diff --git a/GraphQLSharp.Tests/GraphQLHttpExceptionTests.cs b/GraphQLSharp.Tests/GraphQLHttpExceptionTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9b5780
--- /dev/null
+++ b/GraphQLSharp.Tests/GraphQLHttpExceptionTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+using System.Net;
+using System.Text;
+using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
+
+namespace GraphQLSharp.Tests;
+
+[TestClass]
+public class GraphQLHttpExceptionTests
+{
+    private const string Query = "{ shop { id } }";
+
+    private static GraphQLCLient CreateClient(HttpStatusCode statusCode, string body, string mediaType)
+    {
+        return new GraphQLCLient(new GraphQLClientOptions(new Uri("https://example.com/graphql"))
+        {
+            HttpClient = new TestHttpClient(_ => new HttpResponseMessage(statusCode)
+            {
+                Content = new StringContent(body, Encoding.UTF8, mediaType)
+            })
+        });
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task GraphQLErrorResponseIsParsed()
+    {
+        var client = CreateClient(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest,
+            """{"errors":[{"message":"Field 'foo' doesn't exist","locations":[{"line":1,"column":3}],"extensions":{"code":"GRAPHQL_VALIDATION_FAILED"}}]}""",
+            "application/graphql-response+json");
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => client.ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, ex.HttpResponse.StatusCode);
+        Assert.IsNotNull(ex.Response);
+        Assert.AreEqual(1, ex.Response.errors.Count);
+        Assert.AreEqual("Field 'foo' doesn't exist", ex.Response.errors[0].message);
+        Assert.AreEqual("GRAPHQL_VALIDATION_FAILED", ex.Response.errors[0].extensions["code"].GetString());
+        Assert.AreSame(ex.Request, ex.Response.Request);
+        Assert.AreSame(ex.HttpResponse, ex.Response.HttpResponse);
+        StringAssert.Contains(ex.Message, "Field 'foo' doesn't exist");
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task NonArrayErrorsIsNotParsed()
+    {
+        //the spec requires "errors" to be a list of error objects, anything else is not a GraphQL response
+        var body = """{"errors":"Invalid access token"}""";
+        var client = CreateClient(HttpStatusCode.Unauthorized, body, "application/json");
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => client.ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.IsNull(ex.Response);
+        Assert.AreEqual(body, ex.ResponseBody);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task JsonWithoutGraphQLShapeIsNotParsed()
+    {
+        var body = """{"error":"Not found"}""";
+        var client = CreateClient(HttpStatusCode.NotFound, body, "application/json");
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => client.ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.IsNull(ex.Response);
+        Assert.AreEqual(body, ex.ResponseBody);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task NonJsonBodyIsNotParsedAndTruncatedInMessage()
+    {
+        var body = $"<html><body>{new string('x', 5000)}</body></html>";
+        var client = CreateClient(HttpStatusCode.BadGateway, body, "text/html");
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => client.ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.IsNull(ex.Response);
+        Assert.AreEqual(body, ex.ResponseBody);
+        StringAssert.Contains(ex.Message, "(truncated)");
+        Assert.IsTrue(ex.Message.Length < body.Length);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task EmptyBody()
+    {
+        var client = CreateClient(HttpStatusCode.ServiceUnavailable, "", "text/plain");
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => client.ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.IsNull(ex.Response);
+        Assert.IsNull(ex.ResponseBody);
+    }
+
+    [TestMethod]
+    public async Task ErrorBodyStillRetried()
+    {
+        int tries = 0;
+        var options = new GraphQLClientOptions(new Uri("https://example.com/graphql"))
+        {
+            Interceptor = new RetryInterceptor<GraphQLRequest, GraphQLClientOptions>(),
+            HttpClient = new TestHttpClient(_ =>
+            {
+                tries++;
+                return new HttpResponseMessage(HttpStatusCode.ServiceUnavailable)
+                {
+                    Content = new StringContent("""{"errors":[{"message":"Service unavailable"}]}""", Encoding.UTF8, "application/json")
+                };
+            })
+        };
+
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync<GraphQLHttpException>(() => new GraphQLCLient(options).ExecuteAsync(Query));
+
+        Assert.AreEqual(RetryInterceptor<GraphQLRequest, GraphQLClientOptions>.MAX_TRIES, tries);
+        Assert.AreEqual("Service unavailable", ex.Response.errors[0].message);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/GraphQLSharp/Client/Exceptions/GraphQLHttpException.cs b/GraphQLSharp/Client/Exceptions/GraphQLHttpException.cs
index c88e49f..62952b3 100644
--- a/GraphQLSharp/Client/Exceptions/GraphQLHttpException.cs
+++ b/GraphQLSharp/Client/Exceptions/GraphQLHttpException.cs
@@ -2,11 +2,50 @@ namespace GraphQLSharp;
 
 public class GraphQLHttpException : GraphQLException
 {
+    private const int MaxResponseBodyLengthInMessage = 1000;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Raw body of the non-success response, or null when it was empty or could not be read.
+    /// </summary>
+    public readonly string ResponseBody;
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// GraphQL response parsed from the body when the server returned a JSON GraphQL response
+    /// (e.g. a 400 with <c>{"errors":[{"message":...}]}</c> as described by the GraphQL over HTTP spec), otherwise null.
+    /// Bodies that are not GraphQL responses (proxy error pages, vendor-specific error shapes) are only available in <see cref="ResponseBody"/>.
+    /// </summary>
+    public readonly GraphQLResponse Response;
+
     public GraphQLHttpException(GraphQLRequest request, HttpResponse httpResponse, Exception ex)
-        : base(request, httpResponse, $"""
+        : this(request, httpResponse, ex, responseBody: null, response: null)
+    {
+    }
+
+    public GraphQLHttpException(GraphQLRequest request, HttpResponse httpResponse, Exception ex, string responseBody, GraphQLResponse response)
+        : base(request, httpResponse, BuildMessage(request, responseBody, response), ex)
+    {
+        ResponseBody = responseBody;
+        Response = response;
+    }
+
+    private static string BuildMessage(GraphQLRequest request, string responseBody, GraphQLResponse response)
+    {
+        var message = $"""
                             GraphQL request failed with an HTTP error:
                             Request: {request}
-                        """, ex)
-    {
+                        """;
+
+        if (response?.errors?.Count > 0)
+            return $"{message}\nErrors: {string.Join("\n", response.errors.Select(e => e.ToString()))}";
+
+        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(responseBody))
+        {
+            var body = responseBody.Length <= MaxResponseBodyLengthInMessage
+                ? responseBody
+                : $"{responseBody[..MaxResponseBodyLengthInMessage]}... (truncated)";
+            return $"{message}\nResponse body: {body}";
+        }
+
+        return message;
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/GraphQLSharp/Client/GraphQLClient.cs b/GraphQLSharp/Client/GraphQLClient.cs
index e986605..310c194 100644
--- a/GraphQLSharp/Client/GraphQLClient.cs
+++ b/GraphQLSharp/Client/GraphQLClient.cs
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ private async Task<GraphQLResponse<T>> ExecuteCoreAsync<T>(TRequest request, Can
             }
             catch (Exception httpEx)
             {
-                throw new GraphQLHttpException(request, httpResponse, httpEx);
+                var (responseBody, errorResponse) = await ReadErrorResponseAsync(request, httpResponse, httpResponseMsg.Content, cancellationToken);
+                throw new GraphQLHttpException(request, httpResponse, httpEx, responseBody, errorResponse);
             }
 
             GraphQLResponse<T> res;
@@ -131,6 +132,46 @@ private async Task<GraphQLResponse<T>> ExecuteCoreAsync<T>(TRequest request, Can
         }
     }
 
+    // Best effort: the body of a non-success response is only used to enrich GraphQLHttpException.
+    // Any failure here (I/O, cancellation, invalid JSON...) must not replace the HTTP error, which drives retries.
+    private async Task<(string responseBody, GraphQLResponse response)> ReadErrorResponseAsync(TRequest request, HttpResponse httpResponse, HttpContent content, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
+    {
+        string responseBody;
+        try
+        {
+            responseBody = await content.ReadAsStringAsync(cancellationToken);
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            return (null, null);
+        }
+
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(responseBody))
+            return (null, null);
+
+        // Per the GraphQL over HTTP spec, a non-2xx body may come from an intermediary (proxy, gateway...)
+        // so it is only parsed when it is JSON, and only kept when it actually looks like a GraphQL response.
+        var mediaType = content.Headers.ContentType?.MediaType;
+        if (!string.Equals(mediaType, "application/json", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) &&
+            !string.Equals(mediaType, "application/graphql-response+json", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
+            return (responseBody, null);
+
+        try
+        {
+            var response = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<GraphQLResponse>(responseBody, _options.JsonSerializerOptions ?? Serializer.GetOptions());
+            if (response?.errors == null && response?.data == null)
+                return (responseBody, null);
+
+            response.Request = request;
+            response.HttpResponse = httpResponse;
+            return (responseBody, response);
+        }
+        catch
+        {
+            return (responseBody, null);
+        }
+    }
+
     private HttpRequestMessage CreateHttpRequest(TRequest request, HttpClient httpClient)
     {
         _ = request.query ?? throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(request.query));