#My dear henry

[thebibi]

In a world of bad retellings of classic novels, may I present a recommendation?

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

This is a retelling of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde that also intersects with Black, queer identity in 1880s London. The book follows young Gabriel Utterson enrolling into medical school and falling in love with Henry Jekyll. Their romance is cut short due to several factors mainly due to racism and bigotry, and its from there Henry becomes a stranger and almost disappears.

What's really remarkable about this book is how it largely keeps the same structure as the original novella. You, the reader, have been spoiled that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person but the actual story is written as a mystery. Having Utterson and Jekyll be Black and lovers offers a thoughtful and provocative interpretation of why someone would create a potion to transform into someone else. Every crime Hyde commits is retextualized as a Black boy struggling to survive.

The only aspect I didn't care for was de-aging the characters. It felt weird for Jekyll and Utterson to be teenagers who just recently met instead of having a relationship that spands decades. I would have loved the story much more if the author kept their canon ages.

All in all I would still recommend it, and it's quite short so it makes for the perfect weekend read.

[fourthleafluckart]

"Don't come around looking at me with those big eyes. They betray you and all of your terrible yearnings."

(Psshhh, as if Gabriel could do anything but love Henry)

The second half of a tarot card for My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

[losercade]

Fellas we need to have a chat about the book My Dear Henry (THE JEKYLL AND HYDE REMIX) because I don't see ANYONE talking about it and I'm actually in love

spoilers sort of (?) under cut just incase you don't want to see anything about the book before reading it!! ^_^ (please read it. It's so good)

^ LIKE HELLO??? HOW. HOW ARE WE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS. THIS IS ADORABLE

^ ENFIELD? ENFIELD MY BOY? HES HERE. GUYS HES HERE!!!

^ LANYON GAMBILING? HELL YEAH HE'D DO THAT

Also GOD that ending was amazing! It was so adorable! It was SO well written and I cannot believe it ended. God.

Lanyons death was also so well written! Like I was so close to crying, hello?? And his funeral! They WROTE A FUNERAL. Oh my god.

The characters seem so much more fleshed out and motivations make sense and oh my God it was so amazing!

[maleaser]

I've only just heard of this adaptation! Has anyone else read it??

[aroaessidhe]

read in 2023: retellings or reimagining/sequels

Wander The Night - Midsummer Night's Dream

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories - Little Red Riding Hood

The Water Outlaws - Water Margin

My Dear Henry - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

Our Hideous Progeny - Frankenstein

Spear - Percival and the Holy Grail

The Death I Gave Him - Hamlet

Teach The Torches to Burn - Romeo & Juliet

Everyone’s Thinking It - Midsummer Night's Dream

A Crown So Cursed - Alice in Wonderland

Angels Before Man - The Bible

The Weight of Blood - Carrie

[stardustandrockets]

Continuing along with my rainbow book recs with the color blue. I've read all of these except My Dear Henry. Each one has a special place in my heart.

Red White and Royal Blue was one of the first adult romances I read. Bookish and the Beast is my favorite of the Once Upon a Con series. Heartstopper is not only adorably wholesome, but it tackles questioning your sexuality, eating disorders, mental health, and so much more. Kiss Her Once for Me touches on liminal spaces and falling in love in those spaces. Check, Please! is a graphic novel about love and baking and hockey.

What's your favorite blue book?

[theboyatthebustop]

ngl, I have this theory that the Remixed Classics series is (or could be seen as) Feiwel and Friends' response to the infamous Barnes and Noble Diverse Editions incident. Because you have to admit that it’s better to have diverse retellings of classics than just putting POC on the covers.

[aurorawest]

Reading update

Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault - DNF

I have to admit I didn't give this one much of a chance. I got it in a Rainbow Crate so I felt compelled to at least try to read it, but it's just not my kind of thing, and I DNFed at page 4. Really didn't like the writing style.

Idol Minds by KT Salvo - 2.75/5 stars

Almost DNFed this when I was about 50 pages from the end because it very abruptly lost my attention. I never really liked either of the main characters so I didn't care about their breakup or HEA. Also the sex scenes were weirdly short but also repetitive, somehow?

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse - 3.75/5 stars

I will be completely honest and admit that I could remember almost nothing of the first book when I started reading this the other day. I remembered that I really liked it, and that was about it. This one was...good?

Ok, so, let me see if I can put this into words. During the pandemic, authors kept writing, right? Especially if they were under contract to produce a series. And for some authors, that was fine. There is no discernible difference in their work. And then other authors, it's like...the anxiety brain fog got baked into their writing. There's nothing technically wrong with it. Things are happening. The characters are still engaging. And yet...sometimes it just feels like...things are happening. Like the author couldn't really process the emotions of the things happening, and thus couldn't really write feeling into the work? So it becomes just Things Happening. And I know how I should feel about it, but I'm not feeling it. Like when the dose of your antidepressant is too high, and you just have no feelings? It's sort of like that.

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton - DNF

There's nothing wrong with this book, tbh—it's well written with an interesting setting, characters with depth, and a theme that should, in theory, interest me. That said, I just wasn't feeling it. I won this book from my local bookstore and it's the sort of literary fiction that I read all the time in my teens and early twenties, even though I never really enjoyed it? I'm a genre fiction kid, as it turns out.

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron - 4/5 stars

I really really liked this, and I probably would have rated it higher, except it fell into the trap that a lot of queer retellings of classics do: in being forced to hew to a plot line from a century or more ago, a lot of story and character depth has to be jettisoned. This book did a much better job than The Henchman of Zenda by KJ Charles, but I still found myself wanting a more modern storytelling style. Overall it was really good, though.

Less is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer - 4.75/5 stars

I hated Less for most of the time I was reading it (but it didn't bore me, so that's something). When I got to the end and realized it was a romance, I ended up loving it, but I had to split the difference in my rating, haha. This is the direct sequel and I loved it. It's laugh out loud funny (which I did not find Less to be most of the time) and melancholy, but at its heart is also a love story.

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain - 4/5 stars

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske - 5/5 stars (reread)

I loved it even more on the reread. I would die for Edwin and Robin. I'm crazy excited for A Power Unbound.

Hoarfrost by Jordan L Hawk - 4.25/5 stars

Such a Quiet Place by Megan Miranda - 3.5/5 stars

I never know how to rate thrillers because honestly, they aren't my genre. This was part of the batch of books I won at trivia from my local bookstore. It was good in that it held my attention and was entertaining (and a bit creepy), but like, I don't know that I'll tell people that they simply must read it. But yeah, I read it in a day, so it's a quick read.

Spell Bound by FT Lukens - DNF

Ugh. Reads like my fantasy epic I was writing when I was 14 (see also: TJ Klune's Verania series). When I'm mentally editing the book as I'm reading, you know that's a bad sign. The first chapter could have been like, 2 pages (instead it was 18). Here's how Chapter 3, which introduces the other main character begins: Summer was such a waste of time and effort. Spring was okay. Autumn was the best. Winter wasn't bad.

Okay???? Great??????? Why do I care? I read for another page after that. Lukens is an author I really, really want to like, but the last two books I've read by them are just obnoxious. I could forgive The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths and Magic because it was one of their first books (it might have been their first?), but this...is not their first book, yet that's what it reads like. I suspect this is a manuscript they wrote a while ago, shelved, and brought it back out now that they're having success.

Heart of Dust by HL Moore - 5/5 stars

You know when you read a book that's so good, and you can't figure out why the hell you had to stumble across it by going down some algorithm recommendation rabbit hole? This is one of those books. Gritty and unique sci-fi setting, a backdrop of labor rights, aching gay mutual pining? Please read this.

[richincolor]

With six books out this week, we've got a little something for everyone! Which of these are on your TBR list?

In Limbo: A Graphic Memoir by Deb JJ Lee First Second

Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee knows she's different. Ever since her family emigrated from South Korea to the United States, she's felt her Otherness. For a while, her English isn't perfect. None of her teachers can pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes—especially her eyes—stand out. As the pressures of high school ramp up, friendships change and end, and everything gets harder. Even home isn't a safe place, as fights with her mom escalate. Deb is caught in a limbo, with nowhere to go, and her mental health plummets.

But Deb is resilient. She discovers art and self-care, and gradually begins to start recovering. And during a return trip to South Korea, she realizes something that changes her perspective on her family, her heritage, and herself.

This stunning debut graphic memoir features page after page of gorgeous, evocative art, perfect for Tillie Walden fans. It's a cross section of the Korean-American diaspora and mental health, a moving and powerful read in the vein of Hey, Kiddo and The Best We Could Do. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron Feiwel Friends

London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life— and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll—was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry's expuslion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry's relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again.

But Gabriel doesn't want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether. Desperate to discover what's become of him, Gabriel takes to watching the Jekyll house.

In doing so, Gabriel meets Hyde, a a strangely familiar young man with white hair and a magnetic charisma. He claims to be friends with Henry, and Gabriel can't help but begin to grow jealous at their apparent closeness, especially as Henry continues to act like Gabriel means nothing to him.

But the secret behind Henry's apathy is only the first part of a deeper mystery that has begun to coalesce. Monsters of all kinds prowl within the London fog—and not all of them are out for blood... -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto Putnam

Chloe is officially off the waitlist at USC, and thus one step closer to realizing her dream of becoming an animator in the United States. But before she leaves home, her auntie insists on planning a traditional debut for Chloe’s eighteenth birthday (think sweet sixteen meets debutante ball). To make matters worse, her father, intent on finding Chloe the perfect escort for the party, keeps setting her up on one awkward kaishao—or arranged date—after another. But . . . why does her dad suddenly care so much about her love life? And what happens when she actually starts to fall for one of the guys, only to have to leave at the end of the summer? -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

There Goes the Neighborhood by Jade Adia Disney-Hyperion

Fifteen-year-old Rhea and her best friends, Zeke and Malachi, are South L.A. born and raised, but a recent wave of gentrification has been transforming the place that they call home. When an eviction notice from a greedy landlord threatens to split up the crew, Rhea and her friends manipulate social media to form a fake gang in hopes of scaring off developers. Their scheme appears to work at first… until a murder is pegged on the nonexistent gang. Yikes.

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD is a love letter to communities of color everywhere, a middle finger to the destructive powers of gentrification, and a hilarious adventure about three teens who have the best intentions, if not always the best solutions. Perfect for fans of Tiffany Jackson's Let Me Hear a Rhyme and Netflix's On My Block, this is an uproarious novel about power, friendship, and what really makes a neighborhood. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

Study Break: 11 College Tales from Orientation to Graduation Edited by Aashna Avachat Feiwel Friends

College...the best time, the worst time, and something in between.

What do you do when orientation isn't going according to your (sister's) detailed plans? Where do you go when you're searching for community in faith? How do you figure out what it means that you're suddenly attracted to your RA? What happens when your partner for your last film project is also your crush and graduation is quickly approaching?

Told over the course of one academic year, this collection of stories set on the same fictional campus features students from different cultures, genders, and interests learning more about who they are and who they want to be. From new careers to community to (almost) missed connections — and more — these interconnected tales explore the ways university life can be stressful and confusing and exciting and fulfilling.

Gen Z contributors include Jake Maia Arlow, Arushi Avachat, Boon Carmen, Ananya Devarajan, Camryn Garrett, Christina Li, Racquel Marie, Oyin, Laila Sabreen, Michael Waters, and Joelle Wellington. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

The Jump by Brittney Morris Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers

Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.

Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.

So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals. -- Cover image and summary via Goodreads

[pridepages]

Henry Jekyll: How do we hide from the people who will judge us? Gabriel Utterson: We can't. We still deserve to live, Henry. We still deserve a chance to be happy.

[redwiccanrobin]

Currently reading; My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron.

[daniellesreadingnook]

My bookish Christmas gifts!! So excited!

[fourthleafluckart]

This QBDC: My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

Another one of the Remixed Classics, My Dear Henry explores an alternate version of Jekyll and Hyde where a young Black medical student in victorian London undergoes some concerning changes, and the fella who loves him is determined to find their happiness together.

Next QBDC: My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron (the other side of the tarot card heheh)

[nii-chan-tamer]

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

Cover Art | My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron

A teen boy tries to discover the reason behind his best friend’s disappearance—and the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic stranger—in misty Victorian London, in Kalynn Bayron’s My Dear Henry, a gothic YA remix of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, sixth in the Remixed Classics series. London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life— and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll—was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry’s expulsion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry’s relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again. But Gabriel doesn’t want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether. Desperate to discover what’s become of him, Gabriel takes to watching the Jekyll house. In doing so, Gabriel meets Hyde, a a strangely familiar young man with white hair and a magnetic charisma. He claims to be friends with Henry, and Gabriel can’t help but begin to grow jealous at their apparent closeness, especially as Henry continues to act like Gabriel means nothing to him. But the secret behind Henry’s apathy is only the first part of a deeper mystery that has begun to coalesce. Monsters of all kinds prowl within the London fog—and not all of them are out for blood…

Release date | Mar 7, 2023 Goodreads

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread  

My Dear Henry

gothic YA reimagining of Jekyll & Hyde

a gay Black boy in 1885 London trying to discover why the best friend he loves is suddenly pulling away