During their last semester of high school, Henry starts to fall for his life-long best friend.

Firstly, I just want to say that as a second language English speaker I find this book's title really hard to pronounce.

Other than the title and the use of that eye-roll-worthy trope in the 3rd act I found this book very enjoyable. I didn't much care for the first 50ish pages but then I got really emotionally invested and omw, this book was so addictive.

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC
This book is about the start of a relationship between two friends, this story is quite cozy and cute.
It had a lot of playfulness and nicknames and the book cover is just amazing

Though I have issues: there are many parts of the book where I felt nothing was happening, and the way it was written was a bit unpleasant, and lastly, there was a lot of unnecessary information/details

Overall this story is very cute but not interesting

I laughed. I cried. I fell a little more in love with love and reading. Henry Hamlet's Heart is my heartstopper<33

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me access to this book for an honest review.

TW: HP references, abusive parent, grief

I usually start with things I liked while reviewing but I would like to start off with the negative thing first for this one.

The HP references? Not only very harmful for the trans community but also very problematic. I just don't understand why authors won't give up on the same old wizard story references. It is 2022, we're tired, please find some new, and better, books to reference.

Except for this I actually really liked this book. Set in Australia, it revolves around a teenage boy, Henry Hamlet, who is in grade 12. We see him embark on a journey of love and friendship with his friends.

The writing style was beautiful, it made me feel all the emotions Henry goes through. It was funny, it was emotional and it was also hopeful.

I loved Lacey, Henry's family, and friends so much! The characters are written with a lot of depth, except for maybe Harrison. The bi grandma was an absolute delight to read about and the wedding made me extra happy. :')

Henry's story made me want to cry but it also made me smile a lot. I loved Len so much :') I don't know why but I got little vibes of Red, White, and Royal Blue (but the books are actually nothing alike) here and there and I'm here for it. There's also SO MUCH yearning in this novel. SO. MUCH. And I for one, love books where characters yearn. ;)

I would absolutely recommend it to everyone in need of a friends-to-lovers queer romance done really well!

Henry Hamlet's Heart is a heartfelt story of two best friends falling for each other in Brisbane, Australia in the late 00s.

It's funny, light-hearted, full of banter and school shennaningans that seem like the whole world when you are a teenager. Henry is adorably nerdy while artsy Len is an amazing friend but has the habit of hiding from feelings, afraid of getting hurt.

I loved the two first parts of the book, where we watch Henry, Len and the Boyisss (their friend group) during their last school term. Henry's family is weird and full of love, and I adored his little brother Ham. Len on the other side was dealt a tougher hand, especially after his mother's death left him with his (let's be honest, absolutely terrible) father.

The third part suffered from the author's choice to use some overused and eye-rolling tropes: "I'm not worth for you", "Running away afraid of getting hurt", "I refuse to communicate". It's implied that the underlying reason for this behaviour lies with the grief of the past, but it isn't really explored - and the book is from Henry's POV, so we never know what Leni is thinking.

The finale makes up with a very sweet scene, although (as in many other YA romace books) I wish the book would have one-two more chapters with the boys being more talkative and open about their feelings instead of ending with the climax.

Another standout of the book was the Australian feel, and the 2008 feel - you could very quickly see that this book is not set in the present, without explicitly mentioning it immediately.

Thank you NetGalley and Charlesbridge Teen for the ARC of the US version!

I really enjoyed this. a great deal It was beautifully written and incredibly relevant in so many ways. I was sixteen when this book was set, so many of the small allusions and oh, just the sensation of first love in high school.... it was like a smack in the face (a good one!!) and brought back so many memories.

what about the characters? They were very genuine. Henry and Len in particular, but also their entire buddy circle, extended families, and teachers. They're all fantastically realized.

I was intrigued throughout the narrative and sobbed several times for a variety of reasons. This is already one of my favorite books of the year, and I know I'll be reading it again.

“The rickety NGS bus is the same. School is the same - red brick and vine covered exactly as it was yesterday. Nothing’s changed except all of it.”

Many thanks to Netgalley, Charlesbridge and Rhiannon Wilde for the arc in exchange for an honest review! :)

Enemies-to-lovers will always be my favourite trope, but after reading this book I may need to make some room for friends-to-lovers because this book has the build-up, the longing, and a deep emotional connection between the two leads.

This book is divided into three parts - before, during and after the realisation of Henry’s feelings for his closest and dearest friend Len. I loved the writing style of this book and seeing everything from Henry’s point-of-view. We were introduced to his friends, family and school life. It was fun, it was casual but it started to be a bit too casual. I was wondering where the romance part of the book was when it kept going on.

However, while the ‘before’ part was a bit too long for my liking (some parts of their daily school life really did drag on) I understood why the writer chose to do what they did. It showed us who our characters were, how they interacted with family and friends and each other and how the dynamic between Henry and Len shifted into something more than just best friends.

Overall I really did enjoy the book, it’s a decent addition to LGBTQ+ Young Adult books, and despite its faults it definitely did a good way to showcase a coming-of-age story focused on a teenager on the cusp of adulthood.

(3/5 stars, bonus points for the 2008 flashbacks when I was also a teenager!)

This definitely reminds me a lot of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but it holds its own. Henry Hamlet is an adorable character. Your heart goes out to him, to all that he has to deal with. It will bring you back to how it feels to be in high school, to falling in love for the first time. Plus the side characters are darling, too? That grandma? She just gives me all the comforting feels. If you enjoyed couples such as Aristotle and Dante, Nick and Charlie, then you'll love this one. A solid 3.5 stars!

What a gem! (4.5 stars)

Henry Hamlet's Heart is a queer YA romance set an a Brisbane all-boys high school in 2008, and I devoured it in a day. Equal parts funny, sincere and vulnerable, this book is a tough one to put down.

I always love a good OzYA, and Wilde nailed the Aussie atmosphere. The banter, the Brisbane heat, the meat pies, the dingo-ate-your-baby jokes - it's always a treat to read a book that feels like home. And though I'm hardly qualified to comment on the feel of 2008 (... I was six) the cultural references were still a lovely touch of nostalgia (hey, people were still listening to Fall Out Boy and played snake on Nokia phones when I hit high school, I swear).

Atmosphere aside, Henry himself (self-described "writer, debater and neurotic mess") was loveable and almost eerily relatable. He made a great counterpoint to Len, and their slow progression from close friends to lovers (and all the drama along the way) was equal parts awkward, adorable and authentic. Though I felt some of the friendships felt one-dimensional in early stages of the book, they developed nicely, along with great insights into the complexities of both Henry and Len's families. Points for Henry's bisexual Gran! She's a legend.

But above all, this book was a capsule of the mixed emotions that come with the final year of high school. The uncertainty about the future, the fear that you'll drift away from your friends, the curiosity about where you'll all end up... I've never read a book that so accurately captured what those final months of Year 12 felt like for me. Oh, and there's a special kind of joy that comes from reading about students studying the books that you loved in English class.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I did feel that some characters (particularly Vince, Martin & Clarkson) struggled to develop beyond stereotypes. I also wasn't a fan of the way Hamish was written - don't get me wrong, I know writing children is no easy task, but it did feel like he was slapped in unsubtly at convenient points to make little profound points.

Overall, this was a great read, and one I'd highly recommend - especially if you've just graduated, or if you're facing down those final years of high school.

I usually love queer stories about discovery and friendship. But I didn’t like this one at all.

First of all I would like to point out that I liked how we got an older queer romance on the side, and it was portrayed so casually, it warmed my heart.

Now what I didn’t like. I really hated the writing style for some reason. I can’t explain what pissed me off, but it really annoyed me. Henry and Len didn’t really feel like best friends. We are told that Henry wonders how they became best friends, and that is it. That’s not enough for me to root for them. I think Len’s pov could have saved this book for me, this book needed a dual pov. I found Henry’s bisexual grandma to be very toxic towards her daughter. I found her to be a hypocrite and very flippant towards her and it’s not even addressed. I felt like her behavior as a mother was clearly displayed in how Henry’s mum behaved in the present, I wish we got more of the dynamic to clarify if what I felt was real or not.

Henry Hamlet’s Heart follows the 18 year old Henry in his last year of high school of 2008 and how he discovers that he is in love with his best friend Len.

Going into this book, I was expecting a lighthearted story about self-discovery in the early 2000s. Let me just say: I was wrong. While this book is at his heart a story about discovering and accepting who you are, it is much more in-depth and emotional than I was expecting. Len is struggling with his abusive dad after his mother died and one of the main themes of this book is heartbreak, even if there is still a happy ending - without spoilering to much!

And let me tell you, the author is good at what she does! Did this book bring me to tears on public transport? Well, yes. This book made my heart ache, but it also made me laugh.
Overall, I think the beginning was a bit slow, but keep on reading and you’re being rewarded by a beautiful YA story.

I liked the actual story but I did not enjoy the writing style at all. It would be two stars but the Ben Mckenzie and Seth Cohen references make it 3 stars.

I struggled to get into this book and at first DNF'ed it. But, a few days later, I realized I couldn't stop thinking about Henry and Len. I went back and finished it pretty quickly after that. Once I got into it the second time, the characters really engaged me and I felt like I could relate to Henry's struggles as a queer woman. I loved that it's okay to just exist and not have everything planned out.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an ARC to review before it is newly released on October 18, 2022.

This book was tough for me. While I loved the concept, and I think a lot of other LGBT+ readers will LOVE this book, this kinda fell flat for me. I didn't much care for the protagonist and didn't find myself rooting for him throughout the book. His love interest is kind of dark and brooding, and honestly, I didn't want them to be together. In a lot of ways, it read to me as a very codependent relationship that would leave one or both of them spiraling and it was hard to read.

There were some really great things about it though. The characters were all different and served a purpose in the story. I loved the relationship with the grandmothers and the overall tone of the book. Just for me, it seemed to not really go anywhere, and I found myself not rooting for anyone. However, if you like other YA queer romances, I would recommend giving this one a shot, and seeing for yourself!

This story was heartfelt and genuine. I loved the dynamic between Henry and Len trying to figure out their futures, and now Henry gets a curveball with questioning his sexuality. It felt real and personal, where Henry's reactions were understandable: confused, messy, and throwing everything he thought he knew into question.
I wish we got to see a little more of Len's life with his family and more of his reactions, but overall I enjoyed this story to pieces.

Henry Hamelts Heart is truly a captivating read. From the very beginning, I was hooked. The day I was approved to read it, I read half of it that same day. It is one of my favorite types of books, a cute LGBTQ+ romance that Doesn't make coming out the focus of the book. Instead, Rhiannon Wilde took the time to develop the friendship and romance between Len and Henry. I truly enjoyed the characters and their interactions in this book, but especially those between the Boiyssssss. Rhiannon Wilde's writing style is fresh and engaging, without seeming outdated, even in a book that takes place in 2008. I was shocked when I learned that this was only her first novel, as it has the skill and ability expected from more mature authors. I also loved the character of Emilia, and I think we all need someone like her in our life. Throughout the novel, I felt myself rooting for Len and Henry. This book is definitely one that I would recommend to my friends or anyone that asks. It was a quick read for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I give this book a 4.75 out of 5.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! it was an amazingly quick read and once I sat down to read it, I couldn't put it down!!

I really liked the story. The last few pages (chef's kiss). If you aren't familiar with Australia/Queensland/Brisbane there are a few things that are hard to find. I would've loved more development in the beginning few pages. It's a cute tale and I'm excited for this author.

Do you ever feel like you've stumbled across a gem of a book and want to shout about it to the entire world? I finished this somewhere around 2 AM this morning after I accidentally read it in one day. I honestly couldn't pinpoint what it is about this book that stuck a hook in my heart and dragged me along for the ride, but I'm so happy that it got me.

There actually wasn't a character that I disliked, which is rare for me in books. I thought they all had their place and served the story well. I LOVED Henry's family; the slight dysfunctionality of it all was perfect, and I especially loved all the eccentricities of Henry's dad. And, obviously, I loved Henry and Len (both together and separately). Friends to lovers remains my favourite trope and it can never do wrong in my eyes!

So, it all started with a kiss, huh?

"Henry Hamlet's Heart" is a really cozy book. There's not too many side plots, but like the title says, I can tell there was a lot of heart put into this story. The beginning was very nice – all those name jokes, queer and heartwarming ideas (sapphic granny for the win), pleasant narration. Characters not too complicated, but in the same time more than one dimensional. But I couldn't catch about what exactly is it.

And I kinda still can't. Henry's road to early adulthood happens to be complicated and not easy, same with his way to love, and yet there was something lacking. Not that every book needs intense action, epic battle scenes or something. There are a lot of stories incredibly slowly paced or even anti-action, and so I do not consider it as a disadvantage. I'm sure a lot of readers will find comfort in Hamlet and his life, because I can easily see that.

His story isn't meant to be big and epic. His story is meant to be casual, extraordinary in its ordinariness. Small step for a human race, but big for Henry Hamlet. It's written in a way I liked a lot, even if, in the end, there wasn't much chemistry between me and the book. I wasn't too attached to characters, even if I liked them, and I felt lacking some bigger motivation behind them. Subjective feelings, of course.

HHH is a book perfect for late summer/early autumn period, with its joke-y nature, cozy aesthetic and love story that will feed every "friends to lovers" fan.