An unexpectedly beautiful read that I enjoyed from start to finish!

Davis, a young Black gay man, on the eve of his wedding, is forced to confront his estranged father's death and the painful past he thought he'd left behind, challenging his understanding of family, relationships, identity, and desire.

This a quick, fantastic debut! So deeply personal and heart wrenching, but also so beautiful. It covers SO MUCH: sexuality, gender, interracial relationships dynamics, family, estranged family, complicated grief, etc, but everything is given space and flows so well together. The way in which grief is described and felt throughout the book especially grieving an estranged parent felt so real and honest, while also giving time to the new life together Everett and Davis are taking on. Lots of changing POVs, but again, it doesn't feel overwhelming, but really works and informs us in the moment of really intense events from various angles. Wonderful storytelling in that way.

Fantastic characters. I loved how nuanced it is; characters and your perception of them change throughout the book, which feels honest and true to life as everyone is complicated and human! I really enjoyed Davis. Witnessing their growth and process was so important. I loved Davis and Everett's relationship; even through the ups and downs - I felt like they were solid and I could count on them. The open door sexual relationship was unexpected but welcome as it didn't take away from the read but really informed their intimacy and relationship. The side characters also felt real with their own POVs (Davis' sister, Everett's dad,etc) and inner thoughts that further informed us about the complicated dynamics.

I loved every minute of it.

READ FOR
- LGBTQ+ Rep
- Dealing w/ Grief
- Complicated Familial Relationship
- Character Driven Reads
- Multiple POVs & Flashbacks

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC in exchange with my honest review.

I have to be honest and say that I nearly put this book down several times, but I'm glad I pushed through. The last 20 pages or so were very beautiful. I wish that the whole book had been more of that and less of, well, everything else.

The biggest flaw is the number of POVs, switched between with little to no acknowledgment, leading to a confusing reading experience at times. Several left me frustrated and sometimes just angry. After reading the end, I understand the author's intent behind some of these choices. But in the moment, some of that intended foreshadowing felt off-putting coming from the mouths of anyone other than the main character. If I sound vague, it's on purpose, as the author clearly wanted the final act to be something the reader discovers organically and not through someone else's review so i want to respect that choice.

The story and the message are important, especially in today's climate. And I applaud the author for writing something so vulnerable that must be near to her own heart. I just wish I had gotten to read more about it. I saw that she has a few published essays and I will definitely be giving those a go.

A beautiful story about queer identity and family. I loved the different perspectives offered and the community given to the main character.

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was absolutely gorgeous--the prose, the descriptions of music and the viola, just blew my mind. The characters and relationships were complex and real and people were allowed to have nuance, to grow and change. The portrayal of how the MC overcame her abuse and grief and pain and came into a place of acceptance was so poignant and brought me to tears. I just loved it.

When the Harvest Comes delves into a man's conflicting feelings around love, grief, religion, sexuality, and gender. Davis is a up and coming viola player who brings their own style and flare to the stuffy world of classical music. Davis is supported by their soon to be husband Everett, and early the book they travel to Everett's family's home to get married. Davis is estranged from their father (who is called "The Reverend") and their sister also isn't coming to the wedding. Their mother died when Davis was quite young. Davis is looking forward to the support of Everett's family and musical opportunities that are coming.

During the wedding reception, Davis learns that the reverend has died in a car accident and their world turns upside down. Much of this book is about complicated grief around their relationship with their father and how that affects their relationship with their now husband Everett, as Davis starts to withdraw. There's a lot of internal struggles that Davis goes through in this book, and Norris writes the challenging emotions well. I have some minor quibbles in some heavy handedness on Everett's MAGA-curious brother, and Davis' latter journey into their gender was a bit out of left field.

Thank you to Random House via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

Oooh my heart. When I read the synopsis I knew it was going to break and it did. But the book was great and I definitely see this one being a popular one this year.

Denne Michele Norris delivers a beautiful novel about love, family, identity, and the inescapable pull of reconciling with your past. The novel follows Davis, a young Black gay man coming to terms with the death of his father and their painful history. The prose is stunning, rich with emotion and atmosphere, though the pacing feels either rushed or too slow at different times in the novel. Overall, it was an intimate and immersive read.

4 stars

This debut is a smash. It's extremely emotional and at times both heart and gut wrenching, but it is ultimately a story of hope and resilience and rising.

The central couple have experienced the recent loss of a particularly complicated parent, and as these things sometimes go, there's much more than just the complexities of grief to unpack in this departure. The loss not only impacts them as individuals but as a couple, and the results ripple out into the larger circles of their extended family. The focal points are in individual characters, in the central romantic relationship, in the famililal relationships, and - most engagingly - in the evolution of the self. I'm staying very vague on purpose. Readers should let the characters tell them what's happening, not external parties.

I hope there are many future efforts to come from Norris. This book runs a bit dark by nature of the central motifs, but it is hopeful and beautiful overall.

I am absolutely gutted by this story. Heartbroken is an understatement. These characters have stolen my heart and I am in awe of this beauitful writing.

3.5 At times, the story was hard to follow between the two timelines. This is definitely a story that needs to be told. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the characters. I look forward to reading more books from this author in the future. #WhentheHarvestComes #NetGalley

Sorry, not what I thought it would be. The write-up talked about Cleveland and Montauk, and a loving family story.

Much too graphic for my taste in novels, the middle half of the book was intriguing and well written, but it got weird in the end and I quickly need to read a different book.

This is not a book I can review honestly. It is an intimate very sexual novel about homosexual men who are struggling with past experiences and new relationships. The sex is graphic and I felt uncomfortable . There is an audience for this genre, it’s just not me.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to get early access to this book and I WILL be preordering a copy of it to own for my home library. It was gorgeous and overall took my breath away, and such an important piece of literature so intimate and soulful. One of my favourite reads of 2025.

This was an emotional read. It has grief, identity issues, trauma, and will take you on a roller coaster ride of emotions.

While Davis's story is impactful and an important one this book lost me when it came to the plot. It was either rushed in parts or completely lost in others. I don't mind stories with dual timelines but this one just jumped to much and too quickly from past to present.

However the author's writing is done beautifully and an excellent debut

When the Harvest Comes broke my heart, a little.

This book is a sad but hopeful exploration of trauma and love between Davis and Everett, their pasts and their future, and is above all a beautiful story of finding oneself and each other. I could try to lay out the core of the story, but trying to put the plot into a 100 word summary will never do it justice. Davis' journey is a study in grief, in love, and of family and relationships.

Large spoilers: <spoiler> The letter from The Reverend with the name suggestion made me absolutely bawl. </spoiler>

Thanks to the author/NetGalley/Publisher for allowing me to read this book.

3/5 ⭐

Thanks, NetGalley, for the e-arc in exchange for my review!

I really loved the subject matter but parts of this felt disjointed and dare I say random? The narrative shifted perspectives and sometimes I felt a few were unnecessary? Parts of the book (e.g., main romantic relationship) felt too good to be true and not realistic. I think all in all the book was a bit too ambitious and the pacing really showed this.

All that said, I was rooting for the characters! I liked the majority of them and there was some pretty good character development even with the side characters. The representation that this book provides is incredible as it breaks many gender roles! The ending I think was supposed to be shocking but I wasn't shocked. Still powerful though, it just felt drawn out.

I understand this is Denne Michele Norris's debut novel and I'd be curious to read what they write in the future.

This beautifully rendered novel is a poignant meditation on the complexities of love—romantic, familial, and self-affirming. At its heart is Davis Freeman, a gifted violist on the cusp of a new life with his beloved Everett. The opening scene, set on the eve of their wedding, brims with hope and tenderness, capturing Davis’s quiet defiance and longing for beauty as he prepares to meet Everett at the altar. Yet, even as he steps into his future, Davis carries the weight of his past—a burden that comes crashing back when he learns of his estranged father’s devastating car accident.

The novel is an achingly intimate portrayal of a man striving for freedom and a searing examination of the generational wounds that bind and break families. The strained relationship between Davis and his father, the venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman, is drawn with heartbreaking nuance. The Reverend’s strictness and intolerance once drove Davis away, yet the news of his father’s accident stirs unresolved grief and complicated love. Through a series of raw and deeply affecting flashbacks, the narrative explores the pain of rejection, the longing for parental acceptance, and the healing power of self-reclamation.

The writing is lyrical and evocative, with music as a powerful motif. Davis’s artistry with the viola becomes a symbol of both his emotional escape and his self-expression. The author captures the transformative nature of music, using it to mirror Davis’s inner turmoil and his eventual path toward reconciliation.

Profoundly moving and beautifully written, this novel is a testament to the endurance of love in all its forms.

The publisher provided ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Too jumpy with the timeline and too much reliance on sex scenes to fill pages. Not a lot of plot and storyline or growth of character development. In the end, the characters just seemed selfish and concerned about their own feelings rather than their partner, and i no longer cared about them.

This book? Divine. I could not put it down—finished it in less than 24 hours. Such beautiful writing of such gorgeously complex and flawed characters. What a truly incredibly-told story.

awesome and well written novel about people working through their past and preparing for their future. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.