i am definitely more afraid of the forest after reading this book! The entire book reads as either a lucid dream or reality with some serious disruptions, creating an extremely fun, enjoyable ride.
I loved the connection between Andrew and Thomas, especially how they would do anything for the other. The idea of their art and storytelling creating reality by story and illustration was fun to follow. The monsters are creative and terrifying.
A scary, unique and engaging read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

★ 4.75 stars

Huge thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of Don’t Let the Forest In!

“But the October boy didn’t flee. He climbed the tree and kissed the lonesome monster until it devoured him whole.”

You know a book is good when its climax is hard to read because you can’t see through the tears in your eyes.

It was so hard to pick a standout quote from this book. Don’t Let the Forest In has some of the most beautifully devastating language I’ve read in a while. It's vivid, imaginative, and downright heartbreaking. Andrew’s inner thoughts are told with experimental formats that just added to his unreliability as a narrator. I’m still not sure what’s real and not real, but I think not knowing is the best part.

“‘Everything inside me is in ruins…for you.’”

The YEARNING in this narrative. Hoo boy. I adore romances where the couple just crashes into each other all blood and teeth and longing. This is a vicious sort of love I could get lost in. Especially with two complex characters in such a cruel setting. It was kind of giving If We Were Villains at times.

If I had to come up with a critique, it would be that a little too much was withheld– I liked the mysteries, and the climax was brilliant, but I did find myself annoyed at some points with just how left in the dark the reader was, to the point I was more confused than intrigued. But again, it wasn’t a major issue. I did finish this in three days after all.

Also– the Oreo scene killed me. I need a fanart of it ASAP.

If you’re looking for a queer dark academia book rife with angst and forest horror, Don’t Let the Forest In is the book for you.

To anyone who ever wished they could get their horror fix with a bit of doomed romance tossed in for fun, this is the book for you. Don’t Let the Forest In follows Andrew and Thomas as they return from summer break to their Virginia boarding school. The synopsis will tell you these boys have got a monster problem on their hands, but I’d dare to say they might have even bigger problems than that. This book had some twists I didn’t see coming, and even now I’m thinking about the ending. Everything about this book was dark and twisted and creepy, with some of the most beautiful and disgusting imagery I’ve ever read. I loved everything about this book and wish I could recommend it to everyone who ever asks for recs from this day forward, but alas. There are content warnings for gore and body horror etc. and while my ARC didn’t have any of the illustrations the finished version will have, I can’t stress enough that if the monsters are drawn exactly how they’re written, this book is not for the faint of heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can never put into words how amazing this book is. It is both lovely and horrifying, unsettling and stunning. Drew has a lovely way with words and beautifully explores loss and love. It's odd, but I can't help but compare this to a Hozier song: hauntingly beautiful and full of depth. Please do yourself a favor by checking it out

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Pub Date: October 29, 2024

4 stars
I'm not really sure what I read, which is what the author was going for. I do know I liked it even if it was pretty different from typical genres, which was to be expected. There is a little bit of a What Moves the Dead vibe aimed a little more at YA readers.

⋆⋆⋆¾ — i am soo happy about this because i actually guessed the "big twist" like halfway through. do you know how rare it is for my deranged half-baked theories to actually become true?? okay, that's not fair to the book because this was a very well planned reveal, and there were hints carefully placed throughout. but i'm still genuinely pleased.

this was an intriguing, well thought out novel, and i mostly liked everything. my only criticisms are that the prose wasn't necessarily creepy / dreamlike enough for the atmosphere the book was trying for + everything coming to a stop at random times so lana and andrew could describe homophobia or definition of asexuality was a bit? the latter was definitely not incorporated well and didn't have the similar style of writing that the rest of the book did so it was annoying, i guess.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

I finished this book and in the best way possible I just sat there wondering what the hell I just read? That ending was...something and I'm still a little confused about it but the vibes were immaculate so im going with it.

The writing in this book was absolutely incredible and probably my favorite part of this. It was lyrical and horrifying and so hauntingly beautiful. The vibes and setting of this book were perfect and I'm so glad I decided to wait till October to read it. It's the perfect time to do so.

I also love the characters in this book and their relationship. It was messy and beautiful and just so wonderfully fitting for the vibe of this book. I was also so excited to see well done asexual representation! It was so unexpected because I didn't know much about this book before diving in but it was so fantastic to see myself in these pages in a way.

Overall absolutely loved this book and highly recommend if this is your kind of read.

Don’t Let The Forest In by CG Drews is about twins dove and Andrew who are Australian go to a private Academy in Virginia with their best and Andrew‘s only friend Thomas. It used to be the three of them but it’s a new year in Dove for some reason isn’t forgiving Thomas for some slight that Andrew isn’t privy to. She also is studying all the time and not even hanging out with her roommate Leanna and Andrew fears it’s because she is sick of being around him he clings to his friendship with Thomas it doesn’t take long for strange things to start happening in the strange events culminate into a monster story that even leaves the reader guessing as to what is going on. I found throughout the book had a feeling of desperation when reading Andrews feelings and emotions as if he was a boy on the edge and so for that point I found the book very emotional and at times I had to put the book down and come back to it later. When it got to the twist with dove and Thomas I was like OMG and then when I got to the twist twist I was like WTF I do think CG Drewes is an awesome writer and the story was very entertaining and I do recommend it I just think for me as a reader it just got too emotional for my taste. Andrews feeling of not being enough or of being on the point of falling apart I DK I have never had a book affect me like that so I don’t know what happened and would be lying if I said I did so I do recommend it. If you like great monster stories I do believe this is one of them, but read at your own risk. #NetGalley,#McMillan children’s publishing group, #CGDrews, #Don’tLetTheForestIn,

If this book had come with any way of being properly warned about what was inside, I would've never requested it. I had seen warnings about a lot of the potentially triggering content in this book, but the two topics this book truly deals the most with I hadn't seen mentioned at all. I had been so looking forward to reading this book, and every bit of my reading experience was a let down. The author says that if you were staring at the wall when you finished that they'd done their job right.

I was staring at the wall, not because I was trying to piece together the terribly constructed threads of the story into something vaguely resembling a coherent understanding, but rather because I was questioning why I ever wanted to read this, and coming to terms with the hours of my life spent reading it that I wouldn't be getting back. The true tragedy here is that there were so many cool ideas going on with this book and absolutely none of them were delivered coherently, and portions of what appeared to resemble the concept of a plot were dropped at random and never returned to throughout the book. It felt like more of a collection of edgy scenes and less of a cohesive narrative.

Also having two of the biggest twists come on the heels of each other where they directly negate each other and having no way of knowing if either of those twists was the actual truth due to the unreliability of the narrator was such a frustrating note to end on especially when I had struggled to get through this book to begin with. I love horror but there's such a massive different experience depending on if the story that sucks you in and pulls you down the dark spiral or if you never quite get pulled below the surface and unfortunately this one never managed to reel me in.

Having followed this author's book journey for a long time I was incredibly excited for this title and was definitely NOT disappointed. I don't normally read horror but this book is so deliciously entrancing you yourself feel like the forest is absorbing you. This book checks all the right boxes for a gothic and dark story with beautiful writing.

Absolutely tore through this book! Gothic, dark, and so intriguing. Drews manages to convey the atmosphere of a stuffy boarding school, the angst of teenage life, and the complications around discovering yourself so vividly. Thomas and Andrew are both so relatable and so unique. I couldn’t get enough of this story.
If you liked the vibes of Bunny by Mona Awad or The Hike by Drew Magary, this is the book for you.

*2.5
Definitely a mixed bag for me. It is absolutely an angsty, Tumblr era story. The novel had beautiful prose and imagery but at times I felt as if it conflicted with the storyline/led to confusion. I felt a bit disconnected for our teenage characters due to the writing style. In the end, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to gain from the read or the overall message it was trying to convey.

Not sure that I was the right audience for this one. I'm sure there are reader's out there who would love this one and it would be right up their alley!

A big thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan pPublishing for the opportunity to read this novel and give my honest thoughts!

Okay, the writing style of this book was absolutely beautiful. It was like a dark fairy tale full of whimsy and horror. It was so easy to get swept away with this story. Andrew was such a beautifully written protagonist. I loved reading from his point of view. There is a lot of mental health and queer representation which I loved, but it tends to lean more into the heavy side of that subject matter so just be aware. The big twist really took me by surprise because I was 100% expecting something else to happen, but it was so well done. As far as the horror element goes, I felt like it was light horror and I was okay with that. It’s not horribly gruesome or graphic. I would have liked a little more from the ending because it felt very abrupt, but all in all, I really enjoyed this story and definitely want to read more of Drews’ work.
CW: body horror, disordered eating, violence, bullying, homophobia, mentions of child abuse

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love psychological horror and this was right up my alley. As soon as I saw the cover I knew I was going to read Don't Let the Forest In. I was totally locked in reading this book. It was perfect to read as the leaves are changing and the weather gets colder. I can't see what else CG Drews writes within this genre.

Don't Let the Forest In is a story about a private school in Virginia where there are monsters in the woods and a good amount of secrets being kept.

We are told this story from the POV of Andrew who attends school with his twin sister Dove and best friend Thomas. The primary issue I had with this story was that Andrew is not very likable - I found myself not caring because he made so many dumb decisions and caused a few unnecessary problems.

There is a lot of history about these characters we get told about but don't really get to experience in the story. Andrew is obsessed with Thomas but it's not really clear why he feels the way he does and why he would die for Thomas.

The story was a little confusing at times but I feel the monsters in the woods based on Andrew's stories and Thomas's drawings were extremely unique and were often times my favorite part of the story.

I do think this story is worth a read but it was certainly different than what I was expecting which ultimately led to some disappointment

This book has been one of my most anticipated books in the queer genre since I saw the blurb and cover and it did not disappoint. Very well written, I adore the representation and the characters and honestly just so beautiful.

This one was so disappointing for me. I love the cover and the atmosphere of the book. I was absolutely pulled in in the beginning of the story. I truly thought this story was going to be something different than what it is, so I guess I'm disappointed in the direction the story started going. I made it 34% before I just didn't even have the gumption to pick this up and keep trying to move forward. Maybe I can try and finish it at another time but as of right now I feel like I need to cut my losses. The characters also really bothered me. I didn't like any of them and frankly I was annoyed the entire time I was reading.

Amazing read, very eerie and atmospheric, perfect for this fall season. LOTS of TW so check that in case its needed, it is a very dark, haunting book.

A beautifully written story with breathtaking descriptions of monsters and the forest taking over. I loved the characters and the story line was good.

Title: Don’t Let the Forest In
Author: CG Drews
Genre: Horror
Format: eARC
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars

tw: blood/gore, body horror, panic attacks, grief, eating disorder, bullying, self-harm, child abuse, homophobia, death

A special thank you goes to Netgalley and MacMillian for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

I have been following CG Drews since I first started my book review journey. Their reviews inspired me and I wanted to be a reviewer just like them. The way they wrote their reviews was so well done and I always looked forward to the days they posted. When I heard that they were getting a book published, I was beyond excited! Then when I found out they were releasing a horror book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

Anyway. Enough fangirling. While I enjoyed this book, one of the biggest problems I had with this book was the writing. The writing was very flowery. I usually enjoy that style of writing in the beginning but after a while, it starts to wear on me and I tend to get very confused about what is going on in the book. While, at first, I enjoyed it, after a while it started to get in the way of the plot. Especially toward the end. I started to get pretty confused about what was going on. I have a theory about what happened but I truly don’t know what was going on. But that could be the point of the book. There is a lot of mental illness representation in the book, so in a way, you never know what is truly going on because the characters themselves don’t seem to know what is going on either.

One thing that stuck out to me, was that this book reminded me of a very dark version of Inkheart. The main character, Andrew, is a writer, and his best friend, Thomas, is an artist. Thomas has been drawing Andrew’s stories and the monsters in them. Those monsters have been coming to life. So you can see why I would get Inkheart from that if you know what the premise of Inkheart is. That’s what drew me to this story.

Another thing that was incredibly well done was Andrew’s anxiety. I have anxiety but wow, Andrew’s anxiety makes mine look like I just have casual worries. At times, the anxiety started to get to me but then I remembered that I also have anxiety and I’m sure it wears on people that love me every once in a while. It was starting to make me super anxious. I just wanted to give the boy a big hug. He needed one desperately.

Overall, I did enjoy his book quite a bit despite some of the complaints I had. It certainly is the perfect book for the upcoming spooky season. It’s incredibly dark and pretty bloody with quite a bit of gore, which surprised me. Andrew and Thomas have an interesting but volatile, bordering on toxic relationship. If you can get past the pretty descriptive and prosy language, then I think this would be a great book for a lot of you.