4.5/5 stars

This took a minute for me to get into (hence it not being 5 stars) but the lyrical prose pulled me into the story to the point where I stayed up until 2:00am on a work night to finish it. Beautifully terrifying story.

A psychological thriller with dark academia vibes, Don’t Let the Forest In seemed to me like a mix of The Secret History (incidentally, also not a favorite of mine) and the show Wednesday. I really wanted to love this book, but it just wasn’t for me. There were parts that really drew me in, but I was fairly confused about what was happening throughout the entire novel. Take my review with a grain of salt, though, because this genre really isn’t for me. I was excited to review the book because I love the author’s Instagram, but I perhaps did not consider the actual genre close enough before requesting a copy.

Andrew Renault has two people in this world - his twin sister Dove, and his best friend Thomas Rye. It’s always been the three of them, but this school year is different. Dove is distant and Thomas is hiding something, and Andrew is anxious. When Thomas starts sneaking out of the dorm rooms alone all night, Andrew has no idea what’s really causing their problems until he follows Thomas and finds their monstrous dreams come to life.

This book beautifully weaves a teen drama with a fantastical horror. Andrew is coming to terms with himself as a person, fighting his inner demons during the day while fighting real monsters in the forest behind school at night.

The end of the book moves much quicker than the first 2/3s, but I promise it’s worth it. Andrew and Thomas care for each other so much it hurts, in the best way possible. “I don’t care how dark the world is for you. I’ll hold out my hand until you find it, and I won’t let go.”

I came for the vibes and stayed for the prose. A perfect autumnal read! Along with the spooky vibes, I also love the representation. The concept is so unique. I can't wait for what CG Drews writes next!!

3.5 stars

To be honest, I'm rather conflicted. I enjoyed reading this book, but nowhere near as much as I expected. I was mildly confused for pretty much the entire story. While the lack of information was intentional, the confusion prevented me from really getting into the story. I was also very unsatisfied by the ending (although not entirely in a bad way, more in a “wtf was that” way. The author knew exactly what they were doing haha).

I liked the ace representation, particularly in regards to Andrew’s worries about coming out to Thomas and what Thomas expected from him. As a side note: Andrew describes himself as asexual, but given that he says he doesn’t have crushes, I think he’s likely somewhere on the aromantic spectrum as well.

It’s still 3.5 stars because I was intrigued and didn’t want to stop reading. I also liked the writing style and psychological elements. This just wasn’t the best book for me overall.

An important note: this book is very dark! I knew it would be dark, but this was even more than I was expecting. Read the content warnings! Also, botanical body horror is a big theme.

Content warnings (taken from the author’s website): blood/gore, body horror, panic attacks, grief, eating disorder, bullying, and self-harm; homophobia

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc!

“If you’ve turned the last page and are now frowning at the wall, then everything is as it should be.” Well that’s EXACTLY what i was doing when i finished this!! what an absolute roller coaster ride from start to finish. the middle lagged a bit, but the twists and turns towards the end made up for it. This was full of very descriptive gorey situations so if that’s not for you, you might not enjoy. I liked this though - very queer and scary :) 3.5/5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc! What a unique read, I’ve never read anything quite like this book. At no point did I correctly guess the twists, and the ending had me staring at a wall, as the author states is the intention in the acknowledgments.

A gripping and lush story about two high school seniors, young men who battle an encroaching forest and it's monsters for their lives and their hearts.

This book was stunning.

Thomas and Andrew's relationship is heartbreaking but also terrifying . The folk horror sewn into this coming-of-age queer horror story will leave you staring in a corner, trying to figure out what's real and what's a result of false narration, blinding trauma and bottled-up emotions. Yet, there is so much hope in these pages.

The imagery in the writing is absolutely beautiful, but it will make you ache terribly the further you read. I felt like I could smell the dank, mossy forest air, and taste the rich black dirt. The characters are full of passion and vibrant descriptions. Their experiences had me furiously turning each page to see what happens next.

This story has a living forest, unrequited love, despair, unreliable narrators, and the tortured experiences underneath discovering your true self in a world that wants nothing more than to see you ruined.

What delicious and dark story! It gives me shivers down my spine at how good it is. You really shouldn't let the forest in because it changes you in ways you least expect. I loved the characters and setting! This is truly an atmospheric setting and the writing leaves you guessing what's going on. I highly recommend this book.

I want to thank Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for this ARC via Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

DNF @ 21%, I just didn’t like it.

I don’t think it’s bad, but it can only be described as character traits I used to fawn over (particularly “broken,” unstable boys who live for a crush) but I no longer think are cute. It’s definitely not badly written, and I recommend it for people who enjoy these traits!

Ok, first things first, this book was really beautiful, and gorey, and creepy. It truly became a disturbing fairy tale reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm (with disheartening ending included).

When I first began reading, I was a bit annoyed by how over-flourished the sentences were; full of vines and dark imagery. However, as we learn more about Andrew, it only makes sense that the book is set in fantastical symbolism.

Andrew is a complex character. He clearly suffers from anxiety, panic attacks, and an eating disorder. As the story goes on, we learn that he is also asexual. This is great and necessary representation that is thankfully becoming more common within the YA genre. As with most asexual representing books I read, I am glad this book explores asexuality as a spectrum. Andrew has no sexual desires but is capable of love and romance. Andrew's character will be extremely relatable for many readers as he grapples with his mental health issues. Particularly when he expresses how nonsensical his anxiety truly is but that there is nothing he can do about it because it is simply how his brain works.

The main issue I have with this book has to do with the pace. The story is a bit slow to start. Once the monsters are revealed, Thomas and Andrew spend what feels like 2/3rds of the book, fighting and killing. And finally at the very end of the book, the big twist is revealed (and then a new twist is revealed leading to an anxiety induced spiral in my experience). The final chapter leaves readers with a bit of a cliffhanger. The pacing and ending made me extremely anxious and honestly a bit mad. I am super curious to hear others thoughts on the end. 👀

Another issue (though this is probably more on my part than the book's) is that it felt very deep and meaningful, but I just couldn't grasp the symbolism. Perhaps I am not smart enough or perceptive enough to fully understand the meaning of this book. While reading, I felt a bit bothered; like I was missing something that was so obvious. I am left feeling somewhat dumb.

Despite how much I loved the characters and concept of this book. I was frustrated with the pacing, the ending, and my own ability to understand deeper into the story. Horror is not my preferred genre so maybe my thoughts don't count for much, but I think monster fans would enjoy this book nonetheless.

I am utterly shocked, I don’t think my review will do this book justice but I will try my best!

I don’t normally read YA Horror so it was a shock of how much I loved this story, I read it in one sitting. The writing was so beautiful and devastating, I really felt connected to the characters. I felt the queer representation was so real and I really connected to Andrew (we love ace rep!).

This book was so eerie and hard to stomach at times, being inside Andrew's head was really difficult at some points of the story but I feel as though it made the story much more disturbing, especially as Andrew is an unreliable narrator.

The setting of this book was so vivid to me, at some points it was a bit too vivid (not for the faint of heart) and I adored the dark fairytale elements of the story.

Overall, this book is a must for Autumn, a hard to put down book which will leave you on the edge of your seat. Beautifully written and incredibly haunting. Andrew and Thomas will stay with me for a long time!


“Sometimes there was no stopping pain. There was just seeing how much you could swallow before it spilled out your throat”

This book. Just a big wow for so many reasons. This dark mystery Over The Garden Wall type story is so beautifully haunting with its subject matter and writing style.

Right from the beginning, as we are introduced to Andrew we know something is off. And as our story goes on, the questionable narrative gets more and more twisted, making you second guess all the theories you had along the way.

Andrew and Thomas are so codependent that their relationship and trust in one another puts the mystery element forefront the moment Andrew gets to the academy. We are left to question what is true and what might not be through the love they share. In the end it’s the love/codependence that creates our solution.

Honestly the end is exactly what the authors intended. You are left with still some many questions, are Andrew and Thomas both living together happily in the afterlife? Did Thomas die and Andrew is imaging him as still alive like he did with Dove?

Honestly I adore how this book pushes the boundaries and constantly makes you think!

I was absolutely sucked into this book. The setting and ambience was impeccable and the way the story built had my constantly wondering what was going to happen next. Even though I am over a decade out of Highschool I was reminded about the difficulties of navigating it when you're still trying to understand who you are.

This is a great fall read with back to school and eerie Halloween vibes.

Creepy. Queer. Disconcerting fever dream.
The vibes of the backrooms but in a rich boarding school.
The vibe is laying on the moss covered forest floor with your crush (who just might be some kind of changeling wild child) while stargazing and slowly decomposing while the forest takes over and grows out of your bodies.
Everything is fine, just don’t look too closely.

“The forest had left its teeth marks all over them, and it would never leave them alone.”


✒️ When Andrew and his twin sister Dove arrive to Wickwood everything is a mess. Dove and Thomas, the third member of their inseparable trio, aren’t speaking to each other and Thomas’ parents have gone missing - with him as the main suspect in their disappearance. Andrew tries to make peace between Dove and Thomas, but they are both being so distant it’s impossible.

Each night Thomas goes the surrounding forest where the three of them used to spend so much time together, and returns looking more haggard each time. Could Thomas’ exhaustion and Dove’s cold shoulder have something to do with the odd monstrous creatures that Andrew has started seeing and feeling around him and is there a way to find out with all three of them still in tact? 🖋️

Y’all writing that synopsis was HARD because there is a lot going on in this book - and overall that is a really good thing. Let’s take some time to look at what didn’t work for me with this one and what did!

I really only have two complaints about this book and neither were enough to stop me from enjoying this one. I wasn’t a fan of the internal acephobia subplot and how it was portrayed, but I think a lot of that may just be me being burnt out on that type of representation for aspec folks.

My other complaint is likely more valid and universal, and that’s because at times I felt the book was repetitive initially which meant it took a while for the actually story to find its groove.

Now, for what this book did well! I loved just how hard this book went with creepy and disturbing imagery and the blend of psychological and magical horror was gripping.

The characters are messy codependent nightmares that you can’t help but love and the writing is gorgeous.

The finished edition also has illustrations which I just know are going to add a whole other layer to the beauty of this book.

All in all I give Don’t Let the Forest in a strong 4.25 stars and can’t wait to look into some of CG Drews’ backlog!

If you’re looking for something dark and twisted to read over Halloween, pick this one up when it comes out on October 29th!

Wow wow wow. I have no words this book was beautiful, heartbreaking, terrifying I’m speechless. The twists and turns, the imagery was insane. This would make an absolute beautiful movie. Please check this book out if you like queer stories, sentient forests, a lack of knowing what is real and not real!

4.5/5 ⭐️ this book is dark and twisting and heartbreaking. I cannot tell you how the monsters sunk their claws into this story and into my brain. The queer longing and the way we deal with trauma is explored through a dark and twisting fairytale lens. I recommend this book with my whole chest especially for the fall and winter months. You have no need to believe you shouldn’t read this just because it’s YA, it stands next to its adult counterparts.

First of all the cover is absolutely stunning! This book was thrilling, addictive, creepy! Young Adult Fanatsy, Horror, Thriller

I had been looking forward to this book for a long time and it didn’t disappoint! I loved the rep, the relationship that built between the MCs and the tension throughout.