This is a campus novel with a deep, dark core, told from the viewpoint of an unreliable adult narrator who frames himself as the protagonist. In highly idealised fashion, he recalls his memories at Cambridge University, where he had fought hard for his place to read music at Cambridge. Not a day went by that he did not come across the concessions and advantages afforded to his peers from more privileged backgrounds. None, however, was more privileged that Bryn Cavendish. The protagonist recalls his increasingly frenzied attempts to emulate Bryn by dating his cousin, adopting the drinking culture, and neglecting his studies. In hindsight, it is clear that he was gradually being drawn into a maelstrom of risky unhealthy behaviours, and these end in Bryn’s death ….
With its supernatural and psychological elements, I found this campus novel hugely compelling, but one thing irritated me: the unreliable narrator’s namelessness which stands in stark contrast the to the nuanced, convincing depiction of his exploits at Cambridge. However, I wish to thank NetGalley and Fourth Estate for the ARC that allowed me to read this unusual debut novel.

For fans of The Secret History!
Atmospheric with seamless writing, I didn't want to put this down once I had started

Having heard this book being compared to Saltburn, I was so intrigued as I loved the film – and I'm so pleased to say that I was not disappointed! The writing in this book is phenomenal, and I lost count of the amount of times I highlighted passages on my kindle that I found meaningful or particularly interesting.
I would agree that it shares similar themes to Saltburn (and it also reminded me of a favourite book of mine, The Things we do to our Friends by Heather Darwent): it's a dark academia, and it focuses on obsession, toxic friendships, and is told through (what I think was) an unreliable narrator (which I LOVE because it adds another layer to the narrative to think about). I absolutely loved the elements of illusion, magic and the occult brought in here, and there were a few chapters that really made the hairs on my arms stand on end from the uneasy and dread-filled atmosphere conjured in this book. Overall, I am so glad I read this – it's made me want to read more dark academia – and I could definitely see myself rereading it in future!

We meet the charismatic Bryn in the first few days of being an undergraduate at Cambridge university through the unnamed narrator whose obsession with Bryn and his magic tricks is the focal point of the story. I actually enjoyed the unfolding of the story and the nuances the narrator didn’t seem to pick up on. There are some quite deep philosophical thoughts explored, which I found myself thinking about after I had put the book down. I liked the double timelines of now and then, looking back at who you were and the choices you make as a naive 18 year old is always interesting.

“A deeply unsettling story of obsessive friendship, dark magic and the ways in which we mythologise our past.”



This first sentence in the blurb says it all. It just leaves out that it is told in a very boring way.



The unnamed and very uninteresting main character comes to Cambridge to study music. Immediately he falls for the most glamorous guy in college and worms his way into his life. Unfortunately, the glamorous guy is a prick because these guys always are. So far, this dark academia story is not very witty and inventive. And it stays that way. There are a few chapters where we see our nameless guy in the present, revisiting the college. But these chapters come without a warning so I got confused where in the story I was almost every time.



I love dark academia but this book adds nothing new to the genre. It is boring and so very slow. The characters lack personality and nothing happens most of the time. Our narrator is of course unreliable and idealizes his relationship with his “friends”. He never evolved from this time and as an adult is still stuck with his memories. The thing with the magic tricks is ridiculous and I wonder if really all campus was hypnotized by this guy. It is not spooky or captivating and I had to force my way through this book.



I have to say that this was not my cup of tea.

I love a good Dark Academia tale of obsession and spiralling loss of control, with some class discussion as well. This hit all of those notes and had some interesting aspects, but just didn’t quite hit the heights I wanted it to.

Dark academia can be so hit and miss for me - this one was a bit of both. The story of our unnamed narrator and his obsessive friendship with the mysterious (maybe magical) Bryn takes centrestage. The whole story basically hinges on the amiguity of who Bryn is, what he capable of and what being close to him means. I struggled with both main characters and the love interest Alexis. All of them were pretty crappy people and not in a fun way. There were times where I was totally drawn in and others when it all felt convoluted. I'll see how it sits with me over time but for now, I've come away unsure.

When a young impressionable working class man arrives in Cambridge to study music, he soon falls for the mystery of the enigmatic Bryn. Haunted by figures after the death of his father, the narrator is enthralled by Bryn; his lifestyle and his penchant for magic and the occult. Working his way into Bryn’s inner circle may be decision he lives to regret. Returning to Cambridge some twenty years later, he is faced with the past that will lead him on a path to self-destruction.

I have seen the book likened in other reviews to Saltburn. As I started reading, I was expecting the homoerotic relationship featured in Saltburn, and before it, Brideshead Revisited. However, I would say the narrator’s infatuation with Bryn runs deeper and is more complicated than sexual. The narrator is grieving his father and their complicated relationship and he is certainly vulnerable in wanting to impress Bryn.

I found initial chapters quite long, which may put some people off. However, as the book twists towards the end, the chapters come faster as it gathers speed and the story quickly progresses. The tone changes from the macabre and nostalgic, to a more melancholy reflection on the accuracy of memory that reminded me a bit of The Sense of An Ending. Further enriched by dark magic, the reader can have their own take on whether the narrative is a result of ghosts, supernatural and macabre or the more explainable everyday phenomenon of grief.

A brilliant dark academia story.

I absolutely loved this authors descriptive language and scene setting. I found myself genuinely creeped out in parts and was sucked in from the first chapter.

The characters are all so interesting and well fleshed out. I could definitely see myself rereading this book and reading more from this author.

An almost 5 star read, but I felt that the end dragged out and lost me a bit. Still, I would highly recommend reading this book!

Thanks: Received from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5

I'm very undecided about this book - on the one hand it is yet another story about a poor northerner with a troubled background trying to find his place in an elite university and desperate to be part of the inner circle of the magnetic, entitled few who he perceives everyone else is drawn towards. On the other hand, this is a well written Gothic horror with some creepy passages and a perceptive study of unrequited love, guilt and grief. I think I choose to appreciate the latter, especially as there is a good twist at the end!
Thank you to netgalley and 4th Estate and William collins for an advance copy of this book

Brideshead Revisited meets Saltburn with a very dark spin, Kate van der Borgh pulls out all the stops and offers up a dark tale or of northern lad at Cambridge seduced by the upper-class allure of the 'in' set and failing to fit in at every turn. It's a lovely telling of an age-old story, and it has a few twists and turns that are heavily foreshadowed before they happen. Gripping storytelling and a super creation of a malevolent atmosphere that takes right off towards the end.

A book that speaks volumes about growing up, moving away from family, the pains of love and infatuation - the Rites of Passage.
Arriving at University, our fresher is completely infatuated with Bryn, who has a charismatic and compelling way about him. Our fresher wasn’t able to manage nor understand why he felt like he did but was desperate for friendship with this strange young man.
At times this story was dark and unsettling and almost felt like a ghost story towards the end, as well as feeling deeply sad.
The narrative jumps backwards and forwards in time, and I must confess to getting a bit confused but that didn’t stop my thorough enjoyment of this book.
I’m eagerly looking forward to the next book from this new Author and would recommend this book as a good read. Something a little bit different.

An awkward young, poignantly unnamed man as the narrator, arrives in Cambridge from 'the North' and is drawn to the snobbery, nihilism and charisma of a clique of Southern public school educated students, who are hugely privileged and with a strong sense of entitlement and who only grudgingly allow him into their circle when he dates the decent and likeable cousin of one of the group. But it is the seemingly sociopathic, Messianic Bryn who is the darkly mesmerising centre of the group, around whom all others fawn. The main characters are not kind or likeable, least of all the narrator whose desperate attempts to ingratiate himself in order to 'belong' lead him to a great deal of poor decision making and made me squirm as a reader. The narrator's obsession with Bryn is palpable, physical and emotional and like a mania. We are in a university and these are first years so there is teenage angst, emotional baggage around fathers, abandonment, young people away from home processing their identity and relationships. Why does the narrator hanker after the 'cool' group over the bright, hardworking students who are kind to him? The writing has a steely inevitability. The cruelties are glimmering barbs and reminded me of Saltburn in terms of the unreliable narration and the casual ruin of lives, manipulation, dubious morality and reader/viewer discomfort as we voyeuristically watch the demise of characters who are in the orbit of the fascinating, beautiful and repellent. If you enjoyed Saltburn or were fascinated by Donna Tartt's The Secret History. 'And He Shall Appear' will definitely appeal to you.

Really loved this! The Secret History meets Saltburn are great comp titles and it really marries up. Highly recommend.

Ok, so I am a fan of dark academia and one that includes the possibilities of ghosts, catches my attention right away. And with a mix of ghouls, magic and mystery, And He Shall Appear has all of the right ingredients.
Our protagonist is telling his story of arriving into the rarified world of Cambridge UNiversity to study music from a background of the Northern Comprehensive school system, and he is struggling to settle into his new world. His struggles come to an end when he meets Bryn Cavendish. Bryn is a magician and is soon notorious for his tricks. Tricks that become increasingly darker and more dangerous, leading people to wonder, just where he has gained his power.
And then, tragedy strikes when Bryn and his girlfriend are found dead.
Now, our protagonist has returned to his university days and must try to untangle the truth of what happened all those years ago.
This is a dark, fast-paced novel, driven by music, which forms its core.

This is one of those books that has left me feeling quite uncomfortable.. This is all credit to the skilled writing that of the author that has managed to create such a very dark and unsettling atmosphere that seems to have permeated into my bones and mind leaving me with a sense of discomfort. This book is going to stay with me for some time as I work through the characters and what actually happened and try to come to some rational understanding. Every once in a while I love to read a book like this, that continues to haunt me and make me think long after the last page.

This pseudo-gothic novel is slow and deep.
It is told utilising a jumbled timeline like a lot of modern novels.
The difference with this novel compared to lots of the others is that this jumbled timeline really works here. It is possible that this is the only way that the novel would work, utilising the slow reveal of emotions and facts.
I did not go to Cambridge University, but the description of the University and the events are just like I could imagine them to have been in reality.
Walking in Cambridge during term time actually leads to the atmosphere conjured by this book.
It is no surprise to read that Kate, the author is also a musician, as some of the best parts of this novel are related to music and musicians.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I am looking forward to future works by Kate whether they are novels or short stories in which she also excels.

If you like Donna Tartt's "Secret History" or Saltburn then "And He Shall Appear" by Kate van der Borgh should tick the boxes for you. One young man, desperate to fit in with Cambridge ways is captivated by Bryn and soon falls under his spell. To be in his circle is the narrator's dream and to be exiled is his nightmare. Such a haunting book, very Bryonesque. Well worth a read.

First and foremost, did I enjoy this book?
Yes and no,it wasn't as dark as I expected it to be and the main character was a tad boring.
The unnamed main character has just arrived at Cambridge to study music and he immediately feels out of his depth especially being from a working class background but he finds a friend in Tim and a few others.
But he is mesmerized by the larger than life character Bryn,the student that everyone wants to hang around with.
When the main character gets a chance to go to one of Bryns famous magic parties he sees this a way in and if it means dating Bryns cousin then so be it.
Admittedly by the end of the book I thought to myself what was the whole point the ending lacked something, what I'm not entirely sure?

I love dark academia's aestethic, but I have to understand that unless it is set in a magical or fantasy school, the genre isn't for me. There is so much potential there, and it felt under exploited. The university only serves as a background, the characters are usually an archetype, lacking the dimensions I love. As for the relationship, after reading 'The secret history" and 'If we were villains', I have the feeling there isn't much else but jealousy, underwhelming obsession, and relationships slowly falling to pieces, generally because of one annoying character. And death, of course. The thing is, I think I would like it it was built more like a murder mystery, with more than a flawed and psychologically flat narrator, with little else going on.

That being said, and even though I really have the impression the story was not exploited as much as it could have like other book in the genre, the questions around truths, representations and reality is interesting.

Let me be clear: the book is good for what it is trying to be, it is just not for me.

Overall, if you like classic dark academia with a little spin, you'll love this one. If you struggled with them, it is maybe better to find another book that would suit your taste.