Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Henry Henry by Allen Bratton

3 reviews

elnelson's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Addiction, Eating disorder, and Incest

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Body horror, Blood, Drug abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent

esme_bonner's review against another edition

This was heavy, and literary, but also quite fun. For me, I just reached a point where too many uncomfortable things were happening at once to have the bandwidth to deal with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Incest

Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Pedophilia, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Blood

The main character in this book has been sexually abused by his father since adolescence. His mother is deceased, and he deals with this trauma through alcohol and substance abuse. He is injured, during the book, and this is explained, although not in great detail. None of the sexual abuse sections are extensive, but they have a specificity of minute detail, which makes the short sections very impactful. There is consensual sexual content throughout as well, some of this is linked to the sexual abuse, and the MC does not necessarily take pleasure in much of it.

breeisreading_'s review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for providing me with an ARC. 

Henry Henry is a queer reimagining of Shakespeare's Henriad, set over the course of a year from 2014, where Henry V is 22-year-old Hal – Catholic, gay, usually high or drunk – and heir to the House of Lancaster. Hal flouts through life aimlessly, occasionally going to confession, and being guilted into visiting his father (Henry) – widowed, passive-aggressive, and intent on moulding Hal into someone he isn’t. 

Hal and Henry’s relationship is the main focus of the novel, imbued with obsession and possession, and a certain kind of trauma. There is a large focus on Catholicism, and Henry and Hal’s relationship to this, as well as the class system and politics. This book also explores themes of addiction, eating disorders, sexual abuse, grief, and AIDs. 

The novel is also a romance in some elements, between Hal and Henry Percy, family friend and fellow posh Oxford graduate, and previously Hal’s rival. I really liked the romance between Hal and Percy, and the well it offsets Hal’s relationship with his father. 

As someone who knows next to nothing about the Henriad plays, or that period of history in general, this was an interesting retelling, and it worked well for me. The time period centring around UK politics in 2015, the gay romance, and mixing that with a story of abuse and addiction makes for a truly unputdownable read, but one that is very full of trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug use

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Death