Synopsis:
From a mesmerizing new literary voice comes a story of obsessive friendship, chilling powers, and untimely death for readers of dark academia classics like If We Were Villains and The Secret History.
An unnamed narrator arrives at Cambridge University in the early aughts determined to reinvent himself. His northern accent marks him as an outsider, but thanks to his musical gifts, he manages to fall in with his wealthy classmate, Bryn Cavendish.
A charismatic party host and talented magician, Bryn enthralls the narrator. But something seems to happen to those who challenge or simply irk Bryn—and they aren’t ever the same again.
The narrator begins to suspect that Bryn may be concealing terrifying gifts under the guise of magic tricks. As the tension between them grows, a harrowing encounter is followed by Bryn’s death.
Alternating between their time as students and the narrator’s return to Cambridge years later, where he fears the ghosts of his past are waiting for him, And He Shall Appear performs an astounding slight-of-hand that throws every version of the story into question.
This propulsive novel about the dark power of privilege will haunt readers like a familiar piece of music with endless iterations.
Review:
Hello again dear reader or listener, today I have convoluted feelings that may devolve into slight madness for you – not unlike your usual day to day Eleni, you might think – but I requested this ARC because I saw the Dark Academia tag and well, you know, I am a sucker for it. So, this will be another unrated review because frankly there is no way for me to give this a numerical definition.
So, with thanks to Union Square & Co. for granting my NetGalley request, let’s get to the jumble that are my thoughts over this book.
Recommended for fans of dark academia classics such as The Secret History (over which I have many thoughts and feelings) and We Were Villains, Kate Van Der Borgh’s full-length debut does indeed meet all the criteria to fit within this subgenre, while rejuvenating all of the tropes within it that sorely needed a catch-up with more current times. In fact, while it is true that a lot of the main themes found within this literature do remain the same at their core, such as discourses on class, wealth, and elitism, there have also been shifts over time in ideals, and academia itself, that had yet to be explored in the ways that Van Der Borgh does in her novel. So, props for that bit of freshness!
I do however feel the need to give a disclaimer about what to expect with this book, or even a caveat if you will, early on. While I thoroughly enjoyed aspects of this story, that I will go into properly in a moment, I was let down in other ways, some of which too spoiler-y to mention. But put very ascetically, do not go into it expecting a plot driven horror thriller, like I was led to believe by some promo. And He Shall Appear is very much a spec-fic character and psychology study, with few and unexpected answers, beautiful if at times self-indulgent prose (which fits perfectly in context) and very lyrical narration carried out by an unreliable and (very cleverly) unnamed narrator. In other words, spec-fic with horror/thriller elements peppered in.
The plot builds steadily and intriguingly through one of my favorite narrative devices with the protagonist dealing with something in his present that triggers memories of the past and causes him to reminisce, thus switching back and forth between the two timelines. The foreshadowing is delectable, the unfolding mystery and unsettling events that sometimes are merely glossed over riveting and leave you wanting more. In short, a perfectly rendered tableau of a very troubled mind. My only qualm here was purely stylistic/format related in that the shift between the two timelines goes unnoticed/ isn’t as clearly marked a few times, so I found myself back-tracking more than once to figure out where I was.
That said, I well and truly love an unreliable narrator, and there is no better view point to deliver a story about obsession, toxic relationships, disillusionment, reinvention, and mental health, such as this. We the reader are on board from the get go that this is a person who self-deludes, who sees but does not accept or want to understand, and yet who is not as distanced from reality as one might initially assume. This all culminates in an incredible plot twist I did not see coming and for that I was absolutely delighted! I love the moment the veneer breaks, it is my most anticipated bit of these kinds of stories, and while I was expecting some aspects of it, I had somehow completely missed the linchpin that turned my understanding of the character around the way it did. I knew the when and why, just not fully the how. So, in a way, although parts of the plot left me disappointed as I was hoping for some reveals that did not occur or were explained in a far more mundane way than I’d hoped for, I am still not mad about how this book ends because it was done in a brilliant manner from a technical point of view.
Van Der Borgh’s writing makes you ponder and draws you in so much at times that she even succeeds in creating actual jump-scares, which as you well know, dear reader, it’s pretty darn hard to do in writing. Her use of metaphors and personifications gave this story a whole other dimension that I haven’t read in some time, creating deeply atmospheric albeit not light reading. Some might argue it borders on pretentious while others will merely dismiss that critique as superficial understanding. Personally, I found it perfectly fitting for the protagonist she created even if I caught myself in the occasional eye-roll. Because that’s just it, we were all so absorbed in understanding ourselves and who we might become in uni/college, we leaned into the excess (of various kinds), the conceit, the posturing, and the pretentiousness, just to see where it would take us. Any person in their twenties goes through it, regardless of whether they pursue higher education or not. Hell, I’m in my late twenties now, fresh out of uni, and I am still in one ongoing daily existential crisis. The unnamed protagonist is so damn relatable for so many things and Van Der Borgh’s prose cleverly and masterfully becomes a mirror into our deepest insecurities and at times unreliable memories, even if we cannot directly relate to the events in the book.
In a fun moment of serendipity, as soon as I started reading this and was dwelling on the feelings and thoughts it was pulling out of me, I began looking for a specific word to describe them. It felt on the tip of my tongue for every day I was reading and I even found myself talking about with a friend. Both of us trying to pinpoint that exact word. Kate Van Der Borgh concludes this novel with exactly that word. Her protagonist thinks of it and everything clicks into place. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that tickled me considerably.
I’m going to stop myself here, dear reader, but this was the best way I could articulate only a fraction of what this story got me thinking about. I won’t pretend like it didn’t affect me to some extent, as it definitely got me to be in my head even more than usual. But I also cannot decide how satisfied I am with it from an entertainment perspective. I was certainly curious, and couldn’t put it down. I enjoyed the writing skills and narrative devices shown. Yet, I’m a bit let down by the plot because I wanted more. Maybe if I’d gone into it with a different idea about what to expect that wouldn’t be the case, who’s to say.
And He Shall Appear comes out in the US tomorrow, October 1st, and with the at times spooky atmosphere and nearly continuous sense of the unsettling or uncanny, it would make for a fitting spooky season read.
Until next time,
Eleni A.E.
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