Where Are the Kings

by Donal Ryan

From the winner of the Orwell Prize for Fiction and the Irish Book of the Year...

Jack is just twelve years old when he rushes down the hill after his mother's car on his bike, desperate to reach her before she reaches the lake.

What happens next cannot be undone. Jack's life changes just at the moment he is entering those dizzying years when he will transition from boy to man; when nothing makes sense at the best of times.

Yet Jack is not, is never alone. Enveloped as he is by his extended family - his ferociously loving Nana; Grandad, given to sudden bursts of rage; his earthy uncles Haulie and Theo who want to show him what it means to be a man, and irascible cousin JJ who resents him. Then there is beautiful aunt Rose, whose mere presence ignites ever atom in his changing body.

But how can a boy with so many questions, in a family with so many secrets, understand the person he is becoming? Without his mother to ground him on the earth, will he spin off into the stars?

Genres: Irish Literature, Ireland

203 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication August 13, 2026

About the author

Donal Ryan is the author of the novels The Spinning Heart, The Thing About December, the short-story collection A Slanting of the Sun, and the forthcoming novel All We Shall Know. He holds a degree in Law from the University of Limerick, and worked for the National Employment Rights Authority before the success of his first two novels allowed him to pursue writing as a full-time career.

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sad…
Thank you Transworld and Netgalley UK for the ARC

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up, it’s not my fave of Donal Ryan’s novels but it’s a really fascinating and moving exploration into of a child’s grief

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of an advanced copy received from NetGalley.

Touching, poignant and fantastically moving, Where Are The Kings by Donal Ryan is an incredibly beautiful novel.

Narrated by twelve-year-old Jack, the story is bittersweet in its exploration of death, grief and the difficulties of navigating the loss of a parent during childhood. Following the death of his mother, Jack goes to live with his grandparents and extended family in rural Ireland. Each member of the family is vividly realised, from his kind and captivating Aunt Rose to the mercurial JJ, and every person surrounding Jack leaves a lasting impression as he struggles to come to terms with the enormity of the changes in his life.

The novel itself feels deeply poetic and consistently thought provoking. The simplicity of the narrative voice works beautifully against the emotional weight of the subject matter, creating something both tender and devastating. Ryan also uses apparitions and dreamlike moments to striking effect, giving the novel a speculative quality that adds another layer to its exploration of grief and memory.

An absolute masterpiece.

[one.too.many.books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn into this story. The writing is exquisite, accessible, clever, and lyrical. Usually I’m not a fan of no quotation marks but with this books I hadn’t even noticed it until about 50 pages in, it just flowed for me.

Right from the first page I was in it and sucked in. The themes here probably warrant a trigger warning. This is based around a suicide and a grieving boy who loses his mother in the most traumatic way, at a time where so many things change. It’s a coming of age story, losing his mother but also his father to a mental health breakdown, as well as getting to know a new way of living and figuring out family secret.

The grief is so palpable and the confusion real. It’s so cleverly written, you can really feel that grief, the confusion, and not having an outlet to process the trauma he’s experienced. Silence was common about these matters in the 90’s and probably still is common. I cried twice within the first three chapters and then again at the end. It’s a shorter read at just over 200 pages but so impactful!

I loved the family dynamics and the humour, a small town rural Ireland setting. Donal Ryan is an auto-buy author and an Irish literary legend for me. I wholeheartedly recommend!

We Are The Kings publishes on 13th August 💙

[Hilary Mcfaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thanks to Netgalley and publishers for an advance reader copy of this book.
My first Donal Ryan and what a treat! This was poetic, heart breaking, witty, lyrical and enduring in its character development and story telling. It is a book about loss, trauma, family and secrets and I absolutely adored it!
Jack is 12 and his mother has died a very traumatic death. He goes to live with his grandparents, 2uncles, 1 aunt and 1 cousin all of whom are such interesting characters. We see how they all try to deal with what has happened and the goings on of life over the following 2 years or so.
The book is narrated from Jacks perspective which for me is what makes this book so brilliant. The reflections on how Jack tries to live with the trauma and grief are so profound at times I needed to stop for a while to think about what I’d read.
The dream parts of the book add so much to the themes being explored, almost a deeper level of possibilities.
This book is so so so good. I’m off to check out what else this author has written!

[Gumble's Yard - Golden Reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time flows unevenly in the workshop. It's measured out in jobs started and finished, and the sun has no say in it nor has the moon, because the light of the workshop is the workshop's own light, the workshop is its own discrete universe, and the clock has no business dictating to anyone when to stop or start or pause to smoke or argue or drink a cup of tea in silence. Something from earlier the same day or last week or the week before might be described as having happened a little while ago. A good while ago could mean a month ago or it could be right back in history, it could be the early eighties when Grandad stopped farming and the land was set and the garage was opened officially; it could be the moment of creation when everything exploded outwards from a point of infinite smallness. Time stops being linear and it susurrates and syncopates. There's euphony for you, Theo says. Theo tells Jack what euphony is. Good sounds. Words that have a nice hiss to them, a kind of a beat. Haulie shouts suddenly from under a Flesta with a torn CV boot that's dripping grease into his wiry hair Euphony! Hey, Jack, euphony! Ha? Euphony all right, and I'm funny! He not funny, though! And he points his oil-slicked spanner at Theo, who shakes his head and clicks his tongue. He a grumpy oul bastard!

 
Donal Ryan’s debut “The Spinning Heart” (2012) – which tells in 21 different character chapters the story of a community reeling from the collapse of the Irish Tiger economy - was winner of the Irish Book Awards (the first of a series of accolades he has taken there), shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, winner of the Guardian First Book Award and longlisted for the 2013 Booker Prize.
 
His six subsequent novels have all gained both strong sales success and literary recognition – notably “From A Low and Quiet Sea” Booker Prize longlisted in 2018 and “Heart, Be At Peace” (a direct success to his debut visiting the same 21 characters some years later) winning the 2024 Orwell Prize from a very strong set of Finalists.
 
His novels tend to be set in his home area of mid-Western Ireland (particularly North Tipperary and Limerick) – he has said that he notoriously hates research (which was for me an issue with his first Booker longlisted novel) and would rather draw on the “language, lexicon and landscape” that he knows – and this one fits that setting and draws heavily on all three of those.
 
They also feature repeated characters - and this his eighth novel due out later in 2026, is no exception with for example the close to ubiquitous (in his novels) Sergeant Jim Gildea playing an important and typically empathetic/common sense role late on, and with cameo references to the Elwood’s who are central to “Strange Flowers” and reappear in the second half of “The Queen of Dirt Island”.
 
The novel’s close third party character is Jack and the opening novel begins with the tragedy that defines the rest of the novel – when at 12 years old (and around 1997) he tries to pursue his mother (driving his eccentric Czech political emigrant father’s car) from driving down to a lake – where she walks in and commits suicide.
 
His father seemingly unhinged by events – and confined for periods to a mental health facility – Jack moves to life with his maternal relatives (who have an uneasy relationship with his father) – his quite but fiercely determined grandfather and no nonsense nana and their three “batches” of children: Theo and Haulie born  a year apart when his grandparents were little more than children themselves, Auntie Rose some 15 years or so later (a few years after his Mum who was ten years younger than her brothers) and then years and years later, and rather surprisingly given their ages, JJ who is little older than Jack.
 
And much of the rest of the novel is the often gentle and beautifully handled account of Jack’s interaction with this family while a the same time he is trying to process his own guilt:
 
Theo and Haulie – who maintain a lyrical banter while training the quick-to-learn Jack to help them in the family car mechanic business they have taken on (and who ultimately prove to be the answer to the titular question which comes from a Yeats poem);
 
Rose – a fiercely attractive (and at times fierce) school teacher who Jack has a secret crush on;
 
JJ – rather behind at school and often seen as something to be rather hidden by his family – who has to come to terms with his own resentment at Jack’s usurpation of half his bedroom and more than half of the affection of Theo, Haulie and Rose while conscious of making allowances for Jack’s circumstances.
 
And when Jack’s father does make an appearance it is clear that relationship with his in-laws are even more strained than Jack realised: at one stage his grandfather threatening to short his father, a visiting maiden Aunt from England (from whom JJ is literally hidden) making it clear her blame on his father for his mother’s death.
 
Family secrets and revelations and are recurring in Ryan’s writing – and this is no exception, but in this case Jack senses throughout that there are bigger secrets and stories in place in the family than he knows (at least consciously) and so their eventual resolution feels more like an inevitable reckoning rather than a twist.
 
Ryan has a great ear for the what he calls the “drawled, lilting cadence and weighted laconicism of my countrymen and women” and has also talked about how some of the drama of Gaelic has transferred into Irish people’s use of English –and this makes for some lively and enjoyable dialogue.  But the non dialogue parts are also frequently beautiful and tender. 
 
He captures convincingly a working-class sensibility too – which for me distinguishes his writing from the many of his compatriots with a similar ear for dialogue and description but who in what I have dubbed the “craic cocaine” genre focus too much on the criminal classes.
 
There is a memorable paragraph capturing something of what Jack loves about working with his Uncles on cars – all the more impressive in its effect on me for my own antipathy towards mechanics. 
 
That paragraph begins with the idea of time – and time gives the novel its three Latin section titles: Tempus Edax, Tempus Fugit and Tempus Imperator.
 
And while I initially was uneasy at a scene when Jack (and a girl he meets) are confronted at a pool parlour and arcade by a local hoodlum – the resolution is impressively affirming (the only criticism I can see of the novel from literary readers may be that the novel is too affirming).
 
And the ending – not really the revelations but more the subsequent and ending scene - is very strong.
 
Overall alongside his well-executed Heart Duology – this is my favourite of Ryan’s novels – ultimately affirming and moving and with a beautiful turn of phrase and with a surprisingly convincing attempt (which seems to fail most authors) to capture a child’s voice - and I would not be unhappy with a third Booker appearance.
 
My thanks to Doubleday, Transworld Random House for an ARC via NetGalley and paper ARC
 

There's Mam's voice, coming from somewhere nearer the water. As clear as a whistle, as sweet as honey. It sounds so real. He walks towards it, though he knows it can't be real. He hears Dad's voice too, they're back together again, they're walking in the forest, he was behind them, he was lost, he stopped to look at a strange flower or a spide's web, and now they’re caling our to him, they're telling him to come on, to catch up. He might as well go with it. What has he to lose? I's only the water and the whistle of the wind, he knows, the sounds merging in the gathering dusk. But what a gift to be given, all the same, on this strange day of sudden angels and unexpected beauty and mad revelation, this long saga of a day, this never-ending story of a day, the gift of his mother's voice, and his father's gentle voice, shaken from his history by the kindness of the trees

[Chris Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Are The Kings
Donal Ryan
Transworld Digital, via NetGalley
Advance Reader Copy (ARC)
Read on Kindle
Publication date: August 2026
I have physical copies of all of Donal Ryan's books, so when NetGalley offered me an advance reader copy of Where Are the Kings for review, I jumped at the chance. The title immediately intrigued me. Was a question mark missing?
A glance at the dedication page deepened the mystery. There was an extract from WB Yeats's On Baile's Strand, depicting someone fighting "crowns" on the waves amid cries of "Where are the kings?" The passage hints at struggle, grief and perhaps even madness—elements that resonate throughout the novel.
Just a few minutes into the first chapter, I read:
“There doesn't have to be a reason for crying. 
Sometimes crying just starts itself up in a person, and the person has no control of it.”
This is our young protagonist, 12-year-old Jack, watching his mother. What a premise. 
Why is she crying? I'm hooked. This, surely, would be a novel exploring emotions, most likely of grief. 

And it is, Jack, the good boy of chapter one, is only 12 years old, as he races his bike down a hill in pursuit of his mother's car. He's trying to catch her before she gets to the nearby lake. Jack's life changes forever on that day. 
We meet him next in the embrace of his maternal family. His grandparents, his uncles, Haulie and Theo along with his aunt Rose, on whom he has a crush, and his cousin JJ. 
His father is not yet present. We learn:
“There was something between Mam's family and Dad. Bad blood”.
We are also told that dad is “in a hospital that looks after people whose nerves are at them.”
The novel takes us on a series of episodes or interactions as Jack moves through his teenage years, dealing with awakenings and fantasies. One senses a buildup of rage, and a need to understand. His mother is always in mind. 
We learn at one point that:
“… Mam's laughter Jack could hardly remember what it sounded like until just now, he can hear it in the memory of waves.”
Those waves again. 
This is what I love about Donal Ryan's writing, with an economy of words he can set scenes for us and place us in them as observers. I'm not sure how he manages to do this, and maybe I should go back and reread places where he achieves this so brilliantly. For example, there's a scene where the local priest visits the grandparents' home, effectively demanding compliance with the Church's teaching regarding respectful disposal of mortal remains. 
The young Jack who has been listening to the exchanges outside, takes decisive action. We are in that room.
I loved how the characters were drawn. They feel entirely real and with their manner of speaking I felt that I knew these people or people very much like them - people who are of a place and the place is in them. People that ring true.
Yes, my initial thinking is confirmed. This is a book about loss and grief. It is also about belonging and how people look out for each other. 
It's an appropriate read for today's world.
The episodes build the narrative and we are in Jack’s mind as a critical fateful moment approaches. 
Jack is about to do something from which there is no way back:
“Jack can time his steps to the beat of a poem, the one about the pilot who is about to die, and he knows it, and he doesn't care.”
There's Donal Ryan again, using another reference to William Butler Yeats. This time deploying the poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. Incidentally, the first book I ever read by the author was, All We Shall Know, its title again referencing a line from a poem by Yeats. An intervention by his uncles, Haulie and Theo, brings us some relief.
From here the novel gathers momentum and moves to another point of no return.
Dream or trance-like, we move to the conclusion, and it's in the very last sentence we realise, not just where are the kings, but who are the kings. Wonderful.
I really liked this book, and especially the relatability of the characters. As an exploration of grief and guilt, I'd recommend it to those working with boys, especially in roles helping them to deal with their emotions in the so-called manosphere. For me, it's a work concerned with hope and trust after grief. 

I enjoyed it immensely and awarded it 4 stars. Thoughtful and compassionate it lingers long after that final sentence. I commend it to your bookshelves!
With renewed thanks to Transworld Digital and NetGalley for the ARC edition. I will however want to continue building my Donal Ryan library and will be getting the physical copy to add to my collection when it is published in August 2026.

[Steve Cavill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Are the Kings by Donal Ryan is a tender, deeply affecting coming-of-age novel that showcases his extraordinary gift for capturing the emotional landscape of childhood and small-town Irish life. Told entirely through the eyes of Jack, it is a quietly devastating yet gently funny story of grief, family, identity, and the complicated passage from innocence to understanding.

The novel opens with a heartbreaking moment: Jack desperately races his bicycle after his mother’s car, hoping to stop her before she reaches the lake. What follows changes everything. After her death and with his father Tomáš unable to care for him while receiving psychiatric treatment, Jack is taken in by his maternal grandparents and their sprawling, chaotic household on a Tipperary hillside. Surrounded by his fiercely protective Nana, volatile Grandad, gruff uncles Haulie and Theo, prickly cousin JJ, and captivating Aunt Rose, he finds himself enveloped in an abrasive kind of love—but also in silence. Everyone seems to know the truth about what happened except him, and no one quite knows how, or whether, to explain it.

Jack is an unforgettable narrator. Ryan perfectly captures the way a child processes tragedy: half understanding, half imagining, piecing together the adult world through fragments of overheard conversations, strange memories, and vivid internal voices. His perspective is funny, curious, awkward, and heartbreaking all at once, balancing tender vulnerability with sudden bursts of dark humour that feel entirely true to boyhood. As he moves through adolescence, his grief intertwines with the bewilderment of growing up—his changing feelings toward Aunt Rose, his evolving relationship with JJ, and his desperate need to understand the family secrets that have shaped him.

The household itself feels utterly alive: loud, loving, argumentative, and fiercely protective. The banter provides genuine humour, yet unresolved pain quietly colours every interaction. Ryan writes ordinary people with extraordinary compassion, allowing emotion to emerge naturally through character and memory rather than melodrama. The rural Irish setting is richly evoked, and his prose has a musical quality that makes even the simplest observations feel profound.

The dreamlike quality of Jack’s narration can occasionally blur the line between memory, imagination, and reality, and the middle section slows slightly as the family dynamics settle into place. These are minor reservations in a novel of such emotional honesty and humanity.

Where Are the Kings is a beautiful meditation on loss, resilient love, and growing up in the shadow of unanswered questions. Quietly devastating, warmly funny, and written with immense empathy, it is another remarkable achievement from one of Ireland’s finest storytellers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of the book in return for an honest review

[Books By Your Bedside · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I've only read one Donal Ryan book - The Spinning Heart - but I do own two others - Heart Be At Peace and Strange Flowers. I wasn't sure how I felt about The Spinning Heart but I could appreciate his storytelling ability and this one sounded interesting.

I'm not sure about this one either. Maybe it's his writing style as his previous book was similar, and I struggled to get a grasp on it. Reading other reviews, I can understand how full of heart and soul his writing is, but I struggle to find the story beneath the writing.

The characters are also really hard to find underneath the writing, and the speech is worked into the paragraph so it's not always clear that someone's talking, and I have a personal issue with books that don't clearly show dialogue.

To be honest, I didn't really know what was going on, other than a family going through a bereavement. But it seemed to focus on ensuring it is beautifully written - and I can't deny it is very lovely to read the actual words - and forgot that the reader wants a story to invest in.

It is an interesting look at a child's grief. I read a lot of books about grief and death, but very few give you a child's perspective, and they should because it's obviously very different to an adult's. So that side of it I found interesting, I just wish it was a bit clearer to read.

I can see a flood of 4 and 5 star reviews and only a handful of 3 star or below and so I know I'm in the minority here. I didn't find anything specifically wrong with it, but it didn't wow me. I can appreciate his storytelling talent and the emotion he's managed to find, but I felt it was too hard work to actually get anything of substance from it. Perhaps his writing style just isn't for me.

If you've read his work before and you enjoy it, then you'll enjoy this. I think you definitely need to understand his style to get something out of it and I just don't know if that's me. Like I say, I have got two of his other books so I will give them a go but I may have to hold my hand up and say he's not a writer for me. Which is a shame but I suppose we can't all like every book.

[Joanna Cannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This morning I finished Donal Ryan's new novel, WHERE ARE THE KINGS.

This story, set in rural Ireland, is about a twelve year-old boy called Jack, who races down a hill on his bike, desperate to get to his mother before she reaches the lake. What happens afterwards changes Jack in ways no one could ever have imagined, and we follow him as he tries to make sense of his new life, suddenly enveloped by an extended family ... his Nana and Grandad, who bicker gently over the kitchen table, his straight-talking uncles Theo and Haulie, and JJ, who seems to immediately resent Jack's presence in the house. And of course beautiful Aunt Rose, whose existence brings Jack both comfort and confusion.

I have been a fan of Donal's writing for the longest time and the wonderful THE QUEEN OF DIRT ISLAND was one of the first novels I reviewed for The Guardian. This novel though ... oh my heart. To explore grief through the eyes of a child, and to do it so exquisitely and so elegantly, is just mind-blowing. The thing I LOVE about Donal Ryan's writing is that he uncovers the poetry that hides within ordinary life. He also conjures up characters so solid, so complete and authentic, it immediately feels as though you have known them for your entire life.

I adored this story. It's profoundly moving, incredibly perceptive, and contains a perfect recipe of warmth, humour and devastating reality. How do you mend a life that has barely begun? Jack, the whip-smart, heart-breaking young man at the centre of this book is an absolute *masterclass* in how to write an unreliable narrator. He will also join Scout Finch as one of my favourite fictional children of all time. Yes, this novel is that good, and I heartily recommend you preorder it.

WHERE ARE THE KINGS is out in August from Doubleday and I am deeply indebted to Milly Reid for very kindly sending me a copy. Truly, I will remember this story forever.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twelve-year-old Jack’s life changed forever the day his mother died in tragic circumstances. With his father no longer on the scene, it’s left to his mother’s family to welcome him into their home. His Nana and Grandad, aunt Rose and three uncles – Haulie, Theo and JJ – are trying their best to support Jack in his grief, the extent and nature of which even he is struggling to understand or express.

The Connells are a wonderfully messy, idiosyncratic and at times unruly family but theirs is a home filled with love. Nana rules the roost and Grandad is the first to defend his family in any situation. Jack’s uncles Haulie and Theo run a garage, servicing and repairing cars whilst engaging in almost non-stop, often earthy but frequently hilarious, banter and entertaining Jack with tall stories. (Anyone who’s read any of Donal Ryan’s previous novels will know he has a real gift for dialogue and capturing the rhythm and lilt of an Irish accent.)

Although he is Jack’s uncle, JJ is not much older than Jack and initially their relationship is fractious, especially since they are forced to share a bedroom. Things are also complicated by Jack’s adolescent attraction to his aunt Rose which often provokes embarrassing and inconveniently timed physical reactions.

What I found particularly moving about the book is how Jack feels he must suppress any outward expression of grief, unaware that in fact it is more apparent than he realises. And he is burdened by constant feelings of guilt. Heartbreakingly, he believes it is something like a betrayal of his mother for him to feel moments of happiness. ‘He’d tell her he was sorry for being so happy all the time. No, not happy, exactly, but not sad either, not thrown down roaring crying the way he’d have thought he would be if he were to imagine being where he is now, back before it all happened, before the lake and the funeral, and the changed world.’

As we know witnessing traumatic events can have strange effects on the mind. In Jack’s case, every now and again fragments of events leading up to his mother’s death rise to the surface. He can’t make sense of them all, they don’t form a complete picture until, of course, they finally do. What he realises then is that his is a family with many secrets.

Where Are the Kings is a poignant exploration of grief through the eyes of a child, written with insight and gentle humour.

[Helen Haythornthwaite · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

This is literary fiction, and Irish contemporary fiction, at its best. It’s a story told with such warmth and heart; so beautiful yet so poignant at the same time.

In this novel, we meet Jack who loses his mother at the age of 12 and goes to live with his grandparents and extended family. The story explores how Jack learns to navigate life with this new family, who have been strangers to him up until now, and also how he envisages parts of his mother in the world around him.

It’s a novel steeped in the intensity of feelings, but those sad moments are often broken with light humour. Bawdy language and cussing is the norm in Jack’s extended family, and I particularly loved the banter between his uncles - Theo and Haulie. I found myself chuckling away at some of the things they said and did.

I adored the depth of passion I could sense in the author’s voice, and I ended up loving this dysfunctional family who obviously cared so much for each other, without always showing it. They seemed to have a sixth sense for when Jack needed help, and were always there for him.

This is the first book of Donal’s read, and I’ll certainly be reading more. I loved his unique writing style, the way he incorporated parts of Irish history and the subtle way he explores Jack’s story with sensitivity and empathy.

This quote from the book really captured my heart: ‘Things don’t stop being beautiful because ugly things happen.’

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack lives with his mother and his Czech father in a small village in Ireland. Jack's father can be chaotic, carrying the reminders of living in a difficult regime, and his relationship with his mother's family is not close. But then his mother drives to the lake and walks in - and Jack, 14 years old, is cycling after her, up the steep hill then down to the lake and he is too late.
After the event, with his father in a psychiatric hospital, Jack goes to live with the family - his grandparents devastated after the loss of their daughter, doing their best to normalise Jack's life. His young pretty aunt Rose, who Jack thinks about in the way he knows a 14 year old shouldnt think of his aunt; his two oldest uncles, Haulie and Theo, both with their own brilliances, but to the rest of the world, small town mechanics in the run down family business; JJ the ebullient cousin close to Jack's age who wants to resent Jack for taking over his life but finds a way to accept and embrace his cousin.
Jack lives the year after his mother's death in his own world and the story is presented sympathetically and evocatively, the local characters of the small community, Jack's inner struggles, and how the family try their best to accommodate the quirks of his character.
A book that holds attention from the start and another stunning donation to the world from an author who makes every word important.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a horrific family tragedy, Jack is taken to live with his maternal grandparents and their large, mercurial family - Jack's uncles Theo and Haulie, his beautiful, glamorous aunt Rose and his uncle JJ, just a couple of years older than him.
Here Jack must find his place, while also grappling with the tragedy of his mother's suicide, and his father's incarceration in a high security mental facility,
Jack's story is tragic, sad, emotional and heart-breaking, but it also funny (and at times almost farcical) as the adults around him respond in their various ways to try to keep him safe and loved. They're a wonderful set of characters; down-to-earth but eccentric, loving but occasionally capable of cruelty, fiercely protective of each other and of Jack, but also of the family secrets that they are keeping from him.
The book's title asks Where Are The Kings? Jack's search for answers to his very real, though unacknowledged grief, reminds us that they are not to be found in some mythical Avalon/Nirvana/Vilhalla where nothing is real, but rather in the here and now, in the minutiae of life in all its messy glory, that a youg boy must find the strength and the courage to navigate.
An emotional roller-coaster of a read, rich in descriptive writing, warm characters and deeply emotional, - Where Are The Kings gripped me from the start, and its ending will stay with me for a long time.

[Books Before Bs · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Where are the Kings’ by Donal Ryan is a subtle and profoundly moving portrait of loss and family—covering everything from the loving bonds to the complex dynamics to the sensed but never spoken secrets. We follow twelve-year-old Jack, who is taken in by his grandparents after his mother’s sudden death. With his father unable to care for him, Jack must navigate his grief and the transition to manhood, guided by his extended family.

While the premise could lean towards melodrama, Ryan’s writing is quiet and raw—and is all the more poignant for it. I particularly loved the depiction of Jack’s relationship with his uncles, and his growing but complicated bond with JJ.

As a literal reader, I occasionally struggled with the unreliable narrator aspect and the dense poetic imagery, which made it hard to discern the "ground truth" of the plot at times. However, this didn't spoil the experience; rather, it provides a perfect excuse for a reread.

Overall, this is a book that rewards close reflection and is a must-read for fans of contemporary literary fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Donal Ryan, and Doubleday for the ARC.

⚠️ Death of parent, suicide, child abuse

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet novel that rewards patience.

Where Are the Kings follows twelve-year-old Jack as he navigates the aftermath of his mother’s death, moving into a crowded family home where emotions are rarely spoken aloud. Donal Ryan excels in the small, human moments: the silences, the routines, and the complicated ways people show love. It offers a a quiet piercing portrait of grief as seen through a child’s eyes, capturing its confusion, distortions, and small, stubborn moments of resilience.

The relationship between Jack and his cousin JJ is the heart of the book, developing slowly but with authenticity. Where the novel may challenge some readers is in its structure. Jack’s perspective blurs memory and imagination, and at times it can be difficult to separate what’s real from what’s not. It didn’t always land for me, but it adds to the atmosphere of grief and disorientation.

Not the easiest read, but in the end it was worthwhile.

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Random House UK, and the author Donal Ryan for the advance copy. All opinions are my own.

[Ciara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and author for providing me with an ARC. All opinions are my own, unbiased.

It's rare that I give a book 5 stars but this deserves every single one.
Where are the kings explores loss and grief from the innocent perspective of 12 year old Jack.

The writing style conveys the depths of emotion and is as close to natural thinking patterns as I've ever read. You can feel him growing up by the way his thoughts mature. It felt like reading poetry (in a good way, even though I've never liked poetry!). Jack often veers off the train of thought to think of some memory briefly, or to hint at dark pieces of background information, before returning to the present. Because Jack doesn't fully understand or think it's relevant in the moment we don't hear more about it. The narrator alternates short sentences to keep a regular reading pace with long sentences when things are moving quickly. The natural use of irish-isms feels like spoken word.  

I was so drawn in and breezed through this book despite the heavy content

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another beautifully written novel by Donal Ryan. ‘Where are the Kings’ focuses on twelve year old Jack whose parents are no longer a daily part of his life. His mother has died and his father is in a psychiatric hospital. He still belongs to a family, just not the one he is longing for right now.

Swept off to live with his extended family, Ryan shows us the ramifications of his mother’s death through the sorrow, bravery and compassion of Nana, Grandad, uncles Haulie, Theo and JJ and aunt Rose as they try to provide for Jack whilst mourning their daughter and sister. It’s a daily struggle for Jack to comprehend what has happened and impossible to think about the future. However, this close-knit, chaotic, funny, secretive family are consistent in their care for him as he tries to come to terms with his grief, often in unexpected ways.

This is a moving and appropriately nuanced exploration of childhood trauma, delicately depicted, tender and poignant.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Jill Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a family tragedy twelve year old Jack is taken to live with his mother’s family who, over the next few years, nurture and protect him, sometimes from their own secrets.
In this gripping, warm and wise book Donal Ryan writes with so much understanding about what is going on in Jack’s life when nothing makes sense amid the angst of adolescence.
From his wonderfully grounded uncles, Haulie and Theo, his worryingly attractive Aunt Rose, his younger uncle the mercurial and resentful JJ, all ruled over by Nana and Grandad, each character is portrayed perfectly.

What makes this book so special for me is the eloquent and lyrical way the author explores the effects of grief and how the different family members deal with it.
This along with authentic characters who have the reader veering from tears to laughter makes “Where are the Kings” an outstanding read.

Many thanks to NetGalley & Random House UK for the ARC

[Jamad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where are the Kings by Donal Ryan is a well written and thoughtful novel about grief, family and the bewilderment of adolescence. The story follows twelve-year-old Jack after the death of his mother, as he is folded into the noisy, complicated embrace of his extended family in rural Ireland. Ryan captures the confusion and loneliness of a young boy trying to make sense of loss with great sensitivity.

The writing is, as expected from Ryan, often beautiful and full of sharply observed moments. The family dynamics felt authentic, particularly the mix of affection, resentment and unspoken tensions running through the household. I especially liked the way grief was shown as something messy and ongoing rather than neat or sentimental.

At times I found the novel slightly too dreamlike and fragmented for my taste, and there were moments where the imagery overwhelmed the story itself. Even so, there is real warmth here and Jack’s sadness is handled with care and compassion.

[Ben Dutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me a new Donal Ryan is something to get excited by. I've been a fan since his debut The Spinning Heart back in 2012. His latest, Where are the Kings, is the story of Jack, a young boy who following tragedy is taken in by his grandparents. His family try and shield him from adult truths, but cracks start to appear as Jack edges towards adulthood.

Ryan, though lyrical prose, creates a portrait of a boy that is tender and authentic, and his detailing of the 'family' life he is taken into his well drawn. There are memorable sequences here, and Ryan knows how to have his reader feel engaged and moved. Where are the Kings is another beautiful novel by Ryan, and a likely candidate for some literary prizes later in the year. I loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Ireland Jack is a twelve-year-old boy that trying to come to terms with his mother’s death after she committed suicide. He goes to live with his grandparents and his aunt and uncles in the overcrowded house. His father struggles and ends up in a Psychiatric ward. So, he feels so alone and confused. But his extended family helps him with the grief and growing up without his parents.
I have read several books from this author and enjoyed them, so I was looking forward to reading his new novel Where are the kings. Yes, again the author writes a beautiful tale of grief, love and loss This is an emotional tale and very descriptive of the parts of island setting. His writing flows effortlessly. The only part I struggled with was the dialogue I just didn’t understand some of it that spoilt the story for me a bit. 3.5 stars from me.

[Cocopopalicious · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, powerful novel that plunges us into the disoriented mind of a boy grieving his mother, having taken her own life, and his father, held in a psychiatric ward.

Sheltered by the protection of his mother’s family, he navigates love, confusion, emerging desire, and the weight of secrets he can barely comprehend. The story unfolds as a dizzy, almost hallucinatory coming‑of‑age marked by loss and revelation.

Ryan is a wordsmith that makes me hear an Irish accent as I read, and enriches the novel by weaving history and striking Irish landscapes amongst the fiction.

Transworld Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

[Chris Chanona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be very sad as it navigates Jack’s grief after his mother commits suicide, leaving him behind aged 12. The teens can be a difficult time for any young boy but Jack is further confused by the presence of his beautiful Aunt Rose, about whom he has sexual fantasies. He now has to live at his grandparents’ house, where he is the youngest. There is love for him there but he doesn’t always see it. As he becomes a young man his grief takes stranger forms and he often fantasises as if something is happening that isn’t. He learns secrets at the end which go some way to explaining his mother’s behaviour.

The book is well written but I cannot say I ‘enjoyed’ it. It touched too many nerves for me.

I read an ARC provided by netGalley and the publishers. Thank you.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Where Are The Kings' is the latest novel by the bestselling Irish author Donal Ryan.
Jack is a 12 year old boy living in a small Irish town. After his mother's suicide he goes to live with her family while his Czech father Tomas is in a mental hospital. In the house are his grandparents, uncles Haulie, Theo and JJ and his aunt Rose. In snippets of ordinary life like a trip to Lahinch Beach, a priest's visit or a day at the uncle's car workshop we get to know the family dynamics. But will Jack be able to deal with his grief and find peace in discovering the family secrets?
This is a beautifully written quiet coming of age story written solely from Jack's point of view. Donal Ryan takes us straight into Irish Rural life with exquisite descriptive writing and an engrossing storyline. I particularly enjoy how he weaves in characters from his other books. For example the guard Jim Gildea previously made an appearance in The Spinning Heart and The Queen Of Dirt Island. It is such a beautiful way of tying the stories together. Donal Ryan's novels are always such a treat to read.

[Debbie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say about this beautifully written and executed coming of age story, full of deep emotions, grief, guilt and unconditional love. I’ve been swept away by the glorious prose and quickly became embedded into Jack’s tragic situation. His uncles Theo and Haulie brought the perfect balance of humour with their playful banter, yet their love for Jack and their gentle guidance shone through. As the final chapters built to a crescendo, my heart was racing. For me, another superb novel from Donal Ryan and one that I’ll be recommending to all my friends.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for a review.

[Carlton · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s relaxing to sink into a familiar Irish soundscape of patter and repartee.
But in this story we are always trying to look around the darkness and hurt caused to Jack by his mother’s suicide. So the loving grandparents and uncles, with their gentle banter, support Jack, giving him time, to perhaps lessen the hurt, and perhaps, perhaps to understand it.
A beautifully modulated story of living with grief as a child.

I received a Netgalley copy of this book, but this review is my honest opinion.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is a story about Jack whose mum has died and he goes to live with his grandparents. Much of the story involves the uncles and aunt and the ordinariness of their life. He is cared for and loved and he is turn loves his family. The true story of the mother is not revealed till the end and I found myself at times wondering where this was all going to end. But I was happy to go with the story which was gently written - Jack was lovely and quietly struggling with his grief and his family were filled with secrets and lies but loved him so much.

[angela higham · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I was completely invested at the beginning and loved getting to know Jack and the people around him. However, as the story progressed, I found myself becoming increasingly lost. The writing is beautiful, but the final section became so ambiguous that I struggled to separate reality from imagination. By the end I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, which took away some of the emotional impact. A thought-provoking novel with stunning prose, but one that didn’t quite come together for me

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no such thing I believe as a bad Donal Ryan book.
They all shine in their own way.
This one has the most wonderful characters.
They made me smile, and they made me sad.
12 year old Jack struggling to come to terms with his grief, and other emotions. Surrounded by his aunt, and uncles, all of whom are equally memorable.
Could well leave you a bit misty eyed at times.
Ryan has a way with words, and writes beautifully as always.

Thanks to netgalley for the free digital copy