If you are going to write a book where everyone sucks PLEASE make them suck in a way that is fun and interesting! This is a common theme in much of the dark academia genre, but what is so often missing is the tongue-in-cheek element of satire that lets you roll your eyes at the characters even as they transfix you. This novel was overly serious in tone, flirting with horror and the supernatural without ever fully committing. What we're left with is a discursive, introspective novel about a toxic homoerotic friendship narrated by a wet rag of a protagonist. I enjoyed the themes of elitism in academia and the hypocrisy of the UK class system, but was ultimately frustrated by the genre waffling, rambling internal narrative, and plot that went truly nowhere. This reminded me strongly of V.E. Schwab's Vicious both in its inherent pretension and coy application of "queer vibes" without actually including or acknowledging queer characters, stories, or relationships.

A young musician at Cambridge spirals when he becomes obsessed with a magician friend as dark powers and obsession begin to set in. The story follows an unnamed narrator who is a musician at Cambridge. The narrator wants to reinvent himself at college and despite being an outsider, manages to befriend his wealthy classmate, Bryn Cavendish. Bryn is a charismatic and talented magician... but there is something darker about him because anyone who annoys him or challenges becomes forever changed. The more the narrator gets involved with Bryn the more obsessed he becomes. The narrator begins to suspect that Bryan has real magic and has been twisting it for his own use.... and as the story unfolds from present and past as the narrator describes their time as a student and what happened between him and Bryn. This book was just kind of boring for me, it was a dark academia story with touches of cults/dark magic, but also about toxic friendship and obsession. I really tried to like it but it just felt like a miss for me and I found myself getting bored with the story. The actual dynamics between the characters just felt so meh and kind of dragged on and on throughout the book. Dark academia books are hit or miss with me, and unfortunately this one was a miss. If you like stories about toxic friendships then I'd say give this one a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

Release Date: October 1,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Union Square & Co. - A subsidiary of Sterling Publishing | Union Square & Co. for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The book is unsettling, dark and haunting. Loved the dark academia vibe. Characters were complex and they had such a complex relationship with each other. The story is slow build and it’s character driven. The two characters come together and share about their family bonds. It is filled with music, magic, mystery, secrets and family secrets. When things are unsettling, we try to find answers to be able to connect the dots and it feels like a puzzle before that. Imagine grief taking over it and having to deal with demons of your past.


Thanks to the publisher

Hello again dear reader or listener, today I have convoluted feelings that may devolve into slight madness for you – not unlike your usual day to day Eleni, you might think – but I requested this ARC because I saw the Dark Academia tag and well, you know, I am a sucker for it. So, this will be another unrated review because frankly there is no way for me to give this a numerical definition.

So, with thanks to Union Square & Co. for granting my NetGalley request, let’s get to the jumble that are my thoughts over this book.

Recommended for fans of dark academia classics such as The Secret History (over which I have many thoughts and feelings) and We Were Villains, Kate Van Der Borgh’s full-length debut does indeed meet all the criteria to fit within this subgenre, while rejuvenating all of the tropes within it that sorely needed a catch-up with more current times. In fact, while it is true that a lot of the main themes found within this literature do remain the same at their core, such as discourses on class, wealth, and elitism, there have also been shifts over time in ideals, and academia itself, that had yet to be explored in the ways that Van Der Borgh does in her novel. So, props for that bit of freshness!

I do however feel the need to give a disclaimer about what to expect with this book, or even a caveat if you will, early on. While I thoroughly enjoyed aspects of this story, that I will go into properly in a moment, I was let down in other ways, some of which too spoiler-y to mention. But put very ascetically, do not go into it expecting a plot driven horror thriller, like I was led to believe by some promo. And He Shall Appear is very much a spec-fic character and psychology study, with few and unexpected answers, beautiful if at times self-indulgent prose (which fits perfectly in context) and very lyrical narration carried out by an unreliable and (very cleverly) unnamed narrator. In other words, spec-fic with horror/thriller elements peppered in.

The plot builds steadily and intriguingly through one of my favorite narrative devices with the protagonist dealing with something in his present that triggers memories of the past and causes him to reminisce, thus switching back and forth between the two timelines. The foreshadowing is delectable, the unfolding mystery and unsettling events that sometimes are merely glossed over riveting and leave you wanting more. In short, a perfectly rendered tableau of a very troubled mind. My only qualm here was purely stylistic/format related in that the shift between the two timelines goes unnoticed/ isn’t as clearly marked a few times, so I found myself back-tracking more than once to figure out where I was.

That said, I well and truly love an unreliable narrator, and there is no better view point to deliver a story about obsession, toxic relationships, disillusionment, reinvention, and mental health, such as this. We the reader are on board from the get go that this is a person who self-deludes, who sees but does not accept or want to understand, and yet who is not as distanced from reality as one might initially assume. This all culminates in an incredible plot twist I did not see coming and for that I was absolutely delighted! I love the moment the veneer breaks, it is my most anticipated bit of these kinds of stories, and while I was expecting some aspects of it, I had somehow completely missed the linchpin that turned my understanding of the character around the way it did. I knew the when and why, just not fully the how. So, in a way, although parts of the plot left me disappointed as I was hoping for some reveals that did not occur or were explained in a far more mundane way than I’d hoped for, I am still not mad about how this book ends because it was done in a brilliant manner from a technical point of view.

Van Der Borgh’s writing makes you ponder and draws you in so much at times that she even succeeds in creating actual jump-scares, which as you well know, dear reader, it’s pretty darn hard to do in writing. Her use of metaphors and personifications gave this story a whole other dimension that I haven’t read in some time, creating deeply atmospheric albeit not light reading. Some might argue it borders on pretentious while others will merely dismiss that critique as superficial understanding. Personally, I found it perfectly fitting for the protagonist she created even if I caught myself in the occasional eye-roll. Because that’s just it, we were all so absorbed in understanding ourselves and who we might become in uni/college, we leaned into the excess (of various kinds), the conceit, the posturing, and the pretentiousness, just to see where it would take us. Any person in their twenties goes through it, regardless of whether they pursue higher education or not. Hell, I’m in my late twenties now, fresh out of uni, and I am still in one ongoing daily existential crisis. The unnamed protagonist is so damn relatable for so many things and Van Der Borgh’s prose cleverly and masterfully becomes a mirror into our deepest insecurities and at times unreliable memories, even if we cannot directly relate to the events in the book.

In a fun moment of serendipity, as soon as I started reading this and was dwelling on the feelings and thoughts it was pulling out of me, I began looking for a specific word to describe them. It felt on the tip of my tongue for every day I was reading and I even found myself talking about with a friend. Both of us trying to pinpoint that exact word. Kate Van Der Borgh concludes this novel with exactly that word. Her protagonist thinks of it and everything clicks into place. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that tickled me considerably.

I’m going to stop myself here, dear reader, but this was the best way I could articulate only a fraction of what this story got me thinking about. I won’t pretend like it didn’t affect me to some extent, as it definitely got me to be in my head even more than usual. But I also cannot decide how satisfied I am with it from an entertainment perspective. I was certainly curious, and couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the writing skills and narrative devices shown. Yet, I’m a bit let down by the plot because I wanted more. Maybe if I’d gone into it with a different idea about what to expect that wouldn’t be the case, who’s to say.

And He Shall Appear comes out in the US tomorrow, October 1st, and with the at times spooky atmosphere and nearly continuous sense of the unsettling or uncanny, it would make for a fitting spooky season read.

Until next time,
Eleni A.E.

This is super creepy and also puts the “dark” in dark academia. There’s occult stuff and devil-worshipping going on, so if that’s not something you want to read about, look elsewhere for your next book. I personally couldn’t really get into the story or the characters, but it’s a decent addition to the ever-popular genre, and lovers of said-genre should find things they like in here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Union Square & Co. for an eARC. All opinions are mine.

Generally, this is a solid example of a dark academia novel and will appeal to people who like them - for me, I found that it was often too predictable, not really delving into anything that might make it different or stand out in the category, so though I had fun reading it, I wasn't captivated by it.

And He Shall Appear was a novel that affected me profoundly. So much so that I finished it over a month ago and was still unable to convey my thoughts into words and write a review, and even now I fear I will not be able to do the book justice, and express all the levels that it affected and touched me. I have collected all my highlights in my newly inaugurated commonplace book on my Notion and re-reading the passages was a delightful welcome into this story that I already hold so dear and know I will revisit in the future. Let me start at the beginning.

Our unnamed narrator is one of the most curious and enthralling aspects of this novel, one which could render countless academic analysis if one were to dive deep into this aspect of the story. I was fascinated at how such a simple choice, one which has done countless times before, and yet in this scenario here, makes all the difference in how we perceive the story that it’s about to unfold, creating a sense of not-identity, a theme which is recurrent in And He Shall Appear as it is the theme of belonging, the later one which Dark Academia enthusiasts will be familiar with.

The active pursuit of one’s place in the world, the profound longing the characters feel in the chase for the sense of belonging somewhere, or with someone, is one of the key themes in any Dark Academia story, and a great motivator for the outsiders narrators who being their journeys in academia. Our unnamed narrator is one of many, and his desire to belong is the most intense when he meets the equal parts charismatic and enigmatic, Bryn Cavendish.

As talented as he is devious, Bryn becomes a sort of mythical figure in our narrator’s life. He seems to be everywhere, to get everything he wants, and whoever wrongs him seems to be swiftly dealt with, to such an extent that the narrator starts to suspect if Bryn’s magic is really only ever showmanship or something more sinister. The friendship between both characters is going to quickly become the center of the narrator’s life, as well as the focus of story we are being told, however, in more than one occasion, we get glimpses that the narrator is not at all trustworthy. He tells us that his memory is slippery, he questions if he is misremembering something or says that he is “supposed to be telling the truth now.” and all of these statements emerge to conjure up a facet of the character’s personality in the reader’s mind, a feeling of distrust perhaps. Which only contributes to the greatness of the novel, and a testament to the writer’s astounding abilities. I was mesmerized by it. It was definitely one of my favorite writings in recent years, and I wish it could have gone forever, I wish the book was one thousand pages long, I never wanted it to end, and that made me read it so slowly, taking a fortnight to read a book I could have been done with in days, just because the mere thought of parting with it was too much to bear. You could say I got obsessed with it, and you wouldn’t be wrong. I joked with my friends that the center of my world, my whole personality, became And He Shall Appear.

At the novels core, one theme takes the central stage, that of friendship and we are confronted with the very nature of trust, obsession, envy and loyalty. The narrator’s dynamic with Bryn and the role he plays in his life are minutiously observed and then turned upside down.

It is not a secret that the Dark Academia genre is one that holds my utmost fascination and devotion, I wrote my master thesis on the topic after all. Which is to say that not only I have read my fair share of titles (over thirty as of this moment) I do not get tired when they take inspiration from one another, as they are won’t to do since the origins of the very genre trace back to the Campus Novel, a genre that works similarly in the sense that all stories transpire in the same manner, and follow the same guidelines. That has never bothered me because I adore them for this very reason. In the many titles I have come across I have encountered both the ones I loved and others that I disliked, and my praises are never given freely. With that in mind, I was thoroughly and completely shattered by And He Shall Appear. It was an instant favorite. And quite frankly the best book of the year 2024 for me. Easiest addition to my lifetime favorites list.

This book manages to take these tropes we are so familiar with and love, the ingredients of what makes a story Dark Academia, and it delivers not only the perfect recipe, but it constructs the outcome with mastery, adding unexpected elements to surprise you when you least expected it, subverting everything you thought was fact in the narrative, and ending on a triumphant note. This book is the reason why I love the Dark Academia stories. To say I am passionate about this story is an understatement, this story made me glad to be alive so I have a chance to read it.

At once a quintessential Dark Academia text, this one is sure to be sitting at the table with the big names that precede it. And it will surely inspire others that will come afterward as well. Reading And He Shall Appear if you love the Dark Academia genre isn’t a need, it is a must. The reader will be transformed, fascinated and enchanted, just as I was.

Thank you to Union Square & Co. for sending me an arc in exchange for my honest opinion!

✰ 3.75 stars ✰

“And I realized: magic is conflict. It’s that place where the possible and impossible meet, where belief and disbelief collide like a match against the striking strip.

Maybe this explains why, when two very different people come together, the effect can be—there’s no better word for it—magical.”

A hauntingly evocative debut where magic and macabre, math and music, mystery and mischief, obsession and privilege, envy and pride, possession and power collide in a compelling dynamic that engulfs its readers in its rich dark academia vibes - ensnaring the reader just as much as the unnamed narrator that is entranced by the ever-charismatic, effortlessly beautiful, 'That “B.” Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered. Bryn.' From his first meeting with the Devil, he has been enraptured and enthralled by his presence, helplessly drawn into his orbit, seeking his admiration and approval, and mesmerized by his talent and charm in the ever-hope of earning his respect and reaching his level - for to him, Bryn is the epitome of everything he is not.

Rich and privileged Bryn who settles scores on simply his name and face that exudes a class ever so superior and above all others - even more so, by the grandiose way in which he beguiles his audience with his captivating tricks that seem as otherworldly as the paranormal concepts that behold his mind. It is that certain authoritative hold over the weak - one that commands expectation and heeds approval that has the protagonist become a shadow of an illusion of his own making. But when he challenges that claim - it is the catalyst for the conflict that reels into one of both contrast in class and status blisteringly apparent and he starts to break free of the magical hold Bryn had over him and lose everything in the fallout of their friendship - if it had ever been one?

“And then, a moment when we were frozen in time, spellbound: one stuck with horror and the other with glee, our fates tied together in mad camaraderie by wine and music and a magical sort of danger.”

This was a very immersive read; very gripping, very atmospheric, but best of all, very well-written to the point that it was very easy to be drawn into the plot and impossible to stop. The writing flowed seamlessly and was descriptive with sharp, crisp dialogue and fine attention to detail that did not allow any wasted words. Nothing was superfluous and nothing seemed inconsistent to the story. The dual timeline is captured in such a seamless way that it is not difficult to discern when the unnamed narrator transports back to his memories of his days as a music student on scholarship at Cambridge University and the present of when he returns to the ghosts of his past. '...as if repeating a tricky passage of music. As if he were a skill I might lose without constant and devoted practice.' Despite how smitten he was over Bryn, the narrator still had a part of his personality that still existed - threatening to overtake the foreboding hold that Bryn had over him.

The supporting characters are unlikable, because they are Bryn's friends -because they, too, retain that same level of disdain and scorn over those lesser than them and it shows. I liked how you never quite knew what to expect or when the anvil would fall in when and where their relationship would unravel - when would the magic of his hold over him start to unfurl. The sense of trepidation and tension is prevalent throughout and when it elevates to the point of no return - it is a visceral feeling that I could sense - heightened by the supernatural touch that the author included. 'I was yet to learn that perspective is everything.' Of how he starts to see the cracks in his own behavior that shatters reality, but morphs into the crazed delusion of something sinister and twisted taking hold - the brilliance is in trying to discern if it actually was happening or all in his imagination.

And this part fascinated me; how she envisioned this chilling eerie presence of what terrified the narrator of what horrors Bryn was capable of, and wondering how much was in his own psyche or what actually was happening, while still refusing to believe what he thought to be true. 'Please, I thought. I just want us to be okay.' It is that descent into a darkness of shattering beliefs - that aching confession to salvage a friendship - if it had ever been one - simply to coexist in each other's presence. - aching confession to coexist happily - irrevocably shattered.

“Music is like pain. You forget what it was to experience it in the moment. You only know that there was no such thing as time, and your whole self was splintered into fragments, connected to everything that ever mattered and that ever would.”

The author's own keen passion for music shines in the way she describes with such care the narrator's own passion for music. She alludes to musical references that equate to his own emotions which are channeled into his taut relationship with Bryn - chilling impromptu piano concerto - the dominance to please, as well as assert who holds the most power - was one of my favorite scenes - a powerful performance that also displayed the harsh display of the stark difference in their upbringing, as well as their status. The musical metaphors were so poignant, and it gave a more bittersweet feel to the story, while also heightening the more intense moments, two key instances, which really hurt to read.

It felt alive and still achingly sad; how that sense of unease that something unsettling is starting to take shape between the two. 'Heat seemed to come off him in waves, pulsing like a dark heart.' It's the bewitching power and control he's able to inflict upon him - convincing him to behave or see things differently in a fragmented and disoriented state that has him doubt his own state of mind. That crippling deterioration as well as still this intense and fervent onslaught of wanting to stay in Bryn's good graces was an intense battle, but one that was depicted very well.

“You wondered for a long time, but you finally have your answer, and the answer is that he’s still here. He’s still here, and he’s been waiting for you.”

I had my doubts of whether or not this book would leave a mark on me. I waited for it as I sank deeper into the abyss of the narrator's own undoing - of watching a friendship he wielded with such purpose and expectation - fall apart. It is impossible not to note the slight similarities to The Secret History; whether deliberate or not, I am uncertain. Or simply as an ode to a book that acted as a precursor to so many others. But it is also the final few chapters that delivered a reveal that depicted what the plot had slightly been hinting towards, but never really outspoken about it. 'One thing that never changes in my replayings: this music is about love.' How a dynamic such as theirs - though platonic, often, if not possible, could have been bordering towards something else, which neither of them chose to address, or simply evaded before it came to fruition.

The ending also delivered some of the most heartbreaking and poetic prose - that was both wistful and tragic, reminiscent of times gone and an ill-fated loss of what once was. 'For heights we might have reached. For doors, not yet closed. For everything that might have been...' Words so raw, but emotional, and tied up the story so well, that my heart ached at the simplicity yet beauty in the words. A story about a kind of love that can be both harmful and still wanting to be possessed, for the lengths we go to to not only live up to their expectations, but then the means we go to protect ourselves from it. It was such a painstaking bittersweet ending - the glimpses of a friendship lost - set adrift over bouts of jealousy, spite and scorn. It viscerally hurt, a hollow ache in my chest over what had befallen upon the two - over the impossible dream of what was taken from them and imagining what life could have been, if things had played out a bit differently.

*Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.