Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Henry Henry as advertised should have been the perfect novel for me: I love queer reimaginings of Shakespeare, I love campus novels (especially those that orbit Oxford), I love sad queer kids in their twenties figuring their stuff out, and I love explorations of religious trauma/guilt. And you know what? While delivering all of the above, the writing is clever and compelling, and the main character is magnetic and often relatebale (even when doing the absolute most to make me hate him). This novel will certainly find its audience. I just won't be part of it. This just did not resonate with me the way I hoped it would. It was a laundry list of trigger warnings packaged up in a pretty prose package, and it took me almost 8 months to get through it.

I'm not here to police the way authors and/or publishers describe or market a book, and I understand that not everyone believes boosk should print a list of trigger warnings, so this is me telling you, the reader: check the trigger warnings. Seriously.

I did go into this not knowing ti was retelling, so my review will be pretty objective. I relaly enjoyed this! Although, I feel this book moved very slowly. In this book, and for the benefit of the character, i feel like this was necessary, but i felt the plot could have moved along a little faster to give the sense of moving along the story. Other than that, they could never make me a hate a character driven story with a flawed portagonist! He was so overwhelmingly likeable that I really just forgive him! He did nothing wrong!!

Advertised as a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Henriad (which I didn’t know until reading the summary of the book just now), Henry Henry is the story of Hal Lancaster, son and heir of Henry, the Duke of Lancaster. As the eldest of six, Hal is aware of his long ancestral history and the traditional expectations for its continuation. This weighs heavily on Hal, who, as a young gay man in 2014, knows that adoption is not viewed as a proper means of succession. On top of this, Hal is grieving the death of his mother, struggles with nascent alcohol and drug addictions, and is experiencing continued abuse that began in childhood. If that wasn’t enough, he is also forging a romantic relationship with a fellow future Duke, also named Henry; of which both of their fathers heartily disapprove. The book is a weighty downer made worse by the fact that I was never really able to root for Hal, who is so guarded and cynical that his actions feel borderline absurd. I also made the mistake of reading the author’s blurb on the back flap and discovering that Bratton is American, which dampened my favorite parts of the story — the haughty descriptions of aristocratic British society.

Henry Henry reimagines Shakespeare’s Henriad through a modern lens, following Hal Lancaster, a queer protagonist navigating a year of turmoil within his aristocratic family in 2014 London. Allen Bratton delivers a sharp, witty exploration of legacy, Catholic guilt, and the complexities of love as Hal wrestles with his past and the weight of familial expectations.

Bratton’s writing is dynamic and laced with dark humor, though the novel’s middle section felt a little muddled as it balances the Shakespearean homage with more contemporary themes. The exploration of abuse and trauma is raw and deeply explored, but some secondary characters feel underdeveloped. Overall, Henry Henry is a strong debut, offering a messy, real, and thought-provoking take on identity, family, and survival.

3.5 stars - I think there were extremely interesting parts of this novel. Particularly the depiction of abuse and the loneliness and turmoil it can cause on a main characters psyche. I think that the author portrayed familial sexual abuse and the repercussions in a way that felt realistic and I like that Bratton didn't shy away from actual depiction. I thought the book portrayed some very interesting thoughts and view points, particularly around Catholicism and it's ties to abuse ( a son must obey his father). I think that the beginning and the ending of the book were the strongest parts and that it meandered a little in the middle getting too tied up in the concept of modernizing Shakespeare. It is in this that I think Bratton is less successful. I think that this novel is trapped into some unfleshed out characters that were included if only to pay homage to the Henriad. I also think that the relationship between the henry's did not work for me. I understand that flawed relationships should be portrayed I just think a lot of the justification for the actions were not in the story. Particularly Percy felt 2 dimensional and so I could not help but think parts of the queer story felt shoe horned. I think this is a strong debut that I enjoyed the writing of and I would be excited to see Bratton write a concept that was not a retelling.

I didn't care for this book. The writing was flat and boring. The story sounded intriguing, but this is a character-driven novel, so the end result was pretty lackluster. I really wanted to like this novel. Unfortunately, it wasn't very memorable or groundbreaking.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc!

This book is out side my usual reading so did take me a bit ti get into. I found the story well written and the characters perfectly flawed! The dad is the worst of the worst. I truly loved the story st the end.

A compelling retelling of Shakespeare’s Henriad—a work that I was not, and truthfully still am not, familiar with. At times I found this novel a difficult one to work through, not in it’s quality, but in it’s content. It felt like a novel assigned to me for dissection, with suffering characters who were still difficult to root for, and a slower pace than I tend to seek out. None of this however denigrates this novel’s quality, it was intelligently written and the prose is dynamic, simply it wasn’t a fit for my tastes.

Henry Henry is a stunning reimagination of some of Shakespeare's lesser known but sinfully rich works.

Allen Bratton's debut novel takes on The Bard with great gusto and bravado. He reimagines the Henriad, a collection of works depicting the lives of some of England's most notorious kings. But aside from a London setting, HENRY HENRY *feels* like a loose interpretation of the work: It's the story of Hal Lancaster, son and heir of Henry, Duke of Lancaster. Hal has a problem with substances, is constantly off sleeping with men of varying levels of status and power, and he can't keep a job to save his life. He's full of Catholic Guilt and gin, and he's battling pitch black demons from his youth that he isn't sure he wants to shake. When a shooting accident causes him to form an unlikely relationship with an old rival, Hal's life is turned further upside down in this definitely-not-a-romance story of love, loss, and life.

You don't need to be an avid Shakespeare fan to understand how clever and tremendous HENRY HENRY is as a piece of literature. It's a bristling novel that's full of laughs, a queer Fleabag with even darker undertones. And yet there's such joy and sparkle in the story, even in some of its bleakest moments. It's got soapy, sexy moments and it's full of challenging power dynamics and moments that you'll need to put the book down and breathe. And yet it's also got a fresh take on the lives of the contemporary gentry, an examination that feels like Schitt's Creek on the surface level and Shameless on deeper waves. I loved Hal, and I sure felt sorry for him. Ultimately, Henry Henry was a highly entertaining and beautifully crafted novel. It's got great guts and soul.

Thank you to Unnamed Press for my gifted early copy! Here's a Pride rec I just can't quit.

Brandon Taylor put the spotlight on this book for me a year ago when he claimed it was, "one of the finest written novels I have ever read."

Obviously, I had to pick it up and devour it. Henry Henry is a retelling (modern reimagining) of Shakespeare's Henriad, and boy, does it deliver on both the prose and the trauma! A stunning character exploration of "poor little rich boy" Hal Lancaster and his tendencies and desires toward destruction within the midst of the disgusting British high society. Bratton's ability to make the most precise observations and remarks on the English upper class was impeccable and so finely placed that if you didn't recognize what he was commenting on, it was easy to miss. Every character was despicable and tragic and my heart broke for most of them. In an era of superfluous, mediocre Shakespeare retellings, this is everything that an author who wants to match Shakespeare in theme and characterization should attempt to write. The voice was utterly unique and still very reflective of Martin Amis and Evelyn Waugh. This was a book that I had to read in one sitting because I thought that if I were to put it down, I wouldn't have the bravery or stomach to pick it up again. A stellar recommendation from Brandon Taylor, a triumph of Allen Bratton, and a novel worthy of its gorgeous cover.

I'm a lifelong lover of Nancy Mitford and her crazy family's history and this felt like reading another engrossing and horrifying biography of a rich, mad English family.

I really enjoyed Henry Henry.
The writing is sharp and the characters are almost 4D. I'm reluctant to say 'unflinching' because it sounds so cliched, but really what else can you say about these bathroom scenes. Well written, great pacing, cruel and tragically funny. I was surprised the author is American and this is their debut - the story felt very developed and very British. I would recommend and would read more from Bratton. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

this is like if ottessa moshfegh wrote a brandon taylor book. very crass and out there, but also deeply feeling and interesting. i really enjoyed it!

This is well written in some ways, but it was really a struggle to get through for a number of reasons.

First, I think we need to resist the temptation to try to make everything a retelling of some sort. This purports to be a spin on the Henriad, which is really a stretch and didn’t help the book at all. I think had it been allowed to stand on its own, it would at least escape this particular piece of criticism.

There’s a lot of crassness to this which I find unappealing and in this case performative in a way that vulgarity doesn’t always have to be if it’s deployed well and perhaps far more judiciously than it was here. Drug binge novels also aren’t my favorite, particularly if the story doesn’t do well justifying this as a plot point.

But mostly it’s just a downer of a read, and not in that positive Lit Fiction “I just really want to FEEL deeply” kind of way. I’ll also echo other reviewers in saying that this is a very outdated perspective for a queer novel. There are so many good ones these days that it feels unnecessary to continue putting this style of queer fiction out into the space when it really doesn’t match with modern readers.

I don’t know anything about the play this was based on or about Catholicism, so most if not all the references were completely lost on me. I thought it was well written if a bit meandering. I understand the British aristocracy really only has four names to choose from but everyone being named henry really was as confusing to keep track of as I expected.

4.5 rounded up to 5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for letting me get an early copy of Henry Henry in exchange for my honest review! ✨

This book is for fans of John Williams' Stoner, Succession, and Hanya Yanagihara's A Little Life (although this one is like a squint-to-see-it relation). We follow Hal, a gay man in his early 20s who also happens to be the eldest son of the Duke of Lancaster. This novel is about Hal - his exploits, his addictions, his secrets and what he does (or doesn't do) to conceal them. The book gives readers a tiny glimpse into Hal's life, a slice of who he is, and how he loves and hates those around him. Hal suffers with so much and yet we never really see him try to dig himself out of his suffering - it's as if he's been completely resigned to his fate, letting events unfold around him and happen to him, whether he wants them to or not.

Most of what I loved about this book was the obvious intelligence of the author; I could tell they knew exactly what they wanted to say and when to say it. Hal was not a sympathetic character, despite the awful things that he has to go through, but he isn't supposed to be. I don't think you're supposed to like anyone in this novel (which is why it reminds me of Succession so much, but if Kendall Roy was English). I was attached and attracted to the story; even with its open and a bit dissatisfying ending. We aren't supposed to get this sweeping, romantic coming together of ideas and/or a hopeful message in the form of Hal's acceptance of himself or his circumstances - that's not the point. He's just a very privileged guy, and this is a chunk of his life.

The only real complaint I have is that the UK edition of this book is so fugly and doesn't represent its contents whatsoever. But oh well, I'll figure out how to get my hands on the US edition. Super excited to see what Allen Bratton brings out next!! 💕

i'm a sucker for shakespearean retellings and this one was very enjoyable. the language itself was what pulled me in. it's almost magical with a bit of naturalism and its depictions of reality. it's sad and harsh, sometimes melancholic and very very wild and raunchy. while i wouldn't go as far as calling it a queer masterpiece it comes pretty close. i believe it's a brilliant book to pick up during pride month and expand ones reading tastes.

Oh I thought I was so clever when I decided this book was a mix of A Little Life and Red, White, and Royal Blue only to find out that someone else already came up with that comparison. Still it stands. I did think this was well done, though the ended petered out a bit slowly or uneventfully for me. I feel like a bad English major for not getting the references to the history plays, will have to work on that.

Why were so many characters called Henry? One Henry would've been fine but we HAD to have so many? Withering Heights was less confusing. Anyway, I really liked the themes this book touched upon, aristocracy, catholicism, sexuality and more. I connected and understood the characters despite their questionable actions. Really good reading experience.

A great retelling of Henriad. It was a tough read, though a compelling one as well. Will definitely recommend this.