Douglas Stuart’s books always arrive with a lot of buzz, and John of John had plenty. Before I picked it up, I’d seen readers everywhere calling it a must-read. I still went in with no expectations at all, since I wanted the book to win me over on its own. Sadly, even with that clean slate, I closed it feeling let down.
Cal, whose full name is John-Calum Macleod, is twenty-two and heading back to the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides with an art school education and very little else to show for it. His father, John, has summoned him home because his grandmother Ella’s health is getting worse, and Cal goes along with it even though he resents having to return. Island life runs on a strict Presbyterian faith, and John is a sheep farmer and church elder who weaves tweed on the family loom. John is openly embarrassed by his son’s dyed hair and second-hand clothes, while Cal dreads his father’s violent temper and the smallness of Harris. Cal is also hiding a few things about who he is and how he’s been living. Father and son are both stuck with secrets they won’t share, and any hope of happiness for either of them depends on letting those secrets go.
The first few chapters made me so hopeful. I could feel a hint of greatness in those early pages. Cal stepping off the ferry and back into his father’s world sets up so much tension. Once he settles in at home, though, the story starts to slip away from me. The pace slows to a crawl, and I was bored most of the time.
The idea of the story is actually great. A father and son circling each other on a tiny island, each carrying things they can’t say out loud. My problem is everything piled around it. The book keeps wandering into side threads and smaller storylines, and each detour pulls attention away from the part I cared about. I also missed a sense of drive. With no strong central conflict pushing things forward, the chapters roll on without much direction. I kept turning pages and waiting for a big payoff. It never came. The whole thing felt scattered and aimless.
Then there are the characters. Unlikeable characters are needed in a story, and so are people you can’t fully figure out. Even so, I need some reason to care about why and where they end up, and I never found one here. For me, part of the joy of reading is getting to understand why people act the way they do, along with all the small details and feelings behind their choices. This book barely scratches the surface. It gives us so little background on its characters that their actions often felt hollow, and they hardly grow from start to finish. Now and then the book brushes against bigger social problems, yet those moments feel thin and never connect to anyone’s personal journey.
John of John reminded me that a strong idea alone can’t carry a novel. Even a solid plot can leave readers cold if it never lets them feel what the characters feel. My favourite books manage everything at once: a great idea, smart execution, lovely writing, and an emotional pull that grabs you and won’t let go. For me, John of John didn’t land any of those. That’s the most frustrating part because I can see the beautiful, moving book this could have been. It’s right there under the surface. I just never got to read it.
My Favorite Bits
- He said you had to learn to live with your disappointments and your shames because if you thought you had left them behind, you would only swim back around and be hurt all over again.
- I have to have something to show at the end of this life. If I’m for hell, then I deserve a love that was worth it.
- The idea that you were kinder to your kin was untrue, because his father said things to him and treated him in ways that he would never dream of with any other human. The worst boss in the world was always a father.
- What’s the point of being nice, if it makes you so dishonest?
- He thought about the life that he had tied himself to so that Cal had something to tie himself to, and now that Cal didn’t want it, he realised that he hadn’t wanted it either.
Author: Douglas Stuart
Publication date: 5 May 2026
Number of pages: 416 pages
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