Open, Heaven is the debut novel of Seán Hewitt. It follows James, a teenage boy growing up in a small village in England, through the year in which he meets Luke, the rebellious nephew of a local farmer and James' first love.

This is a small but mighty little novel, which somehow manages to pack so much into its pages. It deals with love, sexuality, grief, desire, and everything else that comes along with growing up. It is really a moving slice of life novel, with a hint of nostalgia woven throughout. And while James is truly the heart of this book, his connections with the other characters are what truly made my heart ache and swell as the story unfolded.

Hewitt's prose is decidedly unmatched, and at this point I would read his grocery list just to see how he'd make me feel about produce and dairy.

Thank you to the publisher Knopf and NetGalley for the eArc of this book!

This was so unexpectedly beautiful and heartbreaking. I want to start by saying the prose is very good and quite gorgeous. My main hang-up when reading novels written by poets is that the writing can sometimes be too flowery for my taste, but I found that <i>Open, Heaven</i> was rich without being overwrought.

James, as a character, is also very well written. We start the novel with him talking a bit about Luke and divulging some information about his current life. These little morsels of info made me curious to read on and see how this year with Luke affected James as a teen and an adult. Sixteen year-old James is shy and lonely, the only openly gay kid in his village. He has no friends at school, and jumps at the chance to spend more time with Luke. The slow development of James' unrequited love for Luke and how it affected the rest of his life (namely, how he interacted with his parents and younger brother) was very well done.

This being a first person POV, we get a very clear look at what James is thinking and feeling. I think Hewitt wrote James' perspective very realistically. I could understand why James was acting the way he was. I also saw a lot of my teenage self in James too, with all that loneliness and isolation. Hewitt does a beautiful job capturing the pain and longing that comes along with being outcast from your peers.

I definitely enjoyed portions of this, especially the beginning. The writing is lyrical and beautiful, but at times it felt a bit much. I found myself really drawn to James’s character as an adult and wish we had a bit more of his perspective throughout the story.

But overall, this is a tender slice of life story about first love.

If you’re a fan of Call Me By Your Name or Swimming in the Dark, this one is definitely worth checking out.

(Thank you to the publisher for the ARC)

A poignant and poetic coming of age story about James, a gay teenager who becomes fascinated, then falls in love with Luke, his charismatic neighbor and best friend. The writing is lyrical and the descriptions of the narrator’s small village and surrounding nature are visual and vivid. The turmoil, pain, and beauty of first love was also very well rendered here, and the MC’s thoughts were realistic for his age.

Heartfelt but never overly sweet, Open, Heaven has all the confusion and butterflies that come with adolescent desire. Although, James finds his desires complicated, more serious than a normal crush. While the novel occupies much of the time having a beautiful medley of Hewitt's prose, it never distracts from the important mission James finds himself in: figuring out where desire comes from. While James desires someone close to him, he thinks about how other models of masculinity exists in his life, whether through his father, brother, or even someone else's father, or the absence thereof. Hewitt strings together a novel that is always on the cusp of hopefulness, always within arms reach, but it's up to us to want to embrace it if we dare to, even in the security and authority of remembering one's past.

i did not intend on loving this book as much as i did.

open, heaven is very reminiscent of douglas stuart’s works (gorgeous writing of a sad gay teenager Going Through It™️) and that is exactly up my alley. it also captures queer yearning in a similar way to sunburn by chloe michelle howarth which, by the way, is one of my favorite books of all time. so essentially this book was made for me.

the main character was painted so vividly that i wanted to crawl into this book and give him a hug because goddamn does he need one. i felt his sorrow, his agony, and his typical teenage angst as if all of his emotions were my very own. the descriptions of how james (the mc) feels toward luke really tugged at my heart. i love stories that capture what it feels like to be young and in love—especially with queerness involved. it’s both painful and wonderful to see how quickly your life can revolve around a single person and the fear that they may not reciprocate those feelings. and oh my god, the writing. i could drone on and on about it but as soon as i get my hands on a physical copy you better believe it will be so marked up it will basically become unreadable.

gosh, this book hurt. but it hurt in such a beautiful, perfect way that i’m completely fine with. i want to turn this book into a teddy bear and hug it.

tl;dr: gorgeous, sad, heartbreaking, and perfectly queer novel that quite frankly ruined my life in the best way possible

(thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc!)

Oh, this hurt me. Great descriptive writing that painted a lovely picture of the seasons and life in this Northern England village. It felt as if I was there and was rather poetic. On top of that, a very raw portrayal of being a teenager: feelings of inadequacy, desire, embarrassment, shame and guilt. How these emotions still linger, yet transform into adulthood. Above all, the agony of loving someone and wanting to be loved in return. UGH. I want more.

A poignant and poetic coming of age story about James, a gay teenager who becomes fascinated, then falls in love with Luke, his charismatic neighbor and best friend. The writing is lyrical and the descriptions of the narrator’s small village and surrounding nature are visual and vivid. The turmoil, pain, and beauty of first love was also very well rendered here, and the MC’s thoughts were realistic for his age.

This novel reminded me of Call Me By Your Name in tone and theme - so if you’re a CMBYN fan you’ll probably love this one, too.

"Open, Heaven" by Seán Hewitt is a poignant story about first loves. The novel follows the lives of two adolescents, James and Luke, who meet in a small Irish village in the early aughts and profoundly shape each other’s lives. Narrated retrospectively by James, the book provides insight into his inner thoughts hidden beneath his shy exterior.

Hewitt paints a vivid picture of the landscape, characters, and the intense emotions and struggles experienced on the journey to adulthood. In life, the path not traveled tends to get engrained in memories yet leaving us wondering. Luke remaining a significant figure in James' memory, leaves a sense of longing and curiosity about what might have been.

As a reader, I found "Open, Heaven" to be deeply moving. I highly recommend this beautiful, dreamy, and relatable story to fans of Philippe Besson's "Lie With Me," Ocean Vuong's "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," Sarah Winman's "Tin Man," André Aciman's "Call Me By Your Name," and Tomasz Jedrowski's "Swimming in the Dark." If you enjoy the works of these authors, you'll surely find this novel to be a compelling read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for this amazing ARC.

Beautifully written. A very emotional story of a young boy coming to terms with his sexuality and the affects it has on him and his family. A little slow to start.