Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Henry Henry by Allen Bratton

9 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.

bowden's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Incest, and Drug abuse

mariavdl's review

challenging sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Self harm and Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Death of parent, Blood, Eating disorder, and Death

andrewotey's review

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Incest

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

While the writing and developed themes were incredibly compelling, I mostly found reading this to be a chore. I had a difficult time getting into this, I was not really into Hal as a character so I never quite felt motivated to pick the book up.

However, once we got to the incident with Harry Percy, I suddenly felt invested. I loved the charm between these characters, the way their differences and similarities bounced off one another.

But then the energy and momentum of the story kind of fizzled out for me, a lot of the action felt repetitive and I was waiting for a bit more development from these characters.

I did love the connection between Catholicism (and a lot of guilt), Hal’s relationship with his father (complicated, to say the least), the long line of history that tethered this family together, and the Shakespearian-ness of it all. The sentence-level craft of it was well done, so even though the story didn’t totally work for me, the structure of it did.

I have a feeling that this will be a polarizing book people will have opinions about, but if you are a reader that prefers (messy) character-driven novels, enjoyed the Henriad (or maybe even Succession), and are down for some privileged white boy drama, I think this will be a book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unnamed Press for the eARC!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Moderate: Medical content and Injury/Injury detail

amywoolsey_93's review

challenging emotional funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed social satire of Henry Henry more than the family/coming-of-age story. Hal's many siblings have as many dimensions as the text messages they constantly send each other, with only Philippa given a cursory (and pretty stereotypical) arc; the characterization of the three brothers is so vague that I never bothered trying to keep track of who was who. One could argue this is a reflection of Hal's self-absorption, but the third-person narration keeps enough of a distance that we're always at least tangentially aware of the world beyond him. By denying the supporting characters inner lives, the book basically reinforces his self-absorption, confirming that every conflict revolves around him. Also, given the connection to Shakespeare, I feel like there needed to be *some* drama or major change at the end.

There's one confrontation, but it sort of dissipates into a long denoucement, and then no one dies.

Still, as a throwback to Gilded/Jazz Age class commentaries, this hits the mark. Bratton crafts insults with a jewel-cutter's precision and layers on so many themes (the hypocrisy of Catholicism, the rotten legacy of British monarchy and imperialism, the malleabiity of identity) while maintaining a sense of fizzy irony. The prose itself is excellent, rich with descriptive detail and scintillating dialogue. While I don't think Henry Henry is an entirely successful debut, it's undeniably an admirable one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

mattgroot1980's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Homophobia, and Emotional abuse

jswense's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book reads like a punch to the jaw.

Henry Henry is a bold, fresh take on Shakespeare's classic daddy issues plays. Allen Bratton’s Hal is messy, raw, and queer as hell. Not for the faint of heart this reimagining of the Henriad explores the complex issues of family, legacy, and grief. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Incest, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Sexual assault