This book was a little slow, but that’s very reminiscent of the title it’s based off of. This book is a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde except it’s Gabriel, who is a young black man who goes to medical school in London and his dear friend, Henry. Henry is Henry Jekyll, the son of Dr. Jekyll. These two meet at medical school and become involved. They write romantic letters back-and-forth to each other over the summer and considering this is the 1880s it’s very frowned upon. Their love is illicit and considered immoral buy some. It gets both of them thrown out of school, and Harry experimented on by his father. What is unique about this story is the reason for the experimentation. In this version of the story, his father Henry’s father is experimenting on him to make the gay go away. It’s how we get Jekyll and Hyde. And in the book Hyde is not as violent as he’s made out to be and other versions. He is still deadly and there are there is an incident, but mostly the reader roots for him.  Overall I really enjoyed this different take. There was a reason to the experimentation that our current society would understand (but hate). One of the things I really like about this book is that why it is a “black trauma book”. It’s the trauma of being gay felt by outsiders, not by Henry and Gabriel are both fine with their love. But they still find each other and find a way to make everything work. Just two black boys in London trying to make a better life for themselves and others.