Wow, so dark and beautiful. Drews’ writing is both ominous and poetic. She balances the nuances of teen angst with gothic horror so well. At times this felt more teen drama/love story than horror, and at others it felt more horror fantasy, but seeing what is revealed and where we end up, both sides of this story weave so beautifully together.

I highlighted so much beautiful imagery and lovely prose. As I went to fetch a quote to feature in this review, none feel more fitting than the dedication - “For the monsters in your head.”

The positives:

The writing is hauntingly beautiful. It’s been a long time since I’ve read something so darkly flowery and disturbingly poetic.

The queer representation with an asexual main character is lovely. Also, the queer LONGING was beautiful.

I loved the depiction of mental health struggles. It felt very real and made you ache.

The monsters were SCARY. I literally couldn’t sleep the first night that I started reading this book because I was so scared haha.

There was a GREAT reveal/plot twist!!!

My only complaint:

The only reason I didn’t give this book five stars was because I have no idea how it ended or what happened or what was real. Literally no clue, maybe I’m too literal and didn’t understand???? So yeah, the ending is a mystery to me, and that was a little infuriating, but the ride was good before that so 😅

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for giving me an e-arc for an honest review

Eh. I don't know what to say about this one. It does the creepy heavy vibe well. It just never felt like it had reached its full potential. Overall it just felt messy and never really grabbed me, I however am not the targeted audience. I do think that demographic is going to eat this up. The ending left me exasperated.

Thanks to netgalley for the eARC.

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him.

This was excellent! Great characters, great setting, great atmosphere. I loved it!

Andrew has been writing gothic tales for an audience of two for almost as long as he remembers: Dove, Andrew's twin sister, and Thomas, the jagged boy whose drawings bring Andrew's stories to life. But as the new school year at the trio's boarding school kicks off things are not as they've been. Dove is avoiding the boys, angry with them for reasons Andrew cannot parse. Thomas's parents are missing and Thomas is a suspect in their murders. Andrew is doing his best to hold himself together. As Thomas withdraws more and more, Andrew gives chase to hold onto at least the friendship that he wishes were more. In the dark of the school woods, Andrew finds that Thomas's drawings of Andrew's stories have been coming to life to hunt the artist. The two boys set about keeping each other safe and trying to find away of putting the monsters to rest.

The gothic prose of this book settled directly into my bones and made a home there. The emotion of the novel bleeds through every sentence drawing the reader into Andrew's anxieties and fixations with few questions. Characters and reader alike know that no one's choices are healthy much less sustainable and yet every one feels so inevitable. The world Drews builds is not kind. It is not welcoming or forgiving. Loss waits around each page turn. But in the face of grief and Andrew's loosening control, Drews offers not hope but the dedication of a hyper dependent friendship that never sat within the lines of the platonic. The world may never offer comfort but the friend you've been secretly in love with since you were children might choose to take all the demons on for you anyway. And isn't that what gothic horror is for? Suppressing grief until it takes physical form and co dependent relationships that both damn and save.

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like it was written for me because it had messy boys, forest horror, dark academia, and queer representation. The prose is good but it felt like it was trying too hard. Really interested in reading the final version of this novel!

‘ “If you cut open my chest” - Andrew’s voice was wrecked - “you’ll find a garden of rot where my heart should be.” ‘

Just wow… I was enthralled from the very first page and would have happily devoured this book in one sitting had time allowed it. It’s definitely going in my list of favorite books of 2024, if I could give it more than 5 stars I would!

Don’t Let the Forest In is haunting, eerie, and unearthly. After reading it I feel like I have become one with the forest and the rot. It got into my flesh and bones and will fester here until I find something of equal quality. This book leaves the reader feeling on edge and haunted the entire time, and is the perfect Halloween read.

Andrew and Thomas are toxic and codependent, their reality will make you question what is real and what is a figment of their damaged minds.
Don’t Let the Forest In is simultaneously horror and comfort, the characters are raw and unhinged but so delightful in their affection for each other.

C.G. Drews is an author to keep your eye on, as I for one can’t wait to get my hands on their future works! For now I will continue to decay in the forest with the monsters and the mystery.

‘They were beautiful together; they were magic and monstrous, and they had created a whole vengeful world between them.’

Thank you so much, C.G. Drews and Netgally for this haunting ARC!

Thank you so much NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing for this eARC!

I loved this book! It checked my favorite boxes from a YA novel. Boarding school, classic jump scares, super weird and terrifying monsters, secrets and suspense, complex relationships, and running around in dark forbidden woods.

I found each of the “stories meant to feel like paper cuts” to be so poetic and morbidly lovely.

Overall, the book scratched my deep itch for a well written scary story. A great fall read. 10 out of 10

Amazing. Absolutely loved this book and made me keep turning the pages to find out what happened next !!

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.