with the fact that he’s falling in love with his best friend, Len.

Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of romance books, but this was cute. While they did make me feel second-hand embarrassment at times - and they definitely could have avoided some problems if they weren’t so over-dramatic - the way Henry and Len’s friendship became something more was done really well. I don’t tend to like ships with the “childhood best friends to lovers” trope, but Henry and Len seem to be the exception. Even separately as characters, I thought Henry and Len were well-developed and, despite their flaws, still really likeable. The other relationships in this book - between Henry and his family, Len and his sister, and all of the other friendships - were great and, especially in the case of the “Boiyss”, had a fun dynamic.

My favourite thing about this book is that it’s set in Australia. Most of the contemporary books I read are set in the US, so it was super refreshing to hear the characters talk about foods I love and using slang that I was familiar with - subtle things that made everything about this book feel more real to me. The Year 12 experience was also so well captured I couldn’t help but think fondly of when I was in the same boat as the characters (at the same time, reading this book made me very grateful that I graduated years ago).

Overall, I enjoyed this and definitely recommend to anyone looking for a light-hearted read.

Wow, this book was such a great read! I definitely had all the feels. First I loved that it was set in Brisbane, my home, and all the band references were great.
Len was everything. My heartbroke for him and his inner struggles. I loved his character and just wanted to give him a hug and just say things would be ok.
Henry was also so loveable. He made me laugh and I loved how he accepted his changing feeling for Len and gave them a chance, even though he knew Len wasn't one for commitment.
I do wish I saw more of Henry and Lens relationship, I feel like we just caught glimpses of it. But saying that I still really enjoyed this, and the pace, and the slow burn. I liked part 1, which was just basic life, it kind of made me more attached to these characters. The writing was beautiful and lyrical. This was such a great read for me. Perfect for fans of Love, Simon.

Oh this was such a joy to read. Lovely writing and characters that felt like people I could've easily known in 2008 had I been in Australia instead of southern California, and a close POV with all the awkwardness and melodrama of being eighteen and in love and grappling with a relationship you didn't expect, at the edge of adulthood and the end of everything you've known thus far. Great family stuff and great school stuff and what felt like a well-managed edit for American audiences.

By a near perfect moment of happenstance, "Existentialism on Prom Night" came on shuffle as I was finishing this up and it was an absolutely apt soundtrack for it that I think the characters might appreciate too, so that was fun.

Thanks to Charlesbridge and NetGalley for the ARC!

I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t think I’d like this at first. The first quarter I found myself disassociating from the story. The friendships were fun, but we don’t get anywhere with Henry and Len for quite a while. I’m all for slow burn, but most of the first quarter there isn’t even a hint at them even being flirtatious. Then, they kiss, and the story instantly became more entertaining. I find it so fun to read about someone finding their footing and coming to terms with who they are and their sexuality, so the character of Henry was very endearing me. The relationship between the two grows in a very YA way, which is not a bad thing! There’s snark and humor to be found at every corner, fun and delightful side characters that fill in the empty spaces, and actual depth to the main characters that’s hard to find in most YA romances. Blasting back to the late 2010s was also a fun time and not what I was expecting when I got sent this arc. It took a while, but the story found it’s footing and really took off.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is one of my favorites this year. I didn't want it to end, and Len and Hamlet are just adorable together. I kind of wish that it was a dual perspective book, I'd have loved to read Len's perspective. Overall, very very cute, good pacing, and great characters.

This book was so incredibly sweet. I absolutely adore the friends to lovers trope, and this book executed that really well. Henry and his best friend Len's relationship developed in a way that felt very natural, while not waiting until the 75% mark to actually have something romantic happen between the characters. I thought it was funny and well paced and written with a beautiful quality. My only complaint is that Henry was the only character I ever really got to know. The members of Henry's friend group were so alike one another that I was never really able to differentiate them in my head as I read, and Len started off to be a really interesting character who I saw plenty of but didn't seem to maintain the same magnetic qualities he possessed at the beginning of the book. One of my favourite archetypes of all time is the spunky grandma figure, so I was thrilled when we introduced to just that in the very first chapter, but she was painfully scare throughout the rest of the book, and I would've loved to see Henry's little brother just a bit more.
Overall, this was a really great book that painted a lovely relationship between two high school boys. Everything in it just felt very real—sometimes painfully so. Henry and this world will probably live in my head for a while.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for this eARC!