This was fucking FANTASTIC.

THIS is how you do a YA horror, how you do gay representation, yet balance both and do each well enough that they both get attention and don’t feel left out.

This was just something special, perhaps.

I am not asexual, nor bisexual (just simply gay) but I think both were done tenderly and with enough respect given that both the reader can understand, and the book can make it feel IMPORTANT, which matters the most.

I also think the horror is done amazingly well (“Pleasure. Horror. Lovely. Horror.”) and given so much creep factor and so much…reverence, that you are sucked into the book and sent on a whirlwind that makes you feel caught up and just as insane as the ending.

And SPEAKINF OF THR ENDING, WHAT THE FUCK?? OH MY GOD??? TEN OUT OF TEN WHAT WAS THAT.

Andrew has it hard enough handling the bullies at his boarding school, a confusing crush on his best friend, and a twin sister pulling apart from him for reasons he doesn't know. But all of that falls aside when he discovers his best friend, Thomas, battling monsters of rot and decay in the forest. A twisting, gothic tale of what it means to be a monster and the obsession of two boys. Overall I found it a fun and quick read that kept me hooked.
The flowery language works well with the story and in my opinion elevates the horror. I really appreciated the way Andrew struggles with his queerness and there are a couple scenes that I felt a lot of comfort in. I absolutely adored the way the forest and rot and monsters are written, it really makes you feel the decay in it all. The twist felt appropriate though I didn't see it coming.
At times I found Andrew to be annoying and yes, rather whiny. Though I don't think it lowered my enjoyment all that much, it still irked me. There was a moment that I thought it was going to go in a direction that really would've ruined it for me, and while I'm glad they didn't, it bothered me to even include that fakeout. The twist itself I don't know if I quite liked it, it felt a bit low stakes for that far into the book.
I'd recommend this to fans of gothic horror, dark academia, queer horror, or who wants a quick but solid YA horror. It isn't groundbreaking but it's entertaining.

This book was a fun ride!

I didn't have any preconceived notions going into this book and I'm really glad that I came in basically blind.

It's hard to articulate the great things about this book. The way the author handles mental illness and the panic attacks of our main character shows how much they care.

I think this also a good introduction to body horror.

I definitely think people should give this book a chance.

Thank you to Macmillan and NetGalley for an ARC.

A haunted forest ripe with monsters that can only come from fairytales, an old academy nestled beside it, and two boys who must fight those monsters they’ve created set the scene for “Don’t Let the Forest In” by CG Drews.

Andrew and Dove Perrault and Thomas Rye have been best friends since they were twelve-years old at Wickwood Academy. An academy that boasts students of the elite in society to feed into ivy-league colleges and prosperous careers. Thomas and the Perrault twins come from wealthy families but also from homes that are not the happiest, sparking their camaraderie. While Dove is well liked and popular, the two boys have always struggled to fit in and with being bullied. The twin’s broken home leaves them a mostly absent father whose career is more important and Andrew with extreme anxiety. His only coping mechanisms are to put pen to paper and spin his feelings into dark tales of princes and poets, of monsters made of the forest who demand a blood tithe and Thomas Rye, the autumn boy with paint on his shirt and charcoal on his hands. With Thomas’ parents’ eccentric personalities and art careers, he is the tortured artist of the school. Taking Andrew’s macabre stories and bringing them to life.

It is their senior year at Wickwood Academy and Andrew hasn’t talked to Thomas all summer. Upon arriving at school things are tense between the three friends. Andrew’s anxieties are at full throttle. Dove and Thomas are not talking, and Andrew doesn’t know why. Thomas is taken into questioning by police and the principal for the disappearance of his parents and Andrew could have sworn he saw blood on Thomas’ sleeve. As the school year delves on, it is clear to Andrew that Thomas is keeping something from him. Something that is haunting him and keeping him up at night, going into the out of bounds forest. When Andrew follows Thomas into the forest one night, the grim and terrible truth of Thomas’ secret is revealed. Leaving them with no choice but to try to stop what they’ve created or die trying.

I absolutely was taken with this book from the first few chapters. I honestly had no idea or theories of what was truly going on or happening until the last couple of chapters. Drews’ writing is poetic, dark and all around atmospheric. I highlighted so many twisted but beautiful, dark but enlightening passages and lines that had me enthralled. Some of the things that I truly appreciated were the queer and asexual representation throughout and mental health representation. This book has all the vibes that I love- elements of a dark fairytale type setting, creepy, gory elements of horror, and the intriguing pull of a good mystery. This is a horror, psychological thriller with a kind of fantasy element woven within. There are dark concepts, elements of self-harm, thoughts on self-harm and harm to others. It is a story of dependance, of irrevocable love that explores all facets of what that love means- the dark parts, the bad and the good. It is a story of two boys who would do anything to protect each other. Even if that means to lie and to kill but mostly to destroy the monsters of their own souls. I will definitely be picking up any books by this author moving forward.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

Well, this was something else.

I loooved the forest and how creepy it was. The story was good, the characters were realistic, the writing was fantastic, and the imagery was great. It was a bit slow in the beginning with a semi aimless path to the plot, but it really picked up and sucked me in. It didn't really feel like a YA novel at times with the horror aspect. In a good way, I enjoyed it. I'm not one to go out of my way to read a lgbq book, but I think the plot was worth a recommendation.

I'm not sure how to feel about the ending, I'll just say I was not expecting that. Now I'm going to go stare at a wall and digest.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me a copy to read and review honestly.

* Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

"Everyone's first instinct was to go inside and hide under their covers. As if monsters couldn't open doors and crawl into bed with you."

Don't Let the Forest In is about Thomas and Andrew, best friends who attend Wickwood Academy together, and protect each other from the world. Only, upon return for their senior year, Thomas is acting weird, and Andrew will do anything to find out what's going on. When he follows him into the forest one night, he discovers Thomas fighting monsters that look suspiciously like the monsters in Andrew's stories, and Thomas's drawings.

Objectively, this is a beautiful story. I think the plot is there, the mystery aspect kept me guessing along the way, and while I did not like all the characters, they were well written and convincing. I think in some ways, though, this was just not for me specifically. I found myself wanting to skim some of the lyrical/poetic descriptions, and was regularly fed up with the lack of real communication and the riddles everyone kept speaking in. That said, I read the book in one sitting and enjoyed a lot of it, so I still recommend it.

If you're a fan of gothic, dark academia about forests and monsters, this book will be perfect for you.

I'm between a 3.5 and a 4, so I'll leave it at 4.

Okay, first of all: this cover??? STUNNING. It's what drew me into this book in the first place. Then, I read the description, and I was intrigued. I would say this definitely delivered. It's beautifully written (I highlighted so many lines!), queer, unsettling, and very atmospheric. The way C.G. Drews described things, especially Andrew's feelings, was beautiful.

A lot was going on with Andrew, so he was very compelling as a young character. Throughout this book, he struggles not only with his intense feelings for his best friend Thomas but also with his sexuality (he's ace), his anxieties, and, oh, yeah, with the monsters that start coming to life in the forest, putting him and Thomas in danger.

The atmosphere of this book was very tense and eerie. Things feel very strange from the beginning and some things don't add up, especially Andrew's relationship with his sister Dove, but that makes sense in the end. This isn't just about monsters, it's about loss, coming to terms with your sexuality, being afraid of how you feel, and growing up.

That ending was sooo... tragic? Strange? I don't even know. It threw me off for sure, but it seems that was the author's goal. To leave you "frowning at the wall," and that they did. Overall, I really enjoyed this and it's the perfect book to read in October if you want a YA fantasy horror with a bit of romance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The twist was completely unexpected and well written. The last few chapters of it had me in tears. I never wanted the book to end and I've had a difficult time finding another book that feels the same. I'd love to read a sequel or from the perspective of one of the other characters.

This book is great for LGBT readers. It's great to see representation on literature. The book was way to digest and her through. Thank you to CG Crews and net galley for this ARC.

I am on my ya queer horror train recently and this certainly didn't slow it down. It started a bit clunky, but it didn't take long for it to get its feet and get going- around the 25% mark. Andrew being so soft was so important to me, and I loved him with all my heart. The last 20% of the book I simply could not put down, and I DID cry!!! However, I struggle to come to a decision on how I feel about Dove's death- the book is inextricably supernatural, but her death was entirely accidental and realistic. While on one hand I enjoy the dichotomy, I do also kind of wish the forest had more of a will of its own and went after the boy it wanted the only way it knew how- by removing her sister, his protector. Overall, it was such a minor blip in my mind I truly don't mind it, it just felt a bit more disconnected from the living forest story I expected going into it! But really truly I loved this book, and the candle I hold for queer ya horror will never extinguish (even if i AM turning 30 next year).

Coming off of reading this book I want to write some dark twisted fairytale that ends in a tragedy, but this book was not a tragedy to read. 'Don't Let the Forest In' reminds me of 'Wilder Girls' but without the YA Dystopia being shoved down my throat. At the very first chapter, we are set up with Andrew who is an Australian going to a private school in America along with his twin sister Dove. Something horrible happened right before summer break and that mystery hangs like a cloud over the book, darkening every interaction that happens.

I love the idea of a storyteller who writes horrific fairytales becomes connected to a boy who only draws monsters. There could be a lot to be said about their relationship and how it could be seen as beautiful or one that feeds on each other in a horrible way. While reading the book I kept thinking 'These two are going to eat each other live', and in a way they do. If there is any criticism I have it's that we don't get to see a bit more of their ending. There are a lot of questions hanging in the air and I wanted maybe a page or two more to explain what is going to happen to them, but that's just me, and that's a minor nitpick.

As I read the book I wished for images of Thomas's art. They sound breathtaking and I wish I had some sort of talent to see them in front of me. The descriptions are corruptingly whimsical and it reminded me a lot of Holly Black's rendition of the Fair Folk, only these have more teeth.

The plot twist at the end was obvious after the halfway point, but how it went down was satisfying and to me that means the book did what it needed to do. For me a book doesn't need to surprise me, it needs to handle the reveal in a satisfying way. I've seen other YA books do similar reveals and fumble the ball, but not this one.

I'm giving 'Don't Let the Forest In' four stars. For my system, that means I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves angsty art boys, dark fairytale vibes, Queer and Asexual rep, and dark academia. I'm going to be sending a link to my horror reading groups as this book gets closer to publication, and I wish it was out for Pride, but honestly, it coming out right before Halloween is a perfect fit for this book.

ＡＲＣ ＲＥＶＩＥＷ

𝙼𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:

One of the reasons I wanted to read, Don't Let the Forest In, was because of the amazing cover. It's unique and the details, which made me curious to know the story behind it.

In this dark academia fairytale, we follow Andrew, who has now started his senior year. Andrew and his twin Dove are best friends with Thomas. Each of them are different. Most of the time, Andrew lives in panic and gets anxious from a lot of day to day tasks. Thomas and Dove have always been there to protect Andrew.

However, this school year, everything changes. Dove and Thomas have been involved in a fight. Andrew now feels like he has to pick a side between his sister, who means everything to him, and his best friend/roommate Thomas. He refuses to do that, and his anxiety and fears get worse each day.

𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙, “𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡.” “𝙈𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪,” 𝘼𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.

For most of this book, the friendship was more described than actually seeing them interact, which made me confused. How could a friendship like theirs come to this? What happened, and what was the disagreement about? Andrew could always count on both Dove and Thomas, but because of that drift, which lasted throughout the whole book, I never really understood their friendship.

So yes, for a good portion of this book, I questioned everyone's actions. I did have to keep coming back and remind myself that these kids are in high school. A lot of what they are going through for example, being away from their parents, not really receiving any true guidance from teachers, also being bullied and nobody really doing anything about it had me side eyeing that institution the whole time 👀. Are you telling me these parents are spending a great amount of money to have their kids not looked after properly?

And the chaos! The forest is coming more alive every day, trying to get to Andrew and Thomas. At various times, they felt exhausted, defeated, and honestly saw no solution to their problems.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨. 𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚.

Overall, this book was interesting, had me intrigued, and even had me looking around me because of the suspense. And to be honest, in some moments, I wanted to have a serious talk with some of these characters. All of these questions I had throughout this book kept pilling up. Something was just not adding up! I didn't know who or what. I just knew something was wrong. Around the last 25% of the book, I had to pause and think of details I read previously and might have overlooked as 'normal' however, they truly were not and then came the 'ohhhhh mind blowing' moment I had.

By the end, I put my Kindle in my lap and just stared ahead, saying to myself, "What did I just read? Because I need a minute or two to gather my scattered brain.". This is a new to me author, which I will definitely be coming back to read more from. The plot was just as unique as the cover and had my attention the whole time.

𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔:
🔸️YA Psychological Horror
🔸️Third Person Single POV (Andrew)
🔸️Asexual & Bisexual Representation
🔸️Friends to Lovers
🔸️Touch Him and Die
🔸️Dark Academia
🔸️Fairytale Monsters

𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚁𝙲, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an early copy in exchange for a review!
-
This book was SO much fun to read. I tend to be very head-empty while reading, so most of the time the big plot twists sneak up on me. In the case of this book though, I never finished reading the initial description for the plot, so imagine my surprise when monsters showed up haha.
Really, though, this book is pretty far off from the type of books I usually read and I am SO glad that it caught my eye. I fully intend on purchasing a physical copy for my bookshelf when it releases!

Sometimes it's okay to judge a book by it's cover! This story was so amazing. My words could never do it justice.

I'm usually not the biggest fan of horror/thriller but this book was so enthralling

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for review.

This book was recommended to me by someone dear to my life and after reading the synopsis I was all in. I love an emotional journey that will distract me from real life while simultaneously destroying me.. and creepy forest monsters? All in.

The dynamic of Andrew and Thomas’ relationship was fantastic. Drawn together by attraction, shared interests, trauma, and fear. What could make a stronger bond?

I loved the representation within this book as well, I feel as though there isn’t much Ace content or at least I haven’t found much even though I’m often in the lgbt/sapphic reading sphere. It also covered mental illness and anxiety struggles that I really resonated with, and made me even more grateful for those in my life who are supportive during those times.

This book was just so spooky and gruesome but not in a nightmare causing overwhelming way, it was just eerie and left me up all night not in fear but in a “I don’t want to stop reading” kind of way.

There is a twist within this story that I figured out about 60-70% of the way in and even though I had strong theories that ended up being correct, it didn’t take away from the book or my thoughts when finishing. AKA I wasn’t disappointed that I was correct and had figured it out (although CG Drews did try to trick me).

I highly enjoyed this and have already recommended this to my coworker reading buddy.

Thank you!

I loved the overall atmosphere of this book. I loved the characters and the dynamics between reality and imagination. It blurs the line between reality, imagination, creating a gripping and unsettling narrative. Having Thomas creepy drawings of monsters come to life, having to put your trust in a friend, and willing to battle them out together. I love the emotional depth within this and the details able to keep it very vivid in your mind, the words leaping off the page into imagery, its something that many authors lack or cannot write about, this author nails the visuals to a T. It goes over things which I have yet to see in many horror YA like obsessions, friendships , growing of age, how much you are willing to let go of yourself for another,

Rating 4.5/5
Ah yes, your first obsessive friendship with gay undertones and wired with codependency. Andrew you would have loved counting Snapscores and iPhone 'Find My Friends' feature. Instead you had the forest manifesting creatures born out of your crush's macabre drawings and all you could think about was "At least he's not talking to anyone else but me."

Don't Let the Forest In is a YA psychological horror and was absolutely wonderful. Filled with loving dark prose and complex characters, you are thrown right into the middle of the story and with a somewhat unreliable narrator.

High school senior Andrew Perrault writes twisted fairytales and the only one who understands him is Thomas Rye - who draws the creatures from Andrew's stories. Upon his return to Wickwood Academy, a private boarding school, Andrew's sister, Dove, is keeping him at a cold distance so he has had to rely on Thomas more than ever. But Thomas is acting strangely too and shutting him down constantly. After following him into the off-limits forest that lines the school Andrew discovers Thomas battling terrifying monsters crafted from his own drawings. The boys return each night to fight the monsters while also trying not to fail their classes and as their obsession for each other grows so do the monsters...

- I think someday you'll hate me. You'll cut me open and find a garden of rot where my heart should be.
- When I cut you open, all I'll find is that we match.

The tension between all the characters is deliciously mysterious. You want Andrew to find out more and get to the bottom of it but he's also got a lot going on in his head so that's where the unreliable narrator comes in. Also the times when Andrew should be focusing on the big 'monsters trying to destroy the school' plot he kept getting distracted by his obsession with Thomas was very funny to me.

I will not give anything away but the moment you feel like you finally understand what is happening C.G. Drews rips the rug from under your feet.

My half-star taken away is my little issue with the pacing at the beginning of the story, or maybe that's just from my impatience but otherwise this was perfection.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Don't Let the Forest In had me hooked from the beginning with its gorgeous prose and haunting atmosphere. I loved the gothic vibes of the school, the imagery of the story, and the dark fairytale vibes. The asexual representation was also super well done in my opinion. I highly recommend this book for fans of gothic horror.

Thank you to CG Drews, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Don't Let the Forest In is a hauntingly beautiful story that had me hooked from the very beginning. Set in a mundane boarding school with a more than fantastical forest, Don't Let the Forest In follows a broken trio as they spend their final high school year together. Main characters Andrew and Thomas are two boys that are practically two sides of the same stitch. We follow Andrew, the Author, and Thomas, the Artist as they deal with a certain kind of magic that turns their creations into reality.

CG Drews manages to pull us readers in with such a compelling premise, all while including important topics like mental health and queer representation that are more than relevant to the main character's arcs and overall storyline. The writing style cast an eerie aura throughout, and even though this was read during the springtime, the gruesome storyline and horror elements really put me in a spooky mood.

Reflective of its genre, even a few days after finishing this novel the final pages have haunted me. A story so magical and compelling such as this has led me down a rabbit hole of horror, for which I am grateful since I love mood reading. Overall I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery with strong willed characters--However, I would say that a large twist near the end of the story was quite predictable, and I just wish it could have been revealed more mysteriously.

Don't Let the forest in hqw dark academiq horror vibes; it is a creepy and dark YA book. It wasn't my favorite, but it was well-written and had a good storyline that I would recommend to others.