Well, I hadn’t planned on starting my weekend with my heart cut into ribbons and stamped all over the floor, but HERE WE ARE so I’m going to make sure you hear allllll about it.

Jamie is a 19 year old boy, living at home in the east end of Glasgow with his mum, Fiona. He hated school and has struggled to find his place in life since he left, and now spends his days gaming, eating and sleeping. Fiona knows she’s missed the mark somewhere along the parenting line, and while she’s doing her best to fix it, and encourage Jamie to get out into the world, he has no current intention of doing so.

The audiobook is narrated by Chris himself as Jamie, and by the excellent Scarlett Mack as Fiona. The contrasting voices and see-saw of narrative really played out the gulf in understanding between the two characters. While Jamie and Fiona mostly rub along alright together, Jamie’s been talking to his online pal who’s found a forum for guys like them - men who don’t match the picture of how masculinity is ‘supposed’ to look. Gradually Jamie begins to understand that his mum is the root of most of his problems, and that the women who would never look twice at him are the cause of the rest.

As a woman who exists and can read, I know about incels in theory, of course, and have read journalism and think-pieces exploring the phenomenon. I have worried about Andrew Tate and the crisis of masculinity, and I’ve read the books about how to raise kids who have an understanding of respect, equality and accountability.

Deep down I’ve always wondered, though, how young men find themselves in this space, where men and women are boxed into bewildering categories (chads, alphas, betas, cucks, omegas, stacys…) and young men believe they are being denied their right to romantic and sexual partnerships because of women wielding their power to … not sleep with someone who thinks they have a right to their body, I guess.

Hermit answered that question, at least in part. It showed me just how horrifyingly uncomplicated it can be for some people to quietly slide through the cracks and be caught in a ‘safety’ net made of hatred and anger. Jamie isn’t a bam, he’s not a wee gangster or been in with the wrong crowd for years. He just doesn’t know how to fit in to society as it presents itself, and when he retreats, there are other online spaces that give him recognition and community.

The book tackles all sorts of issues alongside the core story; mental ill-health, domestic abuse, and violence are just some of them. There are really challenging scenes in it - I’m not easily shocked, but this did it; let me know if you want to check any particular content notes if you plan to read the book - but I think the theme that’s sticking with me is the need for resilience in the world we live in today, and how nebulous a concept that is to be able to build in ourselves and others. Fiona repeatedly tries to replay to Jamie the tough love that her mother has shown her, but fails again and again when coming up against obstacles.

I found this book so difficult to read, which I think was McQueer’s point. We shouldn’t be able to ignore this story, or the thousands of real-life versions that it’s based on. The negging, love-bombing and gaslighting are stomach-churning, even when you know it’s fictional, because these are techniques that people are using to manipulate and abuse others every single day.

I try not to pull the “as a parent” card often (because I don’t believe that being a mum gives me some magical insight into human nature) but wow this was bloody terrifying. It’s a stark reminder of the messages kids are exposed to on the reg. Honestly, the book really played on some of my darkest fears as a parent. If you are in contact in any way with groups of teens or young men, I can’t recommend Lads by Alan Bissett highly enough. It takes young men on a journey through easily achievable ways to show respect and seek consent; never patronises or induces cringe, and has enough humour to keep them reading. Encourage the local high school to buy copies for the library and support base. Donate copies to the town’s youth groups. Talk to your kids about the kinds of things they’re reading and hearing online.

Chris McQueer has written something really important here. Hermit humanises the oft-caricatured incel, and fills in the gaps between tech-first kids and full-blown social breakdown: anyone who’s been paying attention to the Musk arc can see what happens when someone with limited social skills has the opportunity to gather online klout in extremis. This is not to say we should normalise or permit incel behaviour - but we do need to understand as humans how it can happen, and where those points of divergence may occur. Campaigns to ban tech and delay smartphone access to kids is all very well, but at some point young people will come in contact with others spouting these ideologies and they need to (a) be able to recognise it and (b) be able to resist. Let’s understand the possibilities, and give our kids the tools and resilience to counteract.

Hermit by Chris McQueer.

I honestly do not know where to start with this book.
This story is told from two protagonists, single mum Fiona and her 19 year old son Jamie.
Both Fiona and Jamie are both struggling with life. Fiona feels like a bad ‘Maw’, and Jamie feels like he is different from the rest of the world.
Chapter by chapter, we learn a little more about each of them, and the somewhat fractured relationship, Jamie thinks his ‘maw’ doesn't love him, Fiona is still struggling with the fact that Jamie's Da was abusive, and is worried if she pushes Jamie too much, he may turn out the same.
This book hit on some real hard topics, the ease of which young and vulnerable boys can be targeted online, and the dangers this can present. Depression ran though this and you could hear the pain of both characters. The emotion is palpable, I felt it all, this book both broke my heart and gave me hope in the bond of mother and son. As a Mum of teenagers this resonated so much with me, I cried multiple times. The characters of this will stay with me. I listened to this courtesy of Netgalley and the voices of the narrators, which were the Author himself and Scarlett Mack, were perfect I look forward to reading more from the Author, this is the best debut I have read in a while.

T/W: Abuse, suicidal thoughts/attempts, talk of rape, death.

3.5 ⭐️

Damn this was sad. This switches between the perspectives of Fiona (a mother) and Jamie an agoraphobic teen gamer whose only friends are online. When his friend Lee tells him about an opportunity to go to London to get a new life with someone called Seb that Lee met online, Jamie hesitantly agrees. What follows is a harrowing story of how vulnerable people can be roped into awful situations and end up being the ones to suffer. Alongside Jamie's story, we also follow his mom's story: an abusive ex, a strict mom and a challenging son. She's trying her best but that doesn't seem to be enough.

A powerful and moving story. I'm intrigued to read more from Chris McQueer in the future.

Chris Mcqueer has written a thought provoking debut novel albeit a depressing one and he narrates the story perfectly as Jamie , its not the most uplifting story and it does deal with some difficult subjects which unfortunately a lot of todays young people have fallen into, bullying, isolation and only a computer for company. he lives with his long suffering mum (narrated by Scarlett Mack) who doesn't know how to help him so they can kind of live seperate yet parallel lives. Everyone tries to help him but no one but his friend Lee seems to understand him but Lee is not his friend and soon Jamies life becomes a really scary place.

This story was so morbidly fascinating, getting a glimpse into that side of the Internet, where 'incel culture' lies, and seeing how it impacts young, lonely, impressionable men.
I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed though, and could've done with being more fleshed out.
Overall I really enjoyed it.
The narrator was perfect for the audiobook too, his voice really suited the characters.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for access to the audio of this title.
This is a dual pov story following Jamie, a 19 year old, and his single parent. The dual pov was a great choice as both characters were struggling with their own situations in very relatable ways. It really shows some of the very real struggles of life in small towns in modern times. If I'm totally honest... I applied for this title because of the name of the book being the same as my name on social media. I went in pretty blind with this other than the clues on the cover. I would recommend not going in too blind though, as there's a couple of trigger warnings (I will pop them at the end of the review). This is a book that will both break your heart and mend it again... it is overall a story of hope, what family means, and navigating life's challenges. It's completely enthralling and such a powerful read.
The audio for this is fantastic and I love that the narrator's (the author themself and Scarlett Mack) both has Scottish accents which is true to the characters and location. Honestly, both read really well for this and I would definitely recommend the audio specifically. There's so much feeling and emotion that you feel throughout and it's written so well. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from this author.
This book is great for readers that are looking for something that will be emotionally challenging but ultimately hopeful. Readers that are looking for a story that shows real life challenges in a fictional format. I am finding this section of my review challenging as I want to tell you that everyone should read this!
Content heads up - self harm, talk of and planning and action of suicide, mental health challenges, control and manipulation, domestic violence.

Thanks to Headline and Netgalley for my advanced copy audiobook.

I was recommended this by a good pal, and thought it sounded right up my alley. Wow it certainly was. I also buddy read this with Kath, and we had a good natter throughout.

The story of Jamie is such a sad one, and I read this with a massive sense of dread throughout, a horrible lump in my throat. Jamie is a bit of a loner, only has one friend who he plays video games with online, and they’ve never met. Until one night Jamie invites Lee round, and they meet in person. They also talk to some guy on a video call, Seb, who Lee has been talking with online. Wow was this guy an absolute douche. He convinces the boys to go stay with him in London, all in secret of course, and all I could do from my sofa was try to will them not to go. They didn’t listen and what ensued was something that had my stomach in knots the whole time.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom, there were some brilliantly funny parts too. Chris writes so well, I loved how strongly I felt for the characters. Jamie's mum I felt so sorry for, and reading ehr story makes you understand just how much things like this affect everyone around them, not just the person involved. The Granny though, she was brilliant. No bullshit type of woman, who would do anything for her family, and beat someone up in the process.

The audio was great, Chris himself narrates and although it took me a while to get used to the Scottish accent (I had to reduce the speed at first lol), I ended up loving it.

I’d recommend this book massively, just be prepared to laugh and cry.

I very much enjoyed listening to the narrator voice this text and really enjoyed the dual narrative with Scarlett Mack. It is unusual for me to forget it’s someone reading a book but this was convincing. The novel is billed as darkly hilarious and I didn’t find it funny at all, in fact it was deeply sad and at times chilling. It was interesting to see characters who weren’t easy to understand and didn’t fit neatly into any package. At times they were unlikeable but somehow you still cared about what happened to them and there were some very poignant moments. At the start of the novel I found my own mood affected by the writing, so convincing it was (not so great for the people around me who I started to momentarily project dislike onto!)

I thought this book was clever and convincing but not a light hearted read and I wouldn’t read it to lift my spirits.

This book! Wow! It had me feeling a lot of things, it was like getting whiplash sometimes and I couldn't put it down.

It's an uncomfortable read. I really liked that you get both Jamie's and Fiona's POV because it broke up that uncomfortableness, albeit with something gut wrenching, but it allows you to see the bigger picture and how different people are interpreting the same events. Hermit showcases just how easy it is to fall into red pill incel culture and its terrifying, especially as a woman reading it. Fiona's story was heartbreakingly familiar and I just wanted to hold her.

This was more than I was expecting, fantastically written, everyone needs to read it.

Wow! This book took me by surprise in all the best ways!

At its heart, this is the story of Fiona and her son Jamie, both struggling through difficult lives. It explores themes of mental health, generational trauma, incel culture, and isolation, painting a raw and unflinching portrait of their experiences. Despite their hardships, both characters are simply trying to navigate life as best they can, and I was completely invested in their journey. The plot is full of unexpected twists that genuinely shocked me.

I listened to the audiobook and absolutely loved the dual narration. Both narrators fit their roles perfectly, bringing Fiona and Jamie to life in a way that felt incredibly authentic. And as a Scot living outside of Scotland, I found my own accent slipping back into full force while listening!

I have no doubt this will be one of the best debuts I read this year. Chris McQueer is now firmly on my must-read list for future releases!

Close-to-home, realistic portrayal of disaffected contemporary youth and the effect on their families.

I admit I chose this title as it resonated with me, with family members in similar positions, shall we say. But the extremes to which McQueen takes his protagonists is darker than I was expecting, and truly gut-wrenching to read.

And it's a debut. A two-handed, with mother and son giving their viewpoints on proceedings. Single Mum Fiona, who's never told her son about the abuse she suffered at the hands of his dad, struggles to put food on the table, struggles to know how to handle her social pariah screen-focused son, struggles when seeing the similarities between the two of them. 19-year-old Jamie never fit in, is awkward and living in a cesspit of a bedroom his mum has long ago stopped cleaning. His only contact with life outside is online friend Lee, a local boy, and now his mum just won't leave him alone about sorting out a CV and getting a job.

Which all sounds quite standard, familiar and frustratingly 'normal'. Until readers get the red flag feeling when Lee enthusiastically talks to Jamie about this guy down in London he's talked to on A Forum (for InCels) who seems to understand them, how nobody likes them, how he can help. Jamie just has to leave his room and he and Lee can get a train down there and start a new life away from the nagging and pressure.

It gets darker and more tense from there. For both Jamie AND Fiona. I couldn't stop listening, just wanting to know that Jamie doesn't do anything stupid, that Fiona doesn't do anything stupid. I identified with Fiona as a mum of boys myself, as a relative of family members who haven't left home, who aren't becoming adults in the traditional way. But I also felt for Jamie who's still such a helpless boy in many ways and is learning the (very) hard way about the real world.

The build-up is fantastic, the family story upsetting and very real. Fiona's mum, her ex, the nasty Seb, they are all very well portrayed by the audiobook narrators and this proved to be an excellent listen with alternating chapters getting you involved with both sides of the story.

Wonderful, confident debut novel.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample audio copy.

This book is written to make you feel uncomfortable & that it did!

Please check the TW’s before reading / listening to this book as it covers a lot of dark subjects. 💔

We follow the story of Jamie, a teenage boy feeling unloved from every angle & ultimately feeling ‘stuck’ in his cess pit room where his mum Fiona leaves him be.
Jamie finds comfort in Lee, who he meets online, so much so that they strike up a close bond & are quite happy to just sit in silence with each other on the other end of the headset at times. As their friendship grows it becomes clear that Lee is out to put Jamie down, make him believe that he is an ‘incel’ (which I did have to look up so I could understand it better). To the point where Jamie is convinced this is correct & agrees to go with Lee to London for the chance of a better life. This is where things take a turn & we explore how toxic their relationship has become & how easily influenced vulnerable people can be.
Ultimately ending in a harrowing experience for all involved.

We also follow Fiona’s journey as she struggles with feeling like she isn’t good enough for Jamie / hasn’t been able to protect him when needed. I really liked the addition of her POV as it really gave us a better insight as to why things are the way they are during the story.

Neither of these characters have had a good time & I felt sadness, dread & unease throughout for everyone involved.

It was quite the insight into a culture that I really was not aware of beforehand! It has been written very well & the audiobook was read very well also. Although I am not Scottish I didn’t feel like I didn’t understand any of it. I would’ve liked to have seen an epilogue at the end so we could almost ‘catch up’ with Jamie & Fiona to see how things had gone however it’s not essential.

This was an audiobook provided by NetGalley.

Due to be released 27/02.

I can't rate this anything other than 5 stars because I litrally was so tired, but I had to stay awake to finish it. This book had me gripped. It was completely intriguing...

Nievely I have to admit the word incel albeit was in my awareness but not to the degree it is now as in I understood the broad prospect but the way in which this book is done it just really puts it all in perspective so well imo!

It's actually a really difficult sad and harrowing even humbling story in moments because, like many books, there is always something you can understand that is relatable, not necessarily your own life but the broader world.

The story of Jamie living in his own world where he feels safe and doesn't really socialise with anyone with exception of his immediate family and online "friends" he meets Lee who seems to be decent to him he believes he has found a genuine friend someone who is just like him they build what he feels is a strong bond but Lee does seem to have alterior motives although there is an underlying friendship there.

When they begin discussing the aspect of incels and go on a journey to meet Seb in London from Glasgow, it turns out to be the biggest mistake Jamie and Lee ever make and completely life changing. This is a real eye opener as to how easy it is for ANYONE to be pulled into something bigger than they realise or ever anticipated. The online community can be far more dangerous than the outside world, yet ironically, this is where Jamie feels safer as going outside he experiences anxiety just crossing the door. Whereas from the comfort of his own home he believes he is always completely safe until his world is turned upside down when he and Lee begin going down the path of looking into this group of incels and taking it further as Jamie is encouraged by the friendship he built with Lee even though something feels off he trusts Lee and doesn't want to ruin that bond which sadly becomes the worst decision for them both....!!!

Fiona, Jamie's mum, dad, and also his granny offered great pov in this audiobook. The backstory of Jamies life gave great detail as to how and why he may have felt and became a little more reclusive and really built on the story as a whole, making this what it is. All the characters were completely brought to life, I was so immersed in this that it brought me to tears at times, made me gasp, and really did have me just totally engaged. Fantasticly written and narrated.

With thanks and much gratitude to Netgalley & Headline Audio for this ELC. Best of luck, Chris McQueer and team on publication. I'm sure this will be a huge hit, absolutely fantastic...!!!

Thank you to Headline Audio, Wild Fire and Chris Mcqueer for this arc.

In Hermit we follow Jamie, an introverted nineteen year old who has become a complete recluse, struggling to leave his bedroom and only being able to socialise through gaming and the online world.
We see Jamie’s story unfold through his and his Mother, Fiona’s, POV as he is introduced to the world of Incels by his friend Lee.

I absolutely LOVED this book. As a woman who has only read literature surrounding incel culture from a woman’s perspective, it was so interesting seeing this from Jamie’s perspective and also realising how truly horrifying incel culture really is.
I think it was a stroke of genius having us hear from Fiona too, especially given their similarities and I think this emphasised how easily young boys are being manipulated.

I also thought the audio and storytelling was engaging and clear

I only wish the book had been just a little bit longer as I feel I am left wanting to know what happens next.

Overall a brilliant book that I will be recommending to everyone!

To note: I will be posting a review on my TikTok Account, good reads and storygraph in the coming days too!

Hermit is a book about a young boy, Jamie, who considers himself to not be like other normal boys his age. Living in his bedroom with only his PlayStation and online friends, Jamie has found himself isolated and dethatched from the world. He has no interest in getting a job, making friends outside of the virtual world or seeking a romantic relationship. He experiences panic attacks when pushed to leave the house and with finding himself becoming more distant from his mother his problematic relationship with his father leaves him feeling even more misunderstood and alone. The book follows both perspectives of Jamie and his mother Fiona as we see how hard life is for Jamie as he becomes even more lost in a dangerous online world and Fiona's past with violence and being a mother as she struggles to find the right way to support her son.

This is an extremely current and thought provoking book. Touching on the dark side of the internet today especially for young boys; the topics around incel culture, red pill thinking, misogyny and violence are explored in a very raw and real way diving into how a young vulnerable male can find himself as the victim of online grooming to a community we see growing in our society. The book puts us in the position of a young man who simply doesn't understand himself, feels different, alone and seeking validation. He doesn't have an outlet for his frustrations and space to explore his mental health in productive way. Reading this you can feel how isolated Jamie is, how stuck in a rut he is and as a reader you can truly feel that sense of dread and feeling defeated. On the flip side reading the perspective of Fiona we can also understand her frustrations, her desires to have a better and closer relationship with her son. Fiona's constant questioning of her parenting abilities, mistakes and trauma's show her to be an extremely relatable character we truly do feel for.

Throughout this book several tough topics are addressed but this sits as an extremely important read. At times deeply disturbing, Chris McQueer didn't shy away from discussing these current rising problems in a very honest and raw manner. We were taken on a journey of feeling empathy, anger, pity and every emotion in between, connecting us to every character even side characters for every character had their role and purpose that fit perfectly well into this story.

I did listen to this book as an Audiobook and I have to say that the narration did so well in brining these characters to life and portraying the characters in way that truly brought them to life.

This is a book I would highly recommend and I'm so grateful for Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this early. I would advise going into this book with the understanding that this a very tough read and trigger warnings for things such as violence, sexual assault, murder, misogyny and incel violence.

I think the cover was a little misleading in that I thought this was going to be some sort of YA book about a teen and his mom. But daaaaaamn this book was dark. It was honestly, excellent. It was a very poignant social commentary exploring incel and red pill culture. It seems to serve as an unfortunately necessary warning for young men that it is very easy to fall into this life and also the long lasting effects it can have on their life. It was grim, dark and ultimately very sad. I loved it

Thanks to Chris McQueer and NetGalley for this ARC!!

I was so thrilled to be approved for this book, having seen a blurb for it on bookseller sites and it was easily one of my most anticipated reads of this year, it didn’t disappoint.

This was such a darkly necessary book for the current time period. In a time where this lesser-mentioned kind of grooming is turning into a legion of “red pill” extremists. Don’t get me wrong, this book was a very hard read at points. But it left me thinking about how a focus on guiding and nurturing young people at a crucial age rather than the “let them get on with it” attitude can protect them from being left vulnerable to extremist views.

This was a solid 4 star read all the way through, but having now got to the end, it's deserving of 5.
As much as I'm too old to use such phrases, I'm going to... it gave me all the feels.
One minute I was angry, the next sad, then laughing, then gobsmacked.
There was also the odd bit of disbelief and frustration when the chapter finished at a crucial point.
The narration was perfect, and I genuinely think it's a story I got more from, for having listened to it.
I was pulled in at the mention of INCELS, but this book exceeded my expectations.
Emotional, tense and dark.
It's definitely a good one.

I cannot tell you the sheer joy of discovering that Chris McQueer has produced a novel! I was a big fan of both short story collections (‘Hings’ and ‘HWFG’ - and as I type this I realise we seem to have an H theme happening here), so I dropped everything to read ‘Hermit’. First off, I loved the premise. I don't think most people are aware of the intricacies of incel culture. McQueer gives a good overview in a way that's accessible, heart-wrenching and oftentimes highly humorous. Having said that, some of the content is also deeply disturbing and upsetting. I particularly appreciate that he writes in a mix of English and Scots. Even Scots speakers can get bogged down reading dense text in the language, so this is my preferred route to authenticity without taking me out of the narrative. The plot is frighteningly plausible, with a cast of all-too-familiar Scottish characters. Jamie is a vulnerable young man who feels disenfranchised. McQueer really lays bare how easy it is for these young men to be targeted and manipulated. What I appreciated most about the book is that it takes some serious subject matter and lets us have a right good look at it, in an accessible manner. Wee guys will love this book and that is why Chris McQueer has played another bloody blinder. Chapeau, big chap!

I enjoyed the audiobook narration by the author and Scarlett Mack.

Hermit was a vastly more shocking and disturbing story than I expected.

Delivering the title as a two hander between Jamie (Hermit) and his mother Fiona was a stroke of genius though, it gives the reader the insight into the lonely wee boy, scared of stepping out of his filthy pit of a bedroom, let alone out of doors. Through Fiona we discover that Jamie has always lived just on the outskirts of life, from age 11 he wanted to detach from the world. A solitary soul. He loves his Ma, and his granny, and he hates himself for snapping at them when they encourage hygiene and life outside of that room.

From Jamie’s pov we learn that the world is terrifying, he doesn’t care that he stinks, there’s nobody to smell him anyway, he sleeps his worries away, emerges for microwave food and hides on his PlayStation. When he meets Lee online it seems like there’s hope, the pair strike a close bond, Jamie is delighted to have found a friend, a reason, but Lee is an incel, he soon convinces Jamie that he must be an incel. As they delve deeper, it’s striking how easy it is to disappear down the rabbit hole, swallow the pill, however you want to determine it, there’s a place for everyone online, a place where predators lurk ready to catch their prey.

From the moment Lee “converts” Jamie the language and the story become distressing, repulsive and malignant, yet the author has managed to lighten the load a bit with a lot of the dark humour that I only know Glasgow to hold.

I predict awards!

4.5 🌟
The audio narration by Chris McQueer and Scarlett Mack were perfect. They brought to life the spirit and vernacular of east end of Glasgow 🎧

Huge thanks to Headline Audio via NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ELC 🎧