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 ......

This unfortunately did not do a lot for me. Temporally the plot was confusing and therefore didn’t really make sense. There was a lack of signposting when it came to time periods.

This is a dark Oxbridge based mystery involving a student from a modest background getting into the inner circle of a charismatic, damaged and wealthy student. Comparisons with Saltburn are inevitable and although I didn’t love this as much as other readers, I have to acknowledge that it is compelling and accomplished. I often struggle with stories where I find myself unable to engage with the characters and this was the case this time.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m sorry but this is a DNF for me. I got to 30% and just couldn’t be bothered to go on.
Narrated by possibly the most uninteresting character I have ever had the displeasure of reading, I just couldn’t face another 70% of the book in the characters company, no matter how the book went.

His fawning over a charismatic magician in college was uncomfortable to read and bizarre in the extreme. The whole shtick just felt unnatural and incredibly boring.

I’m sorry that I didn’t finish this having had the publisher supply a review copy but I just couldn’t continue with this one.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

I enjoyed this tale of Cambridge students and dark magic, although the ending wasn't what I wanted.

The initial third of the book was a bit slow, and I was tempted to put it aside. The main character, and narrator, is such a pathetic wet-wipe, which is clearly intentional, but it was making the book tough going! Thankfully, the pace picked up and I became engrossed in the main relationships, the descriptions of Cambridge Uni life, and most of all, by the spooky goings on. The main character is pitifully hung up on the big man on campus, Bryn, a charming, larger-than-life jerk who also seems to be into black magic. The author is clearly talented and created some really nice spooky moments, and I was looking forward to how it would all pan out...

...but the ending wasn't what I personally wanted. There was a twist, which was cool in it's way, but I felt it undercut a lot of what I'd enjoyed about the book.

3.5 stars but I'll round up in case I get hexed.

I enjoyed this book, in spite of many of the characters being complete clichés. The storyline is compelling, and the author conjures up the very unreal world of university life very well. There are obvious comparisons with The Secret History, and this book isn't quite as brilliant as Donna Tartt's masterpiece, but it is still a very good read, and one I will definitely recommend.

I read somewhere that setting your story in an old crumbly university where bad things sometimes happen is not good enough to qualify it as dark academia, that there should be critique of the institution’s colonial history or the way academia gatekeeps prestige or basically some overt attempt at de-romanticising the setting. I think this book does that quite well. The unnamed narrator is a small-town low-income student of music in Cambridge, struggling to afford his time there while surrounded by rich kids whose parents literally bought their way in. He becomes obsessed with the main character of their year, Bryn Cavendish of the old money Cavendish clan and infamous magician father who dabbled in the occult.

When I say obsessed, I mean Obsessed. He cannot go a moment without thinking about Bryn, thinking about how best to get into Bryn’s inner circle of friends. He dates Bryn’s cousin, and when that fails, becomes best friends with his girlfriend. He definitely neglects his studies and his real friends who worry about his uncharacteristic partying and drinking. He also sees things that suggest Bryn is actually a dark magic practitioner. All this is told in recount, as the now-adult narrator returns to Cambridge to commemorate Bryn’s untimely death. It’s very reminiscent of The Moth Diaries.

What’s interesting about this book is how adamant the narrator is in romanticising his memories of that time, which are revealed to be inaccurate at best and highly skewed at worst. People tell him to his face that he needs help and he foolishly ignores them all, hell-bent on believing his fantastical narrative that proves he had a brush with something extraordinary. NGL, there’s something alluring about this level of delulu.

And He Shall Appear, Kate van der Borgh’s haunting debut, is a powerful exploration of privilege, obsession, and envy, narrated by an unnamed protagonist whose insecurities and delusions bring remarkable depth to the story. With poetic prose and layered storytelling, van der Borgh examines the fragile nature of trust and loyalty, drawing readers into a darkly compelling world where ambition and envy blur the lines between admiration and obsession. This novel resonates with a chilling beauty, capturing vulnerabilities with stunning precision. Fans of Saltburn and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History will find much to admire in this atmospheric, thought-provoking work.

I love a good dark academia read! And He Shall Appear has the perfect blend of magic, mystery, and macabre. There’s the ancient, ivy-covered Cambridge University … the gloomy weather and the eerie ambiance.. shadowy corridors .. dimly lit spaces and hidden dangers. The characters themselves are well-developed, and have relatable struggles.

The story follows the unnamed narrator/ protagonist who becomes fascinated/obsessed with Bryn and his magical talents. He goes out of his way to be closer to Bryn and gain his approval. However, as the story progresses, the darker side of Bryn’s character emerges - his manipulative and sinister side. As such, our protagonist begins to question his own reality and mental state until he has to decide whether to break free from Bryn’s influence or risk losing himself entirely.
The perfect read for a gloomy weekend.

Well this book gave me the creeps and i absolutely loved it. Highly recommend. Read it!! Thanks NetGalley, and publishers for the early release. 4/5

Dark Academia is a new genre to me, and heralded as 'The Secret History' meets 'Saltburn' seemed like a winner, though I'm not so sure that would be my description. Van ver Borgh has an interesting writing style in which the use of an unnamed narrator, a flickering structure and (obviously) an academic setting is melded with, in places, some really effective atmospheric narrative style. Music features well and adds to the cadence of the general tone of the novel as well as harnessing a specific timeframe. Obsessive 'friendship' is the main theme, but - and it's a big 'but' - I wasn't convinced by the characters. I hate to say that, I really do, because there is a lot of good stuff here, but there it is... Don't get me wrong, I love an unlikeable character or two or three, but that unlikeability has to be narratively important - it has to be an element of the whole of the novel's ingredients, and I just didn't feel that here, so that unstuck the glue of the plot a little. I am, however, grateful to NetGalley and to the publishers for the privilege of the early read.