Maddy‘s Review of My Dear Henry
Thank you macmillan audio for letting me listen to this book. My Dear Henry is a gothic YA remix of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, which is sixth in the Remixed Classics series. I want to read the other books in this remix series. I’m definitely going to reread the original book as well.The book is about a teenager named Gabriel looking into the disappearance of his dear friend Henry. Henry Jekyll is caught in a scandal that leads to his expulsion from the London Medical School. After this he starts becoming cold and distant towards Gabriel, and eventually stops writing Gabriel altogether. Through his worry, Gabriel starts watching the Jekyll house and searching for his friend.
Gabriel later on meets Hyde, who’s 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.”
I love the main character Gabriel. He is a kind, intelligent, determined, and brave man. Gabriel is very determined to look into his friend’s disappearance. It was hard watching him longing after Henry, especially since being queer isn’t acceptable in their world and time.
I liked the narrator Clifford Samuel. And Kalynn Bayron is an amazing author. The atmosphere of this Victorian London story was stunning. I felt like I was there with Gabriel. She writes the longing and emotions of characters so well, and makes them relatable. You feel for some characters, and hate others. She takes us on a journey and I was intrigued the whole time. I enjoyed her writing style. I do wish there was a little more world building and time with the characters, but I enjoyed the story. Also, the cover is stunning!
There are some really crappy dads and people in this book, especially Henry’s father. In this world there’s racism, classicism and homophobia; the world is pretty bleak. Gabriel is a talented and brilliant teenager, but is looked down on because he’s queer and black. His teacher is really nasty and abusive towards him. Always reminding him of what he owes him and just being awful.
One Quote I liked: “I don’t think we should measure ourselves by what the world thinks of us.”
Author: Kalynn Bayron
Narrator: Clifford Samuel
Date published: 3/7/2023
Pages: 272
Stars: 4 out of 5 stars
