This story was very fun to work through. I think the character development was great and watching them evolve through the story really was my favorite part.

Gothic forests, dark twisted fairytales, and beautiful prose. This book was written so beautifully and it draws you in so you don’t want to put it down. It’s creative and well executed.

The “mystery” was a little too obvious and some of the stylistic choices pulled me out of the “movie in my head”.

I think all in all this book is beautifully YA.

very late to writing this review but had read the arc in the allotted time period before archiving. i thought i was going to enjoy this much more than i did, which was disappointing. imagery and world building was beautiful and unique at first but got repetitive after awhile it seemed. the two mmcs were giving toxic relationship more than “love of my life i’d die for” and honestly gave me the ick sort of. i did enjoy the twist at the end!

This was my first time reading CG Drew’s work but certainly not the last! Beautiful writing that builds this strange creepy tale. couldn’t get enough!

I've been a huge fan of C.G. Drews since she arrived on the scene, so I was very excited for this book, even if it's not my normal style to read.

What worked well for me:

~ C.G. Drews has a beautiful, lyrical writing style that sucks you in and holds your attention. I would gladly read a grocery list written by this author. Her writing is invocative and paints a scene every time, and it's utterly quotable! This gal knows how to create an atmosphere and carry it through a book, that's for sure.

~ The psychological horror aspect of this book was just *chef's kiss*. Drews is a master at ramping the tension up to an 11 and grabbing your shirt and dragging you along for the ride. I absolutely guessed the big "twist" in this fairly early in the book, but it didn't make the rest of the read any less enjoyable.

~ The book tackles a lot of complex things (ie. asexuality, queerness, eating disorders, mental health) in a very thoughtful way. The representation in the book is top notch!

What didn't work as well for me:
~ There's an open ending, which is one of my least favorite things of all time. I need something concrete and clear to wrap everything up. Doesn't have to be a happy ending, but it does have to be an *ending* for me. After such a ramp-up, I was a little disappointed that the book ended in such an unclear sort of way.

~ I'm not a huge fan of body horror, which is a me problem, since I knew this going in. It wasn't terribly over the top, and it was done very well, but it was a little much for me.

The atmosphere is impeccable. The writing is taught, and clever. I just feel like I’m inside the world when I read a CG Drew’s novel. This is not a world I want to live in.

I can't believe I waited a YEAR to read this (don't be like me.)

This book digs its claws into you from the beginning. The atmosphere is so rich and alluring, but you also feel a creeping dread rolling in like a fog. Don't Let The Forest In is a combination of dark academia, gothic, forest horror, and a queer love so tortured that the Brontë sisters would be proud.

Even when I thought I knew where the story was heading, it would take a turn that would increase the horror and dread that underlines the story. It kept me guessing until the very end.

‘Don’t Let the Forest In’ is not a bad book, it’s just not for me. Very little happens until about 70% of the way through and for something marketed as psychological horror/thriller, that does not work for me at all. By the time anything happened I was checked out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the eARC in exchange for honest review.

THIS is my most anticipated Gothic horror of 2024. I hear by beg the Netgalley gods to allow me to review this beauty of a book. @paperfury is my fave IG account...hands down and I have been following waiting for this release for years. #fairyloot must do a special edition
🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊☠️🎊☠️🎊☠️🎊🎊🎊
"When I cut you open...all I'll find is that we'll match."

I will read this every year. The number of books I read in a year how often do I say this. Almost never. There is a select few books that compel me to go back and reaonate in the pages, and C G Drews is one of them. They are in the company with VE Schwab , Grady Hendricks and. Brit Benson. That is all.
This book was deliciously dark and Andrew Pernault's descent into madness makes you question everything. You will sit staring at a wall long after you finish. You will go buy the audiobook to listen to it again. ( PLEASE DO ..Michael Crouch's narration was award worthy.)
You will want a paperback to annotate, an ebook to highlight you fave quotes to find their way to your Good Reads and then you will create a mood board on Pinterest.
It still wont be enough , because these characters so gravely misunderstood will have taken up residence in your very soul.
This gothic forest of rot reminds me of the fascination I had with Grimms Fairy tales as a child. How did the castle in Sleeping Beauty become covered in thorns , and did the thorns and the vines creep through the people themselves? There are many different ways to view what happened to Andrew as his mind splintered. He felt abandoned by his twin. Was he haunted by Thomas or was Thomas really there? Thomas was endgame for Andrew one way or another, and grief does powerful things to the mind.
The writing is beautiful prose graceful yet macbre enough for the hair to stand up on the back of your neck. Stephen King's Shining is child's play next to this. Thank you to Macmillan's Childrens Publishing for my ARC all thoughts are my own.

This book was so good! It was haunting and unhinged in the best of ways. I loved the characters and how these creatures were weaved into their lives.

4.0

Queer boarding school urban fantasy-mystery-horror never misses.

It pains me to know I let this arc sit unread on my kindle for so long. This book was fantastic and I can’t believe I didn’t read it when I should’ve. I loved the characters so much. Andrew was such a great narrator. The anxiety and asexual rep in this book was great too. My only gripe with this book was the ending. It probably would’ve been a 4.5 otherwise We deserved at least 15 more pages explaining everything. I could’ve looked past everything coming out of left field in the last 30 pages if we were given more resolution. The ending was way too abrupt.

Thank you NetGalley and Fiewel and Friends for the arc!

I really enjoyed this book for all its twists and turns. A haunting and spooky take on identity and those creepy forests just beyond our reach. Thank you for the ARC!!

Don't Let the Forest In theoretically has everything I love in a good horror story, yet somehow still didn't quite do it for me. The horror didn't horrify. The characters didn't make me care about them. The twists didn't twist enough. Everything felt right on the cusp of being amazing but just never got there for me. The writing itself is beautiful, so there's a good chance I will read more by Drews in the future, but this one won't be one I recommend.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s been forever since I finished reading and I totally forgot to leave my review. Now my mind is blank and I can’t think of what I liked and didn’t like. Note to self, leave reviews immediately

What was that ending?! I’m confused and sad and I loved every minute of it!

"It hadn’t hurt, the day he had cut out his own heart … No one would want a heart like his. But he’d still cut it out and given it away."

This book will stay with you and haunt you, but also make you homesick for the setting. I loved it. This book started my love of not only botanical horror, but also queer gothic horror. If you are looking for a book to start with or just need one to fill that void, I cannot recommend this one enough!

holy bananas this is good!! I loved the horror esque elements in this book it's perfect for summer and fall vibes

I found getting into this book to be extremely difficult. I put it down and picked it back up so many times to no avail. While it’s written beautifully and gives off dark academia vibes that I typically reach for, it didn’t stick out to me.
The romance didn’t move me, although I did adore the codependency of the two MCs. I also was excited to see asexual representation, only to be disappointed by Andrew’s internalized acephobia. Turning his heart to a garden of rot just felt like a direct stab at the ace community, and one done in poor taste, in my opinion.
I’m glad to have gotten this ARC but I don’t believe I’d read it again, or recommend it to anyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and CG Drews for sending me this book!

“You could cut me open and devour everything that I am. I would let you, I'd ask you to. But I have no idea what it means to you. What I mean to you.”

I have to say, while I enjoyed the twist that occurred at the end of the book, I just couldn't get behind this. I feel like this book falls into the pattern of trying too hard to be something that it's not. The writing is very purple and almost feels forced at times. Ultimately, I don't think this was for me. I was drawn to the horror-esque aspect of the book and ignored the fact that the characters were 16 years old.

The part that drew me to the book felt like the downfall of the book. To me, the horror made no sense and was not fleshed out. But you know what was fleshed out? Andrew's continual description of Thomas. I understand that this is an angst book, but my god, I felt like that was the only thing well described.

Don't let the forest in has lasting power. I fully expect this one to be a book that people talk about for years to come.

This was gorgeous and haunting and creepy. It toed the line of the amount of horror and creepiness I can tolerate, but never quite got to be too much. The writing was beautiful with unusual and lyrical turns of phrase. Which makes sense, given that it tells the story of a writer and an artist who collaborate on stories that are lovely but also creepy and macabre.

I loved reading about Andrew and Thomas, about the way their respective genius chafed against the bonds of a classic boarding school. It was difficult, and often painful, to read about how isolated Andrew was. How he was bullied by the popular rich kid who never got in trouble. How he suffered from obvious mental illness and an eating disorder, both of which were magnified and distorted by the horror elements of the story. How he idolized Thomas, who was fighting his own battles and demons.

I loved it so much, and marveled at the beauty of the language even as I shivered in disgust at the vivid imagery. Highly recommend.

*Thanks to Feiwel & Friends for providing an early copy for review.