What do you think?
Rate this book
The Boyhood of Cain
A searing novel of love and betrayal as a young boy comes of age in the heart of England, from an exquisite new voice.
In the shadow of an ancient abbey nestled between rivers, Daniel is growing up. He is highly intelligent but little understood by his parents, and a secret passion burns inside him for love and recognition. When his father loses his job as the headmaster of the local school, his family stumbles into a rural life for which they are ill-prepared. Daniel’s sole solace is the arrival of Philip, a new boy at school, whom he worships with a confused intensity. Before long, both boys fall under the spell of a charismatic art teacher, setting Daniel on a perilous course that could lead to the betrayal of all he loves.
Tender, brutal, and enthralling, The Boyhood of Cain is a remarkable portrait of a young boy caught between mother and father, self and desire, and obedience and freedom. It evokes the passions and private wounds of youth, and plumbs the turning points in our lives that make us who we are.
In the shadow of an ancient abbey nestled between rivers, Daniel is growing up. He is highly intelligent but little understood by his parents, and a secret passion burns inside him for love and recognition. When his father loses his job as the headmaster of the local school, his family stumbles into a rural life for which they are ill-prepared. Daniel’s sole solace is the arrival of Philip, a new boy at school, whom he worships with a confused intensity. Before long, both boys fall under the spell of a charismatic art teacher, setting Daniel on a perilous course that could lead to the betrayal of all he loves.
Tender, brutal, and enthralling, The Boyhood of Cain is a remarkable portrait of a young boy caught between mother and father, self and desire, and obedience and freedom. It evokes the passions and private wounds of youth, and plumbs the turning points in our lives that make us who we are.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 13, 2025
41 people are currently reading
6301 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews
October 11, 2024
"What he wants to say is: make me good. Whatever it is that I lack, make me good. Make me normal. Make it so that I can be loved."
This almost feels as if it's a combination of a queer male version of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Dead Poet's Society, and Shuggie Bain. It's also wholly different from all of those things and can handle its own in a battle of emotion and beautiful prose.
The story of a young boy entering adolescence amidst the backdrop of the English countryside. Dealing with puberty, peers at his prep-school, teachers, and his family that is slowly unraveling. In the short span of this novel, Daniel faces so much and is made to go through so much. I wanted to sit with him, listen to his pondering and give him the space to ask all of his big questions. I wanted to hug him. To tell him that he was worthy of friendship and companionship. I wanted to tell him that his questions were important. That he wasn't annoying or needy or any of those things that he was often told made him unworthy of being known and loved.
I think my deep connection to Daniel could be chocked up to the fact that I saw so much of little me in the boy. And I almost don't want the literary fiction mob to get their hands on the novel when it publishes. Partly because I want to gatekeep it. Partly because I will want to defend Daniel vehemently if anyone tries to say something bad about the novel.
This one comes out in late February, 2025. I'm so thankful that Riverhead provided me the opportunity to read a copy early in exchange for an honest review. The story was beautiful. The characters and setting were beautiful. The cover! My goodness that cover. All of the allusion and imagery and symbolism. It's difficult to believe that this is Amherst's debut. It makes me all the more excited to see what else he produces in the future.
This almost feels as if it's a combination of a queer male version of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, Dead Poet's Society, and Shuggie Bain. It's also wholly different from all of those things and can handle its own in a battle of emotion and beautiful prose.
The story of a young boy entering adolescence amidst the backdrop of the English countryside. Dealing with puberty, peers at his prep-school, teachers, and his family that is slowly unraveling. In the short span of this novel, Daniel faces so much and is made to go through so much. I wanted to sit with him, listen to his pondering and give him the space to ask all of his big questions. I wanted to hug him. To tell him that he was worthy of friendship and companionship. I wanted to tell him that his questions were important. That he wasn't annoying or needy or any of those things that he was often told made him unworthy of being known and loved.
I think my deep connection to Daniel could be chocked up to the fact that I saw so much of little me in the boy. And I almost don't want the literary fiction mob to get their hands on the novel when it publishes. Partly because I want to gatekeep it. Partly because I will want to defend Daniel vehemently if anyone tries to say something bad about the novel.
This one comes out in late February, 2025. I'm so thankful that Riverhead provided me the opportunity to read a copy early in exchange for an honest review. The story was beautiful. The characters and setting were beautiful. The cover! My goodness that cover. All of the allusion and imagery and symbolism. It's difficult to believe that this is Amherst's debut. It makes me all the more excited to see what else he produces in the future.
January 25, 2025
3.5
I found this book quite difficult to engage with simply because neither Daniel nor anyone he comes into contact with is particularly likeable. At the start Daniel is a precocious snob because his father is a headmaster of a private school and he lives in a big house. He is afforded privileges that other children are not and he lords it over them. It does not endear him to anyone.
As the book continues Daniel's family undergoes several reversals and, as the family's fortunes wane, Daniel's disdain for his father grows. A change of school brings him into contact with teachers and boys he admires but Daniel struggles with his own shortcomings and inability to accept his failures.
I did enjoy this book to a certain extent but it did seem to wander around a bit at times without really saying much. As I said, Daniel isn't particularly likeable nor does his egotism make him a sympathetic character. So, for me, whilst it was interesting, I didn't really enjoy the story.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.
I found this book quite difficult to engage with simply because neither Daniel nor anyone he comes into contact with is particularly likeable. At the start Daniel is a precocious snob because his father is a headmaster of a private school and he lives in a big house. He is afforded privileges that other children are not and he lords it over them. It does not endear him to anyone.
As the book continues Daniel's family undergoes several reversals and, as the family's fortunes wane, Daniel's disdain for his father grows. A change of school brings him into contact with teachers and boys he admires but Daniel struggles with his own shortcomings and inability to accept his failures.
I did enjoy this book to a certain extent but it did seem to wander around a bit at times without really saying much. As I said, Daniel isn't particularly likeable nor does his egotism make him a sympathetic character. So, for me, whilst it was interesting, I didn't really enjoy the story.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.
August 9, 2025
i wanted to love this more than i did
September 22, 2024
A beautiful, slow burn book full of yearning on the cusp of adolescence. I really enjoyed the writing, it felt almost ethereal and otherworldly. The plot was slow, but the focus on Daniel and his journey from child to borderline teenage made the slow plot worthwhile. This was a gorgeous reflection of childhood innocence, English summers and the well known anxieties of school and wanting to fit in. A spectacular story.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #TheBoyhoodOfCain #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #TheBoyhoodOfCain #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
September 3, 2025
My two star rating has nothing to do with Mr. Amherst's prose and everything to do with the 'honesty' of this little novel. To begin with I was taken with this story but rapidly I felt that I was being taken through a check list of childhood 'woke' experiences. None of the many varied unhappy experiences that, Daniel, the young protagonist of this novel encounters are ever believable, maybe because there are so many of them. Daniel is presented as unsocial naif struggling with the traumas of growing up and at every stage making the wrong choices or misreading signs. The problem is that by making him such an obtuse outsider it is almost inconceivable that he would have been friend's with Phillip or attracted the attention of the teacher Mr. Miller around whom the novel's denouement is based.
I have no intention of dissecting the numerous problems in the plot of this novel because this is a novel typical of an author who has emerged from a 'creative writing' school. Such authors may produce great prose but it is all wrapped around stories which are check lists of fashionable causes and thinking not lived experience. The days when authors like Jack London or Ernest Hemingway emerged from Alaskan gold fields or the experience of war may be gone but to write something requires more than a skilled technique. There must be something there. Compared to an author like Jon Ransom what Mr. Amherst has produced is worthy of the scorn Anthony Blanche, in 'Brideshead Revisited', heaped on Charles Ryder's South American paintings:
"Anthony dropped his voice in a piercing whisper: 'My dear, let us not expose your little imposture before these good, plain people...let us not spoil their innocent pleasure. We know, you and I, that this is all terrible tripe..."
This novel is imposture without a trace of real knowledge, experience or thought. I have almost convinced myself to knock it down to one star but I will let it stand. My main sadness with novels like this is that no one seems to know the difference anymore between the meritorious and the meretricious.
I have no intention of dissecting the numerous problems in the plot of this novel because this is a novel typical of an author who has emerged from a 'creative writing' school. Such authors may produce great prose but it is all wrapped around stories which are check lists of fashionable causes and thinking not lived experience. The days when authors like Jack London or Ernest Hemingway emerged from Alaskan gold fields or the experience of war may be gone but to write something requires more than a skilled technique. There must be something there. Compared to an author like Jon Ransom what Mr. Amherst has produced is worthy of the scorn Anthony Blanche, in 'Brideshead Revisited', heaped on Charles Ryder's South American paintings:
"Anthony dropped his voice in a piercing whisper: 'My dear, let us not expose your little imposture before these good, plain people...let us not spoil their innocent pleasure. We know, you and I, that this is all terrible tripe..."
This novel is imposture without a trace of real knowledge, experience or thought. I have almost convinced myself to knock it down to one star but I will let it stand. My main sadness with novels like this is that no one seems to know the difference anymore between the meritorious and the meretricious.
November 6, 2024
Michael Amherst's debut novel is the story of a boy, Daniel, who is trying to understand the world and his place in it. Though the novel is short, it packs in a lot of emotional punch. There is some very fine writing here indeed, and it is accomplished and very distinct in style. There might not be many grand, epic set pieces here - Amherst is more concerned with the detail of a boyhood life - and it is a quiet, introspective novel but remains thoroughly engaging and is emotionally satisfying. A great debut.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.
December 10, 2024
An awe-inducing short novel about a boy’s coming of age. I sat wrapt unable to put the book down, reading it almost entirely in a single sitting. Perfect for fans of Claire Keegan - literary fiction and storytelling at its absolute finest.
Read
January 6, 2025DNF — there are parts which are beautifully written however the narration really took me out the story. It’s told in the third person and seems to be narrated as if the main character is a precocious university student rather than a 12 year old boy? I also couldn’t identify the central question. I don’t mind books with less plot but here it really felt like there was none. Other than the general notion that kids grow up and change, there was no indication of a tension or a problem or a question underlying the events of the story. Normally I don’t DNF but I really couldn’t see how at almost 40% of the way through the bookm that it could get better. Unfortunate because it seemed interesting from the general summary.
Thank you to riverhead for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
Thank you to riverhead for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
February 21, 2025
1 painfully disappointing 🌟
First, I want to apologise for simping this book up. Because I'd been looking forward to this book for almost 5 months. But the truth is, I was lied to. By the title, the cover, the reviews, the blurbs, even the synopsis. This is not a "beautiful coming of age story." This is not an "utterly compelling and quietly devastating story." And let me just say, that as someone who writes almost exclusively from the point of view of children/teens, I am insulted by the words, "Amherst writes movingly about childhood." This is a wildly out of place childhood written from the point of view of an academic who is desperately trying to remember what it was like to be a kid and failing miserably. It might have worked if it had been written in a raw first person narrative voice, like Room, or Runt, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but here the prose was cold, detached, analytical, preachy, and to me, read more like an academic research paper than a novel. I could not find a single bit of emotion or passion in the whole of this mercifully short book. And his weird quirk of always calling the MC 'the boy' or 'the son' instead of his name, only put more distance between you and the contrarian MC, and along with the fact that every single character was just plain horrible (like, there was not one single redeeming feature among them) made this a dreary, irritating, insufferable and disappointing read. I honestly don't know why so many creators (especially queer creators) have been shouting this one from the rooftops. There are no insights to be gained, there isn't even an ending or a plausible character arc, and the fact that this got a Society of Authors grant to be written is even more infuriating. Plus, it's barely even queer. Ugh, okay rant over.
First, I want to apologise for simping this book up. Because I'd been looking forward to this book for almost 5 months. But the truth is, I was lied to. By the title, the cover, the reviews, the blurbs, even the synopsis. This is not a "beautiful coming of age story." This is not an "utterly compelling and quietly devastating story." And let me just say, that as someone who writes almost exclusively from the point of view of children/teens, I am insulted by the words, "Amherst writes movingly about childhood." This is a wildly out of place childhood written from the point of view of an academic who is desperately trying to remember what it was like to be a kid and failing miserably. It might have worked if it had been written in a raw first person narrative voice, like Room, or Runt, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but here the prose was cold, detached, analytical, preachy, and to me, read more like an academic research paper than a novel. I could not find a single bit of emotion or passion in the whole of this mercifully short book. And his weird quirk of always calling the MC 'the boy' or 'the son' instead of his name, only put more distance between you and the contrarian MC, and along with the fact that every single character was just plain horrible (like, there was not one single redeeming feature among them) made this a dreary, irritating, insufferable and disappointing read. I honestly don't know why so many creators (especially queer creators) have been shouting this one from the rooftops. There are no insights to be gained, there isn't even an ending or a plausible character arc, and the fact that this got a Society of Authors grant to be written is even more infuriating. Plus, it's barely even queer. Ugh, okay rant over.
April 28, 2025
2.5, rounded down.
On paper I SHOULD have been the ideal reader for this tale of a sensitive, artistic pre-teen queer boy who feels out of step with the world, since I myself was one several decades ago - but there were two huge issues I had with it.
First off, the protagonist, Daniel, is thoroughly unlikeable - a whiny, prissy, self-aggrandizing, yet never quite self-aware little prig; when he complains that he's never really had any friends, one wants to scream at him: 'Well, DUH!!'. And when (spoiler alert!!) - his mother attempts suicide, even Daniel thinks she'd be better off dead than to have to deal with HIM!
Secondly, the prose is ... well, prosaic, but also overly fussy - it reeks of something submitted for one's final project for the Iowa Writer's MFA program. The story also seems to be at least partially autobiographical, and if so, then I don't think the author has enough distance from it to lend it anything very interesting to say.
The title also somewhat bugs me - Daniel is not truly 'evil', nor a fratricide - just annoying and clueless. Cool cover though.
On paper I SHOULD have been the ideal reader for this tale of a sensitive, artistic pre-teen queer boy who feels out of step with the world, since I myself was one several decades ago - but there were two huge issues I had with it.
First off, the protagonist, Daniel, is thoroughly unlikeable - a whiny, prissy, self-aggrandizing, yet never quite self-aware little prig; when he complains that he's never really had any friends, one wants to scream at him: 'Well, DUH!!'. And when (spoiler alert!!) - his mother attempts suicide, even Daniel thinks she'd be better off dead than to have to deal with HIM!
Secondly, the prose is ... well, prosaic, but also overly fussy - it reeks of something submitted for one's final project for the Iowa Writer's MFA program. The story also seems to be at least partially autobiographical, and if so, then I don't think the author has enough distance from it to lend it anything very interesting to say.
The title also somewhat bugs me - Daniel is not truly 'evil', nor a fratricide - just annoying and clueless. Cool cover though.
April 6, 2025
Decent debut with a strong, albeit terse style of prose. This is one of those stories where things just sort of happen to the protagonist, so I reckon it’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. There is something oddly cathartic about it.
February 4, 2025
This is one of those novels where things happen to the protagonist, rather than the protagonist being driven to do anything of consequence. Sometimes I enjoy this kind of tale, as a slice of life cosy read, but this was too bleak for me. The characters are unlikeable, and whilst the main character has some interesting rebellious takes towards his teachers and the church in the middle portion of the book, the ending just kind of revolves around their paedophilic art teacher and the main character's growing interest in his naked male classmates which felt weird. I don't care how realistic it is to real life teenage boy, I have no interest in descriptions of underage boys' bodies and paedophilic adults.
Overall, this is was a bleak read, to the point of almost being bland. I'm sure some people would love this, but I dont think I was the target audience here!
Overall, this is was a bleak read, to the point of almost being bland. I'm sure some people would love this, but I dont think I was the target audience here!
February 6, 2025
Major thanks to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:
"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵? 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?"
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵.”
“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘴.
Like Samantha Harvey’s Orbital but on earth and through the eyes of a precocious child. Adolescence as mood piece. You have to understand that life starts for yourself once you stop blaming everything on your parents. Strokes of brilliance, here and there, with a cutthroat end, but shimmers off into a big question mark.
"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵? 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?"
“𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵.”
“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘴.
Like Samantha Harvey’s Orbital but on earth and through the eyes of a precocious child. Adolescence as mood piece. You have to understand that life starts for yourself once you stop blaming everything on your parents. Strokes of brilliance, here and there, with a cutthroat end, but shimmers off into a big question mark.
February 5, 2025
It was the cover of The Boyhood of Cain that first drew me in when I saw it on Netgalley, and the fact that it was published by Faber, whose output rarely lets me down. This is Michael Amherst's debut novel, and it's a gorgeous coming of age story set mostly in rural England.
I fell in love with the protagonist Daniel. I've read some reviews that described him as precocious and irritating - I found him to be a curious, steadfast little guy, so courageous in his convictions and staying true to himself, despite the pressure to be like everyone else that is part of life in those tricky preteen and teenage years.
Daniel attends a prestigious school where his father is headmaster but things change rapidly for the family when his father loses his job and their home, and Daniel's mother goes through a bout of depression. Daniel becomes close to a school friend and is taken under the wing of his art teacher Mr Miller but as Daniel begins to assert himself, find his place in the world and consider his faith and his sexuality, he discovers that there is much going on beneath the surface.
The sparse prose and third person narrative allows for enough distance to lure you into thinking you're reading the story as a detached observer, but Daniel's innermost thoughts and fears are slowly revealed to the reader, leading to what was for me an unexpectedly intimate and emotional reading experience. It reminded me of They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell, or Stoner by John Williams, in the sense that it's a book that creeps under your skin and has the feel of a modern classic. I get the Claire Keegan comparison too, another Faber stalwart.
4 stars, recommend in particular if you enjoyed the above books.
Many thanks to Faber Books for the arc via @netgalley. The Boyhood of Cain will be published next week 13 February 2025.
I fell in love with the protagonist Daniel. I've read some reviews that described him as precocious and irritating - I found him to be a curious, steadfast little guy, so courageous in his convictions and staying true to himself, despite the pressure to be like everyone else that is part of life in those tricky preteen and teenage years.
Daniel attends a prestigious school where his father is headmaster but things change rapidly for the family when his father loses his job and their home, and Daniel's mother goes through a bout of depression. Daniel becomes close to a school friend and is taken under the wing of his art teacher Mr Miller but as Daniel begins to assert himself, find his place in the world and consider his faith and his sexuality, he discovers that there is much going on beneath the surface.
The sparse prose and third person narrative allows for enough distance to lure you into thinking you're reading the story as a detached observer, but Daniel's innermost thoughts and fears are slowly revealed to the reader, leading to what was for me an unexpectedly intimate and emotional reading experience. It reminded me of They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell, or Stoner by John Williams, in the sense that it's a book that creeps under your skin and has the feel of a modern classic. I get the Claire Keegan comparison too, another Faber stalwart.
4 stars, recommend in particular if you enjoyed the above books.
Many thanks to Faber Books for the arc via @netgalley. The Boyhood of Cain will be published next week 13 February 2025.
November 28, 2024
thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC! 2.5 rounded up, I really wish I liked this one more than I did. It had a super strong start, and seemed right up my alley, but I feel like it was telling me all the important bits instead of showing me, ya know? I don't feel like I got to know any of the characters or their motivations, everyone felt pretty one-dimensional except for the main character (who honestly, I do love, thus the rounding up).
I just don't know what this book was trying to accomplish. It really takes the punch out of the few big, important moments if they're just handed to you without fuss and then never addressed again. Both the mother and the sister COULD have been really interesting, but they weren't. i also feel like the last scene was written because the author was like "oh shit, i need something poetic and symbolic to round this out" and i'm really struggling to figure out what it meant + how it fits into the book. I did like how this book captured a specific flavor of queer male desire, but it really only did something profound and cool a couple times, and the rest felt...not as important, or overstated, or just boring.
there are many great queer coming of age books out there, and there is definitely a reader out there somewhere who will resonate with this, but it wasn't me. if you're willing to read a litfic with no plot, just vibes about a complicated little guy, this may be for you!
I just don't know what this book was trying to accomplish. It really takes the punch out of the few big, important moments if they're just handed to you without fuss and then never addressed again. Both the mother and the sister COULD have been really interesting, but they weren't. i also feel like the last scene was written because the author was like "oh shit, i need something poetic and symbolic to round this out" and i'm really struggling to figure out what it meant + how it fits into the book. I did like how this book captured a specific flavor of queer male desire, but it really only did something profound and cool a couple times, and the rest felt...not as important, or overstated, or just boring.
there are many great queer coming of age books out there, and there is definitely a reader out there somewhere who will resonate with this, but it wasn't me. if you're willing to read a litfic with no plot, just vibes about a complicated little guy, this may be for you!
May 28, 2025
Short and well-written, always in present tense which had a nice effect. Does a good job putting you in the perspective of a ~12 year old, with him being egotistical, often embarrassed, and hating and loving his parents in quick succession
March 24, 2025
“What he wants to say is: make me good. Whatever it is that I lack, make me good. Make me normal. Make it so that I can be loved.”
This line alone— the self awareness that you finally see at the end, the moment Daniel understands himself, understands his desires, his anger, his confusion, was such a profound moment for me that it brought this book from a solid 4 Star into a 5 Star for me.
Yes, Daniel is difficult. He is precocious, so assured of his place in the world until he isn’t. He asks questions, wants to understand, and loses himself when the answers he receives don’t coincide with his worldview. But he is so, so human because of it. Every moment he did something that frustrated me, I also was reminded of the fact that Daniel is only a child. He isn’t beholden to social cues that many of us have already learned. He hasn’t become subdued under societal expectations. Yet. And in a lot of ways he may never.
As the book progresses you start to feel those moments of frustration blossom into something more. As the reader you become uncomfortable and worried, reading cues between the line that even Daniel can’t understand. And you start to see him as the questions stop, the shame overcomes him, and he finally begins to wonder why he is so different; why these differences don’t make him special as he originally thought. He’s not special, he’s not picked. He’s outcast.
It breaks my heart. I see a lot of myself in younger Daniel. Hell, I see a lot of it still. There is such a profound loneliness and helplessness in how the world continues around him despite not understanding it.
The characters around him too all fail him in some way. His shortcomings aren’t all his own. His parents aren’t present, preoccupied with their own wins and losses. His father is absent, from a generation different than those kids around his age. His mother is suffocating, allowing him whatever he wants, almost as if living through him vicariously when she couldn’t become the actress she wanted and instead ended up married and depressed. She won’t let him break free and he doesn’t want to be free either because he never knows differently. There are even times Daniel hates them both for what they are though he loves them too. The townsfolk, his classmates, even Philip (who goes through his own tragedy) seem to abandon Daniel.
And then there’s Mr Miller. That man is the devil. The way he speaks to the children, the lack of boundaries, his own unfulfilled wants cropping up, the insecurities he projects onto Daniel, who is unsuspecting but wishes for his approval above all. The reveal at the end doesn’t surprise me either, especially with his particular favoritism of Philip. His immoral, disgusting illusions of grandeur and spiteful nature towards Daniel is so, so infuriating. Honestly the hardest parts of the novel to tolerate. Poor Daniel.
Anyways this is the longest review I’ve ever written probably, but this book gave me a lot of think about despite being one of the shorter ones I’ve read this year. Definitely worth the read.
This line alone— the self awareness that you finally see at the end, the moment Daniel understands himself, understands his desires, his anger, his confusion, was such a profound moment for me that it brought this book from a solid 4 Star into a 5 Star for me.
Yes, Daniel is difficult. He is precocious, so assured of his place in the world until he isn’t. He asks questions, wants to understand, and loses himself when the answers he receives don’t coincide with his worldview. But he is so, so human because of it. Every moment he did something that frustrated me, I also was reminded of the fact that Daniel is only a child. He isn’t beholden to social cues that many of us have already learned. He hasn’t become subdued under societal expectations. Yet. And in a lot of ways he may never.
As the book progresses you start to feel those moments of frustration blossom into something more. As the reader you become uncomfortable and worried, reading cues between the line that even Daniel can’t understand. And you start to see him as the questions stop, the shame overcomes him, and he finally begins to wonder why he is so different; why these differences don’t make him special as he originally thought. He’s not special, he’s not picked. He’s outcast.
It breaks my heart. I see a lot of myself in younger Daniel. Hell, I see a lot of it still. There is such a profound loneliness and helplessness in how the world continues around him despite not understanding it.
The characters around him too all fail him in some way. His shortcomings aren’t all his own. His parents aren’t present, preoccupied with their own wins and losses. His father is absent, from a generation different than those kids around his age. His mother is suffocating, allowing him whatever he wants, almost as if living through him vicariously when she couldn’t become the actress she wanted and instead ended up married and depressed. She won’t let him break free and he doesn’t want to be free either because he never knows differently. There are even times Daniel hates them both for what they are though he loves them too. The townsfolk, his classmates, even Philip (who goes through his own tragedy) seem to abandon Daniel.
And then there’s Mr Miller. That man is the devil. The way he speaks to the children, the lack of boundaries, his own unfulfilled wants cropping up, the insecurities he projects onto Daniel, who is unsuspecting but wishes for his approval above all. The reveal at the end doesn’t surprise me either, especially with his particular favoritism of Philip. His immoral, disgusting illusions of grandeur and spiteful nature towards Daniel is so, so infuriating. Honestly the hardest parts of the novel to tolerate. Poor Daniel.
Anyways this is the longest review I’ve ever written probably, but this book gave me a lot of think about despite being one of the shorter ones I’ve read this year. Definitely worth the read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2025
Started out so strong as a story about the precocious and queer son of a headmaster à la You Are Not Alone (1978) but veered away from that almost immediately when the father lost his position and it turned into a sleepy pastoral about cows and sheep and village life. I imagined a setting like Banshees of Inisherin—there is so much talk of religion and townsfolk I was shocked to find out this actually takes place in the 1990s??? I don’t know, it really missed me. It’s completely humorless and I wondered why it was written from a child’s perspective but still so dry, like I can’t emphasize enough how the voice sounds like that of the snobbish son of a royal who’s only ever interacted with adults or something.
December 26, 2024
Thanks to Ecco for the early proof. This first novel moves with the pace and finesse of a seasoned author twice his age. In just the first few pages a young boy is in a school where his father is the headmaster and in just a few chapters, his father has been removed from the job and the family has moved from their provided housing to a rural house and his father is raising livestock. The author also does such a lovely job of climbing into the concerns and worries of a young boy while leaving out any hint of how an adult might handle such issues. The boy’s confusions and pathos make it a wonderful read.
February 12, 2025
The cover is beautiful but I found 'The Boyhood of Cain' an unsettling read in many ways. Is Danny observant, intuitive, wise beyond his years, who cares so much for his depressed mother while containing rage for his seemingly indifferent father? Or is he precocious, self-absorbed and frustrated by the lack of recognition and attention to him? The undertones and allusions throughout veer to sexual confusion and betrayal, disappointment. Certain events captured and seen through the eyes of a child are emotive and inspire regret that children are often not credited with percipience. Others make one glad Daniel’s mother offers him sensible life advice!
pub. 13th February 2025.
pub. 13th February 2025.
November 26, 2024
This book is written in third person, which I found weird. The young boy is intriguing but just not a character i liked. He had intelligent arguments about baptism and other things but really felt like a wave rolling over pebbles. The family dynamic was tough - two younger children with a mentally ill mother and alcoholic father but I didn’t like or dislike them. There was not an emotional attachment for me in this story. The ending really lost me. Not a book I would recommend.
June 22, 2025
I liked the start with the scenes set in the school and the antinatalist honesty of the boy, but as soon as the family moves to a farm, the story stalls. It becomes irritating in style and content. The verb tense is wrong - present tense is annoying AF, and there is zero storytelling - just endless chapters on how big cows are - it’s baffling how quickly the book goes downhill
DNF
Dull narrator on audiobook too, not doing a tedious book any favours at all
DNF
Dull narrator on audiobook too, not doing a tedious book any favours at all
July 10, 2025
unfortunately this seemed overall pretty derivative. it was as if everything was happening around the protagonist but nothing was happening TO him. i’d have been much more interested to learn about the mother character, or the boy the protagonist is obsessed with. it was like it was trying to hint at coming of age tropes without actually engaging with them, and like the author was just using the protagonist as a vessel to ask the questions he wanted to ask and share the opinions he wanted to share. it was nicely written and there were a few lovely moments, but much of it just didn’t seem realistic for a 10? year old boy.
April 5, 2025
This was a well written exploration into a rather difficult boys ascension into adolescence; there is little to say in terms of plot, it more so focuses on the development of the main character and his displeasure at almost everything he encounters. Other themes such as sexuality and religion come in and out of focus throughout the book too, but the main takeaway for me was the lack of empathy or understanding this boy depicted at any time. An interesting read. Thank you to the publishers for the advance proof copy.
March 2, 2025
-overly cliched
-sterile, with an annoying, petulant main character- intensely dislikable
-short staccato sentences that do not serve the text
-no one seems to act like actual people in this
-sterile, with an annoying, petulant main character- intensely dislikable
-short staccato sentences that do not serve the text
-no one seems to act like actual people in this
Read
February 13, 2025👍 🤷 👍
June 27, 2025
the author is hot
July 1, 2025
in The Boyhood of Cain, Daniel’s growing awareness of the world presents itself in a poignant series of losses small and large; it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but is hypnotically & absorbingly told
Does coming-of-age have to be cliche? It’s probably hard at this point in history to make something brand new out of the coming-of-age story, especially a queer one. The Boyhood Of Cain is not a mold-breaking novel by any means – just a glance at the synopsis will tell you everything you need to know, and perhaps even clue you in on the trajectory of the whole thing – but where Michael Amherst’s simple tale of a boy’s growing up shines is in the telling. Our protagonist Daniel and the peripheral characters are all deeply complicated, the situations are ambiguous, and in our limited POV, we’re faced with the very real losses that signify the end of a childhood.
The setting of The Boyhood Of Cain doesn’t have the sunkissed, sweaty mood of Call Me By Your Name, nor does it have the crushing despair of Shuggie Bain. The Boyhood Of Cain’s pacing is uncannily brisk; the slight length and sense of constant change lend to it that time-slipping-away feeling, the grains of time slipping through your fingers. Time seems to draw the people around Daniel away from him, along with everything he’s known and accepted.
In response, all Daniel can do is ask. The novel itself feels like it’s asking: do things have to be this way? Yes, all the adults in the book attempt to placate Daniel with platitudes about “that’s just how it is”, but there’s something in Daniel’s frustration with all parties involved in this tacit complacency that feels oddly cathartic. In one instance, Daniel is frustrated at the adults in his life telling him it’s not his responsibility to ‘save the world’ (p. 110) in response to them not helping a homeless woman, who starts yelling at him and his father in response. Daniel gets mad at his father, mad at the homeless woman, and not too many pages before this, mad at God.
The religious undertones of The Boyhood Of Cain propel much of Daniel’s inner turmoil. Amherst opens the novel with a lengthy epigraph about the complications of Christianity. Daniel struggles with the very concept of being born-again in his denomination’s sense; his questions lead him to refuse the sacrament of confirmation while his friend Philip goes through with it despite not being a regular churchgoer. Is complacency the ticket to heaven, to success? Does questioning how it all works lead to ruin?
Daniel can be a frustrating character, but it’s to be expected of a teenager just developing his critical thinking skills. The cast of supporting characters is written with surprising depth given the brief length of the novel. Daniel’s mother is a particularly memorable figure in Boyhood, and while aspects of her character are left up to interpretation, I never once felt like she was unbelievable. There were things that I wanted to know and to learn about her, and that kept me engaged with the story. It adds to the constant, urgent sense of questioning, and an equally (if not more) pressing sense that no answers will come.
Michael Amherst spins a delicate kind of spell in The Boyhood Of Cain; the titular character represents one of the most pivotally evil moments in the Bible, but to cast Daniel in the “Cain” role feels a bit severe, and probably just as dramatic as Daniel would want it to be. Growing up is tough; you ask so many questions until you don’t have the energy to, probably because the demands of life have diverted your attention away from wondering why it has to be like this at all. From page one all the way to the novel’s breathtaking final scene, the sense of uncertainty that looms over Daniel’s new awareness is the true mark of adulthood, of everything you want to know, but can’t, and may never know why.
Previously, he has asked whom she loves most—him, his sister, or their father. He knows this to be a trick question, for all mothers love their children best. So, when she says their father—that she is married to their father, which means she must love him more than anybody—he is horrified … he is sure she is lying, he cannot explain why she would tell such a lie. (pp. 144-145)
Does coming-of-age have to be cliche? It’s probably hard at this point in history to make something brand new out of the coming-of-age story, especially a queer one. The Boyhood Of Cain is not a mold-breaking novel by any means – just a glance at the synopsis will tell you everything you need to know, and perhaps even clue you in on the trajectory of the whole thing – but where Michael Amherst’s simple tale of a boy’s growing up shines is in the telling. Our protagonist Daniel and the peripheral characters are all deeply complicated, the situations are ambiguous, and in our limited POV, we’re faced with the very real losses that signify the end of a childhood.
The setting of The Boyhood Of Cain doesn’t have the sunkissed, sweaty mood of Call Me By Your Name, nor does it have the crushing despair of Shuggie Bain. The Boyhood Of Cain’s pacing is uncannily brisk; the slight length and sense of constant change lend to it that time-slipping-away feeling, the grains of time slipping through your fingers. Time seems to draw the people around Daniel away from him, along with everything he’s known and accepted.
In response, all Daniel can do is ask. The novel itself feels like it’s asking: do things have to be this way? Yes, all the adults in the book attempt to placate Daniel with platitudes about “that’s just how it is”, but there’s something in Daniel’s frustration with all parties involved in this tacit complacency that feels oddly cathartic. In one instance, Daniel is frustrated at the adults in his life telling him it’s not his responsibility to ‘save the world’ (p. 110) in response to them not helping a homeless woman, who starts yelling at him and his father in response. Daniel gets mad at his father, mad at the homeless woman, and not too many pages before this, mad at God.
The religious undertones of The Boyhood Of Cain propel much of Daniel’s inner turmoil. Amherst opens the novel with a lengthy epigraph about the complications of Christianity. Daniel struggles with the very concept of being born-again in his denomination’s sense; his questions lead him to refuse the sacrament of confirmation while his friend Philip goes through with it despite not being a regular churchgoer. Is complacency the ticket to heaven, to success? Does questioning how it all works lead to ruin?
Daniel can be a frustrating character, but it’s to be expected of a teenager just developing his critical thinking skills. The cast of supporting characters is written with surprising depth given the brief length of the novel. Daniel’s mother is a particularly memorable figure in Boyhood, and while aspects of her character are left up to interpretation, I never once felt like she was unbelievable. There were things that I wanted to know and to learn about her, and that kept me engaged with the story. It adds to the constant, urgent sense of questioning, and an equally (if not more) pressing sense that no answers will come.
Michael Amherst spins a delicate kind of spell in The Boyhood Of Cain; the titular character represents one of the most pivotally evil moments in the Bible, but to cast Daniel in the “Cain” role feels a bit severe, and probably just as dramatic as Daniel would want it to be. Growing up is tough; you ask so many questions until you don’t have the energy to, probably because the demands of life have diverted your attention away from wondering why it has to be like this at all. From page one all the way to the novel’s breathtaking final scene, the sense of uncertainty that looms over Daniel’s new awareness is the true mark of adulthood, of everything you want to know, but can’t, and may never know why.
September 10, 2024
This a short and slow burn novel. It is your typical coming of age tale but there are some gorgeous lines that had me scribbling in the margin of my proof copy.
So much happens in this little bite size novel, but it happens with a whisper of a plot. It’s truly honest and wonderful!
If you liked the voice of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and the intensity of Young Mungo. This one is for you!
So much happens in this little bite size novel, but it happens with a whisper of a plot. It’s truly honest and wonderful!
If you liked the voice of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and the intensity of Young Mungo. This one is for you!
August 31, 2024
loved this. really gorgeous & honest
Displaying 1 - 30 of 213 reviews