He: A Remarkable Tale of Romance and Resilience

by Larry Benjamin

I remembered black eyes and bruised ribs and hands heavy with prayer like fists raining down.

Preacher’s kid Jackson and orphaned Oren grow up in the same dusty, poor, bible-thumping farm town. When they meet at sixteen, they discover they have more in common than just their roots and brutal upbringing. Together, they begin to explore their orientation and their burgeoning love for each other. When they are threatened with consignment in conversion camp, they abruptly leave town together. Oren attends college, while Jackson learns a trade. In their new surroundings, they discover friends and a sense of safety for the first time.

Forty years later, when a shocking act of betrayal destroys their relationship, each is left wondering if there can be love after the apocalypse as they look back on a past they cannot change and a future they cannot predict.

When Oren reluctantly attends his fortieth high school reunion and reconnects with his high school crush, sparks unexpectedly fly.

A remarkable tale of romance and resilience, using the premise that orientation is simply a pattern of attraction, He explores what happens when that pattern is broken.

Told epistolary style through journal entries and Facebook messages, the book is divided into periods, each of which is denoted by a color, rather than traditional chapters.

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 11, 2025

About the author

Writer. Wordsmith. Author.
Words, You See, are the Thing

Bronx-born wordsmith, Larry Benjamin is the author of Excellent Sons: A Love Story in Three Acts, a 2022 Lambda Literary Award winner in the Gay Romance category and a 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist; Unbroken, a 2014 Lambda Literary Award finalist and a 2014 IPPY (Independent Publishers Book Award) Gold medalist; The Sun, The Earth & The Moon; In His Eyes; Damaged Angels, a collection of short stories [out of print]; and Vampire Rising, an allegorical novella. His latest novel, He, will be published in October 2025.

His work has been published by Carina Press, a Harlequin imprint, Bold Strokes Books, and Beaten Track Publishing.

He lives in Philadelphia with his husband Stanley and their two rescue dogs, Atticus and Gatsby. He is at work on his next novel.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, rounded up because the writing is good. The book is not. I am so very disappointed.

I've read this author before, and Unbroken is probably one of my favorite books.
I was very much looking forward to this book, and I quite enjoyed it, especially the format of it being written in diary entries spanning 40 years of Oren's and Jackson's lives, their easy relationship, their building a life together, finding a group of true and steady friends, just living their best lives. I was really enjoying watching them grow up, and grow older, sticking by each other through thick and thin, and succeeding at life and love. It wasn't a typical romance novel, and I just loved how steadily and consistently they lived their lives with and for each other, how supportive they were with each other, and how very much they loved each other.

Then I reached 65%, and if it weren't for this book having been written by Larry Benjamin, I would have DNF'd this at that point. While a terrible betrayal is hinted at in the blurb, I did not expect there to be a cheating situation after 39 years together, with a woman who's described as their neighbor, and irritating and annoying and not very nice, and with whom Jackson doesn't really have a friendly relationship. I couldn't for the life of me understand why Jackson would sleep with her, even if it was only one time, when he hadn't shown any interest in ANY woman for the entirety of the book. It made no sense at all, and I don't understand why this even happened. What was the point? Why did they have to be broken up? Neither grew from the heartbreak, from what I could see, and if this was a ploy to give Oren a chance to reconnect with Rio, it was really stupid.

I still think that Larry Benjamin is a great writer, and I did enjoy the style in which this book was written, but the joy of watching Oren and Jackson's life story unfold was torn away at 65% with this unnecessary plot point, and I didn't enjoy the rest of it.

I couldn't even rejoice at the epilogue.


** I received a free copy of this book from its publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. **

[Miglė | Perskaičiau ir aprašiau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small, church-going town and growing up gay in it is a topic I really like to read about. So "He" was a book I was really looking forward to reading, but after doing so, I have very mixed feelings.

Part One of the book was great both writing and story-wise: coming of age, abusive family, religion, gay awakening, first attractions & love. Jackson and Oren felt real, their backgrounds and experiences were hard, yet they managed to find love. I cheered for them for moving and building a life away from the bigots and shitty families.

Part Two was a rather big disappointment. Huge time skip but still a loving couple, both men are older, but, supposedly, not wiser. The betrayal described in the blurb came out of nowhere and completely ruined the whole story for me. (Spoilers ahead) I absolutely hated the plot twist in which Jackson cheated with Kitt, a person everyone hated and a woman on top of everything. That was so unnecessary and cruel. Also, after getting a divorce, Oren reconnected with Rio, who just feels like such a convenient character to insert in the story. It felt fake and, no surprise there, didn't last. I was really disappointed by the ending and the pseudo HEA. Why does it feel like the moral of the story is that you can forgive cheating and the other person breaking your heart just because you still love him? No, period.

The writing was great, so many lovely and rather sad quotes, but messages between Oren and Rio seemed to be between 18 year-olds, not men who were almost 60.

Great start, very disappointing ending, in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

[Elisa]

No rating.
Jackson’s betrayal—and more than that, the way he acted after it all came out—makes zero sense to me. First of all, why would a guy like Jackson cheat on his lifelong partner with a woman? And not just any woman, but one he clearly can’t even stand? It’s exactly like Oren says: ‘If it had been a younger man, I could’ve understood. But her? No way.’ On top of that, once the affair and Kitty’s pregnancy are revealed, Jackson acts like he’s completely detached from everything that’s happening. Honestly, he doesn’t even seem like a real person anymore—more like a robot going through the motions. At this point, it feels like what he really needs is a stay at a mental health facility. Okay, when he and Oren meet again years later, we find out that back when Kitty was pregnant, she basically threatened to have an abortion if he didn’t leave Oren. Fine, whatever. But still, Jackson’s behavior is pretty ridiculous. I mean, we’re talking about the man he loved and shared a life with, and he just drops him, out of nowhere, like he’s something disposable. And he doesn’t even bother telling him the truth or giving him any kind of explanation, except for that pathetic ‘I love you, but now I have to love someone else’ line. Like, seriously? And in the end, what the hell was the point of Jackson’s betrayal? Just to get them back together years later and raise a kid together on top of everything? Meh.

[Faithe · Rating 5 out of 5]

He: a remarkable take of romance and resilience by Larry Benjamin is a story about love, loss and finding your person through it all.
I really liked this book, I loved the epistolary style, it made reading about Jackson and Oren that much more personal, like getting to read a diary of sorts.
The book takes us (the reader) through the lives of Oren and Jackson, when they met in high school and for the next 40ish years. I thought the conflict in the relationship was weird, it seemed kinda random, and although it is a relationship ending issue after so much time I thought the two were stronger than that.
I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

[Kickhy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and really pulls you in you can’t help being happy for Jackson and Oren for surviving their small-minded town and violent families, and making a life for themselves away from Locust Hollow.
The third act break up was truly unnecessary and the fact that it wasn’t organic in a story that was already going so well just put me off.
Either way I stuck with it to the end and felt like at least we could have had some closure through seeing Oren and Jackson navigate their new relationship and more importantly, a proper explanation of Jackson’s reason.

[Smith P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book devoured me. Jackson and Oren’s journey from trauma to tenderness is written with so much honesty that it feels like reading someone’s real diary. The epistolary format makes every moment intimate and raw. A story about love, survival, and rediscovering yourself after being broken. Absolutely unforgettable.