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.

A tense and gripping read. Our unnamed narrator arrives at Cambridge University from his working-class Lancashire home. Initially, he finds it hard to make sense of his new surroundings with its deep-seated traditions and wealthy inhabitants. However, this changes as soon as he becomes acquainted with the glamorous Bryn. Their stuttering friendship leads our narrative voice to meet an array of other toffs and he is quickly beguiled by their confidence, sense of joi de vivre and the risks that they take (drugs, heights, their flippant treatment of each other). In short, they make our narrator feel alive. But at what cost? As their friendships intensify and their behaviour spirals into ever-more dangerous territory, identities splinter and the truth fractures.

Dealing with themes of identity, class, the supernatural and obsession, this is a gripping read. It reminded me a bit of ‘Saltburn’ actually and has a similar sense of darkness to ‘The Secret History’ and ‘The Cloisters’.

Oooohhhh…..dark academia is a love of mine - and I’m always a bit interested in Cambridge to be honest- it’s always felt quite a dark place for me.

This book is described as being “deeply unsettling”, but I didn’t find this to be the case for most of the story, and I was wondering if there was something wrong with me. And then I got it…then I really got it…it really is deeply unsettling- you just have to wait it out…

Excellently written, engrossing to be honest, and deeply unsettling!

My thanks to Netgalley and 4th Estate for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a dark and unsettling read, dark academia with a supernatural twist. It moved quite slowly for me, the narrator describing his uni days which start off in a relatively normal way and then descend into something darker. The characters are largely unlikeable, which they often are in dark academia, apart from Tim, the one steady ship in the story and a connection to reality. We follow the unnamed narrator back and forth between the present and his past at university and witness an unravelling of a fractured mind. There is obsession, infatuation, paranoia and I was left feeling simply a little sad. Although it didn’t quite catch fire for me, I think this will be enjoyed by many dark academia fans.

A dark compelling read!

The Secret History meets If We Were Villians. Having never read If We Were Villians I only had The Secret History to go by which I had mixed feelings about.

Do I dare say I enjoyed this more than The Secret History? The first quarter of this book was slow but for what it built into it was worth it. It had a dark creepy feeling throughout that left me uneasy especially when reading at night. While the chapters are long it didn't seem to be an issue with this book as I felt some kind of pull to keep reading. A brilliant debut novel I look forward to reading more by this author.

I do love a good dark academia tale but this book is just so much more. It has great depth that is not usual in this type of novel. It was really immersive. More please ......