Open, Heaven is a coming of age novel about one boy in the countryside meeting another and over the course of the year dealing with his feelings. James lives in a village in the countryside with his parents and younger brother. When he starts a milk round, he meets Luke, a charismatic boy with a bad reputation who has come to stay on his aunt and uncle's farm. As loner James is drawn to Luke, he learns about love and what the freedom of being almost an adult really means.

This is a novel that explores queer coming of age and the frustrations of feeling different to everyone else, as well as different kinds of friendship and love. It is tender and lyrical, but also easy to read, capturing the confusion of not knowing the same cues as everyone else because you're not part of the straight world. There's a slight framing device of a more present day narrative, but that is just a few scenes showing how James still longs for something lost, something he never had, rather than a separate story.

Both a beautifully tender queer coming of age novel, and a subtle piece of nature writing on the northern countryside, this books is like Seán Hewitt's poetry has come to life. Hewitt possesses the ability to make you flinch with his writing; there are flashes of eeriness and shocking inner thoughts, but mostly the prose is so stunning and familiar I had to stop and take a breath when reading. The most truthful novel about love, young love, unrequited love or queer love that I have read in a long time.

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt is a coming of age novel that captures the angst of struggling with love, sexuality, loneliness, desire, growing up.