Absolutely stunning coming of age queer narrative. I inhaled this beautiful story in one sitting and was utterly transported. Hewitt is such an incredible talent and receiving this arc was a privilege. Many thanks to NetGalley and Jonathan Cape.

This captivating novel is a journey of self-discovery. As an adult, James returns to Thornmere, the village of his childhood, to reflect on his transition into adulthood and, most profoundly, his love for his friend Luke who had ‘transcended himself’ into his life.

Through themes of renewal, woven into the rhythm of the changing seasons, the novel explores the complexities of love and desire, touching on religious undertones of punishment and redemption. Hewitt, an accomplished poet, infuses the narrative with lyrical, nature-filed language which captures the ache of teenage yearning, the intensity of desire, and the solitude of feeling like an outsider.

Thanks to Random House UK, Vintage Jonathan Cape and Netgalley for a review copy.

This was just wonderful and reminded me that excellent books still exist! The writing is poetic, the story touching and I could not stop reading or thinking about it. Highly reccomend!

“The only thing in my mind then, and all night afterwards as I lay in bed, was the vision of Luke’s face, like a bright mask, lit up in the dark field. A sudden apparition revealed by a glowing flare, his eyes starry with the fireworks. Even his hair seemed to blaze. I felt a pull towards him, like the pull a fire makes on the air, dragging things into it and blazing them into its hot, white centre.”

Open, Heaven is a thoughtful and lyrical coming of age story, primarily set in the early 2000s during the protagonist’s teenage years. When James meets Luke it sets a spark alight and nothing is ever the same. This is a beautifully written, nuanced novel about isolation, love and loss. Hewitt’s poetic style was wonderful and the characters came to life so beautifully and hauntingly. This is a book I’ll definitely return to – immediately an instant classic of its genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Books for the advance copy of this stunning novel.

What a superb, nostalgic read. I absolutely loved this novel and, consequently, I recommend to everyone!

We meet James, a gay married thinking back to his childhood in rural England, where he meets Luke - a more rebellious boy, older, with a West Country vernacular - and quite different to James. The narrator realises he is gay in his teenage years and as an adult, he is telling the tale from his past. He is bullied at school and not very confident - but he knows he is gay. Meeting Luke is a monumental event in his life, one that sets the trajectory for his latter childhood years - and Luke is supportive of this.

I love how Hewitt takes readers to a particular time and place - it is very visceral in places and just lovely, the way he describes sounds and feelings, very much like I imagine James would have. As a gay man, and someone who came out later in life, I can completely empathise with James' feelings - almost like obsessions. At the end, Luke moves away with is father but James is just delighted to say goodbye to him. Essentially, as an adult, James thinks he sees Luke - and this triggers all of these memories from twenty years prior.

Sean Hewitt has written a book that brilliantly sums up what it means to be a gay man and what it means to have such strong feelings for someone else. It is perfect in many ways.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Although not a YA novel, I feel sure that this will find a passionate readership in more mature teen readers: I certainly would have devoured this classic coming-of-age tale as a teen myself. Beautifully written and lyrical, as an adult fast approaching 50 I wished for some more action to break up the solipsism, but it's that very quality that I think will appeal to younger readers.

Seán Hewitt’s Open, Heaven is a luminous debut that captures the aching beauty of first love and the complexities of queer adolescence. Set in a rural English village in 2002, the novel follows sixteen-year-old James as he navigates his emerging identity and an intense, unrequited love for the enigmatic Luke.
Hewitt, a celebrated poet, brings a lyrical grace to his prose, rendering the natural world and James's internal landscape with exquisite detail. The narrative, steeped in nostalgia and longing, explores themes of desire, memory, and the passage of time. While the plot unfolds with subtlety, the emotional resonance is profound, offering a poignant meditation on the formative power of youthful infatuation.
Open, Heaven is a tender, evocative novel that lingers in the heart, marking Hewitt as a compelling new voice in literary fiction.

First of all, incredible writing. Perfect balance of accessibility and poetry. Heartbreaking story. Just wish it had been longer!

A pretty decent queer bildungsroman. The passages exploring the protagonist's interior world were rich and astute, but did leave the book feeling a little unbalanced and slight in other ways - for example, we don't actually get to witness much real-time relationship development between the two boys, or the subsequent breakdown of the protagonist's marriage (though I feel like this was probably more of a conscious decision). Personally, I found the anguish of those quiet familial tensions (particularly from a queer perspective) more affecting than the romantic torment, though I will say the conclusion of the boys' relationship was beautifully tender and bittersweet.


Rated 3 but really a 3.5.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt

Wow. Open, Heaven is one of those rare reads that sneaks up on you—quiet, lyrical, and absolutely brimming with feeling. Set in a small northern village in 2002, it follows James, a tender, searching teen discovering his queerness, and his electric connection with Luke, the beautiful, damaged boy who crashes into his world like a storm.

Seán Hewitt’s poetic voice shines here—every line feels carefully carved, dripping with atmosphere and yearning. This isn’t your typical coming-of-age; it’s raw, aching, and full of the quiet, breathless terror of first love. James and Luke’s relationship is messy, magnetic, and deeply human.

If you love queer fiction that leans into vulnerability, longing, and the beauty of emotional risk, this is for you. I knocked off one star only because I wanted more—more of their world, their future, their growth—but maybe that ache is exactly the point.

Tender, haunting, and unforgettable.

I had really hoped to enjoy this coming of age queer novel more than I did; for a novel that features so much nature writing, I found it oddly dull and colourless, and the plot and character work rather flat.

Our protagonist James is a 16 year old boy who has come out to his parents and at school. His coming out has led him to loneliness, unsure of where he fits in. Much of the time James is left to look after his little brother, who suffers from debilitating seizures. After taking up a job on a milk round, James meets Luke, an edgy young man with a father in jail and a mother who has remarried and left for France. Luke becomes his obsession, as does wondering whether his love and infatuation for Luke is reciprocal.

The story is set in a small English village off a motorway, and the best scenes for me were those in the hollow - they were fraught with sexual tension and teenage angst. The rest of the story meandered along at a slow pace and sent me into a bit of a reading slump unfortunately.

If your idea of heaven is lyrical, poetic nature writing and you’re not too fussed on plot, this may do more for you than it did for me. More Ocean Vuong than Douglas Stuart, which will appeal to many. 3/5 ⭐️

*Many thanks to Penguin Books Ireland for the arc and the e-arc via Netgalley. As always, this is an honest review.

“Set in a remote village in the north of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two teenage boys meet and transform each other's lives. James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is alone in his newly discovered sexuality, full of an unruly desire but entirely inexperienced”

I really liked this book! It was a coming of age so I knew it would be up my street but was still so impressed. I really liked how beautifully written this book was and it felt so realistic about how it feels to have your first love. I feel like everyone can probably relate to at least one small part of this book. It highlighted how all consuming love can be and how it’s a bit confusing when you’re growing up!

I’d recommend this to those who love a coming of age book!

Love when a poet turns to literature; you can usually expect beautiful, lyrical writing and Open, Heaven was full of just that.

It’s a tender coming-of-age debut novel surrounding James, who reflects on each season in his sixteenth year as a socially awkward, confused teen. It is the year James comes out to his parents, which whilst acknowledged is not truly accepted, and meets an older boy, the enigmatic Luke, who is staying with his aunt and uncle in their remote village.
James is infatuated with Luke, verging on obsession. Despite these feelings being unrequited, his thoughts and actions become more consumed by him as the novel goes on.

It’s a vivid account of teenage yearning and captures those highly emotional years perfectly, with themes of loneliness and detachment from your peers. This really was a gorgeous read and I can see it being a big hit.

Written in such captivating prose, the novel captures exactly the awkwardness and innocence of a boy growing up in the countryside and recognising his differences from the people that surround him. The intensity and passion of his feelings are described without judgment, and the sadness of his reflections on his previous self are haunting and fraught with lost possibilities.

Sean Hewitt is a beautiful, delicate writer and his memoir All Down Darkness Wide is one of the finest I have read in years. His undoubted literary skill is very much on display here in his debut novel. However for me the plot was not quite as developed as the writing style. The story , of tentative first love is one that has been told before and needed a little more substance to make it truly memorable. Hewitt is a gifted writer and I look forward to seeing what he does next

Sean Hewitt's debut novel 'Open, Heaven' is a beautifully written coming of age story.
It is told in a dual timeline where James returns to the village of his upbringing and reminiscens about the time when he was 16 and got infatuated with a local boy. We accompany him over the next four seasons of his adolescence where his duties to his family and looking after his sick brother conflict with his desire to be close to Luke.
This is a beautifully and poetically written
teenage infatuation story of growing up in a rural setting and coming to terns with one's feelings and desires.
I would highly recommend this gentle, tender and character driven story.
Many thanks to NetGalley and UK Random House/Vintage for the ARC.

This is a beautifully written novel in the long tradition of lyrical Irish prose. It is a character driven novel, exploring a man's memories of a formative teenage year - complete with longing, unrequited first love and the teenage realisation that there is life going on outside of ourselves.

I struggled to like James, the narrator, and it was difficult to understand why he was so completely infatuated on the basis of literally nothing but... I guess we've all been there. I usually love a character driven book, but with this one I think it needed either a little more plot or another POV.

Open, Heaven is phenomenal.

James lives in a small village & has recently (reluctantly) come out, resulting him in withdrawing from relationships as a result; afraid his sexuality will be used against him. Until Luke. James becomes infatuated.

This was such a beautiful, painful coming of age story.
James' narration is raw, heartfelt and gripping, and even too much at times as we read through an age that we all know well. The emotion and yearning results in perfect angst and your heart aches for James.

The reader becomes swept up in James’ first love and gets to meet Luke (a brilliantly written character) through James’ eager, confused gaze. The first love, the confusion, the family relationships. It’s all beautiful.

I knew Hewitt was an incredible writer, but this solidified it.


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK/Vintage for the ARC!

Oh this was sublime.

James is a teenager living in a small village & has recently, reluctantly, come out. He has effectively withdrawn from all relationships & companionship as a result; he’s constantly afraid that his gayness will be used as a weapon against him. Then Luke arrives. He’s slightly older, a little bit bad & James is immediately infatuated.

My god the yearning. The pining! It would break your heart in two. Especially when we get commentary from James at 20 odd years older.

Absolutely gorgeous. And the way the seasons were woven in? Perfectly evocative. A book I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt
⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars
Publication date: 24th April 2025

Thank you to Vintage and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

On the cusp of adulthood, James dreams of another life far away from his small village. As he contends with the expectations of his family, his burgeoning desire threatens to unravel his shy exterior.
Then he meets Luke. Unkempt and handsome, charismatic and impulsive, he has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a nearby farm. Luke comes with a reputation for danger, but underneath his bravado lie anxieties and hopes of his own.


This was such a beautiful, nostalgic and painful coming of age story, at a time in life when everything feels so “big” and so important, but also overwhelming and confusing. The writing is gorgeous, which is no surprise when you know that Hewitt is a poet (I don't like poetry and yet, I rarely have a miss with novels written by poets; they are always very special.)
It is almost exhausting being in James’ mind, at an age when you're feeling so much (too much? The angst!) and your heart is ever so fragile. I was swept by James' all consuming first love with Luke (who's an amazing character in his own right,) and really appreciated how his relationship with his mother was approached - it was much quieter, but no less impactful or painful.
This was very beautiful and very tender, and I'll happily read more from this author in the future.