Oooooh my God. My God. This was one of my most anticipated reads this year and. Just. Oh my God. 5000 stars.

The horror? Flawless. Nightmarish. Nauseating. Some of the descriptions were so disgustingly vivid, I grabbed at my throat and covered my mouth. I never want to read about worms or maggots again. There was also some pretty serious body horror at the end.

The romance? Flawless. Obsessive. Beautiful. There aren't enough asexual romantic books out there. Andrew broke my heart. How he felt "not normal", inadequate, that no one would want him because you can't just stop at kissing... 😢 Broken boys loving and protecting each other. Love is a violent monster. "Touch him and die" times infinity

The fairytales? Flawless. Fascinating. Dark. Disturbing!! I was in TEARS at the end.

I need this to come out so I can own a physical copy. Sleep with it. Cry over its pages some more. Breathe in that wonderful book smell.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

C.G Drews you have done it yet again! I stayed up so late reading this I didn’t want to put it down (I had to unfortunately). I’ve been following the release of Don’t Let the Forest In like a hawk, I can’t believe I finally got to read it. And I was not disappointed! This was my highly anticipated 2024 release and I am blown away (as I always am with them).

Drew’s writing is so, so visceral. Don’t Let the Forest In is a perfect fantastical story with twists and turns every single page! Not so horror as confusing and unreliably narrated. I’d consider this more on the realm of a psychological thriller than horror. The pain Andrew deals with is poetically all consuming and Drews really captures how smothering anxiety is, and making Andrew a very unlikeable character with many flaws. Andrew is relatable while also being the problem and personally, I found that an extremely entertaining factor. It was messy, confusing, and hard to stomach watching everything go from 0 to 100 in the span of seconds. Drew’s successfully wrote yet another gut wrenching, codependent dynamic between two boys who have no one else. It hurts me every time! Don’t Let the Forest In is a maddening yet beautiful story. I was on the edge of my seat. Another miraculous story. I am truly, truly amazed. Drew’s growth has skyrocketed and I cannot wait for more from them.

Thank you Netgally for letting me read this story in exchange for an honest review.

Attention grabber from the very first pages. A darker, psychological horror, with characters you connect with quickly. Author, CG Drew’s writes with much details allowing the reader to emerge into the world he has created.

Note: Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an early copy of this book!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Summary: On the return of Andrew, his twin sister Dove, and his best friend Thomas to their senior year at Wickwood Academy, everything is different. Thomas is acting cagey and police are there, investigating his parents' inexplicable disappearance just the day before. Dove is ignoring her brother and Thomas after a fight between her and Thomas at the end of last year. On top of that, a fence has been erected between the school and the woods after something happened last year. Andrew is just trying to manage his senior year and his confusing feelings for his best friend. And then, he discovers Thomas has been fighting his drawings come to life- drawings directly inspired by Andrew's dark fairytale writings- every night. But are the monster worse than their complicated feelings for each other?

Review: Oooooh my god! Oh my god! I couldn't put this book down, in fact, my mom had to make me put it down so I would help her with something. I still finished it the same day. CG Drews has created such a fascinating bubble of horror with Wickwood Academy and the forests surrounding it. It never felt too small for the story it wanted to tell, and did well. All of the characters felt like they truly had their own bits of the story to tell.

Andrew (asexual) and Thomas (bisexual) are so codependent even when they're upset with each other and avoiding each other and it's so good. Andrew's little fairytales are so beautiful, even with how short they are, and so full of that horrific imagery that he and Thomas both love. Both of their creativity feeds off of each other in this cycle that's so symbolic of who they are and their all-encompassing feelings for each other.

(I will say there is some body horror in here I maybe should have expected given the synopsis but didn't, but I vibed with once I got over that initial surprise.)

The end of this book comes with an excellent twist that left me aching and excited for the end in equal measure. Andrew and Thomas have my whole heart and when this book comes out, I will be buying to add to my collection so I can reread and find all the details I missed on my initial read-through.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book!

3.5/5 stars

I am so torn about this book. I haven’t read many horror books, but objectively, this was so enjoyable. I thought the plot and the idea was so sickeningly mesmerizing. The prose in this book was so well done, and I found the characters to be pretty well developed for the most part. I really wasn’t ready for how gruesome this book would be, but I was so horrified that I couldn’t put it down.

I think my issue with this book is that the plot got kind of hazy towards the end. I got lost and am honestly still a bit confused about the ending. But maybe that’s just a me thing. I think the chemistry between the two main characters was great, and the plot twist at the end was really satisfying, if a little bit predictable.

Overall, this was a very entertaining, gruesome read. If you’re into horror with a diverse cast, I think this is definitely a good one to pick up!

Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews is a piece of art and I’m going to tell you why!
First of all, just look at the cover, it’s extraordinary! The artwork immediately drew in and set the tone for the book.

This is a YA horror novel with an asexual protagonist, poetic and DARK writing, with serious creepy and ominous vibes.

Andrew is a high school senior who writes the creepiest fairy tale stories, and Thomas is their friend who draws sketches of the terrifying monsters in Andrew’s stories.

They attend the isolated Wickwood Academy when one day Thomas’s abusive parents have disappeared, Thomas is acting very strange and he has blood on is sleeve.

Somehow the monsters that Thomas is drawing- the ones from Andrew’s stories- are coming alive and wrecking havoc on everyone they love.

If this sounds interesting to you- check it out on October 29th, 2024. Trust me, this is going to be one of the top YA horror books of the year and you’re going to want to check it out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC!

The book had an exciting premise and I was excited to read it. Though the writing was descriptive and lush, the story was lacking. The ultimate twist in the story felt like a let-down and nothing was ever fully explained. I did finish the book but was disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was incredible. The writing and the story were so immersive, and I highly highly recommend this book.

This story follows Andrew and Thomas, who are fighting monsters that emerge from the forest exactly like Thomas's gruesome drawings.

This YA psychological horror felt so filled with anguish, yet it was impossible to look away. The story is told from Andrew's point of view, and there are moments when he describes something, something ordinary, that makes you go, "yes, that's exactly how that feels." I don't know if this would be everyone's experience when reading his point of view, but it was one of my favorite parts of this book.

The horror element was beautiful as well. The entire story felt like a Grimm Brothers tale, and it constantly made me want to try to draw. This story just felt beautiful to read. It feels impossible to describe the feeling of reading it, and because of that I had to wait a couple of days after finishing it to write this review. It feels like the song In a Week by Hozier and Karen Cowley, but that doesn't really encapsulate the horror and the anguish that this story has.

My only real complaint is that I wished the ending had had a few more pages; it felt a bit rushed, but I don't read too much horror and that might be just a thing in this genre more than others.

Overall, I love the story, characters, and atmosphere of this book so so much. I can't wait for it to come out so that I can have a physical copy.

This book is about two boys who are best friends and attend a boarding school together. Shy, anxious Andrew writes dark fairy tales to cope with the world and artsy, brash Thomas illustrates them. One night Andrew follows Thomas into the woods, which are off limits, behind the school because he thinks he's been secretly meeting up with Andrew's twin sister, Dove, there. What he sees is even more shocking, Thomas' drawings have come to life! They vow to fight them each night to protect the school, but how can they stop them?
The descriptions and writing in this are amazing and beautiful. I could picture the monsters so vividly that they could've walked off the page (Kindle), but I'm happy they didn't! I figured out the twists before the end, but this was still a good read. A bunch of topics are covered in this book such as mental health, sexual orientation, bullying, child abuse, bullying, homophobia. and obsession. If any of those bother you, this may not be the book for you. Otherwise, I recommend it to fans of spooky horror.

If you love Hozier, horror, and pining, this is the book for you.

Where do I begin on this book? I picked it up the moment I saw the main character had the surname Perrault. was hoping, praying even, that it was a clever way of tying Andrew's dark fairy tales to one of the decently well-known authors of airy tales. And I am positive it was.

I'm not always a huge horror fan. But the tale of Andrew Perrault, who is anxious, painfully shy, and in what I would argue to be a painfully codependent relationship with his best friend (and love interest) Thomas Rye. Andrew is a twin with his sister Dove, and Andrew, Thomas, and Dove used to be a trio. But something happened at the end of their junior year and now thomas and Dove won't talk. And then there's the matter of the forest, which is now off limits. The forest isn't just somewhere spooky to roam. Now, it holds monsters. Monsters that only Thomas and Andrew know of.

The heart and soul of this book is the writing style and prose. It might not be everyone's tea. But if you love the scent of a grave, earth stained scarlet and wet with tears, rot, and the faint rustle of leaves as they creep towards you? Well, this is the book for you. And the pining. MY GOD THE PINING. Andrew's agony as he pines for his friend is so sharp. It aches so deeply from within him and resonates in every inked word. Listen, I am a sucker for some painful, drawn out pining and Drews delivers.

The last like 30 pages also had me AGAPE. The twists that occur? You might see one coming. But I do not know how you'd be able to see them all. This book absolutely plays games with your mind. Making you wonder if everything Andrew sees is real or not. And I love that. Not going to lie, I was originally going to give this book only four stars. But my complaints got addressed in the last 50 pages and I am going to need 2 to 5 business days to recover from that.

Also, ASEXUAL REP. ON PAGE ASEXUAL REP.

*deep inhale* yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

This book is insane.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I immediately signed up because there really is a sad lack of good m/m horror books out there in the world, but I'm happy to say that the ranks have grown by one. A cover this beautiful deserved a good book to go with it, and I'm so glad this one stepped up to the plane. You most certainly can judge this book by its cover.

This book has everything.

Cute boys. Blood. Monsters. Blood. Violence. Some more blood. Representation. Creepy boarding schools.

Did I mention blood?

What few issues I had with the book as a whole pale in comparison to how much I enjoyed everything else about it. And while I wasn't particularly sold on how the last quarter or so of the book, the trip it took to get there was worth it.

It's hard to say much more about the book without spoiling it, so I'll just say you should totally read it if you don't mind a lot of darkness and a tiny bit of blood.

This was a good book. I was hooked from the very beginning. The author uses such wonderful detail to allow the reader to visualize what is going on. It felt like I was in the forest with Andrew and Thomas. this book was creepy and gory and had me thinking.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Equal parts heartbreaking and horrifying, this story about two boys fighting monsters in the woods behind their boarding school is the perfect little dark fairy tale. Terrifying and gruesome, this one kept me up at night and made me fall in love with the two main characters. But man I just really wish I could give them both a hug.

Thanks to Feiwel and Friends and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Don't Let the Forest In follows Andrew, and his best friend Thomas, as they fight off monsters outside their boarding school every night. Thomas is an artist, and it seems his drawings are coming to life, and Andrew's macabre stories are maybe their only way to safety. There's also a growing tension between the boys, and it leads to dangerous consequences.

I really enjoyed Drews's debut here. The character work was interesting, and the visuals were captivating. Sometimes Andrew and Thomas's dialogue was a little too similar and I got lost, but that's definitely something that can be fixed during edits. I'll definitely have my eye out for more of Drews's work!

I loved this book. It's hard to even find all the right words to describe my feelings. I really appreciate the opportunity to review an ARC of this book.

Usually I write feedback almost immediately after finishing but I had to take a couple days to think about this one. The ending left me a little emotional, and it takes a lot for a book to make me feel more than just fleeting emotions.

Don't Let the Forest In is a dark psychological horror that touches on some deep subjects that may be difficult for some people, but I feel will also deeply resonate with many. As a YA novel, I can't help but think that a book like this would have been a real benefit to me when I was a teenager struggling with things that the main character is dealing with in this book. I also think this might be the first asexual main character I've ever seen? I'm sure others exist by now, but they don't seem to be very common.

The story itself is beautiful, the characters are all distinct and have their own personalities and motivations, so no one blends into the background even in its short page count. I feel like the book also didn't drag on or overstay its welcome in any way. It was beautiful and a little otherworldly at times and reminded me a lot of that feeling of being an angsty teenager trapped in your own head.

Overall I recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy a dark, angsty and romantic horror story.

Soooo this book was crazy. A lot more graphic than I expected, and definitely twisty. I spent a lot of time wondering what exactly was happening, and I’m pretty sure that was intentional. All in all solid read.

Thanks to NetGalley for this book. It will be out this October!

To start, thank you to Netgalley for early access to this title! Don’t Let The Forest In by CG Drews is a dark and twisting story for fans of The Wicker King by K Ancrum. Two boys dealing with malevolent outside forces, as well as their own feelings for each other. With asexual and anxiety representation, this story almost begs the question: What would a darker and more mature version of Bridge to Terabithia be like? How do two young people fight monsters that may or may not be real? Drews gives us a very well written tale littered with good representation and relatable characters. I only wish this story could’ve been longer. Our main characters almost suffer from a lack of depth because of all of the action that had to be packed into such a small amount of pages. I wanted to know them better. I wanted to be able to relate to them harder. All in all, this is a solid story delivered to us in a nice little package. Check out Don’t Let The Forest In on October 24, 2024!

In Andrew’s own words, this story is a paper cut. This story left me staring at a wall when I finished and will absolutely haunt me, as predicted by CG Drews. It is dark and twisted and hauntingly whimsical, it is like fairytales nawed to their bones where the pixie dust has been wiped away to reveal the sweet rotting truth beneath. This story is incredibly well written, and stunning in its description of not only the characters but their emotions and the forest as it slowly devours the pages. The trio of friends is beautifully described as: “Since Dove loved to study, and Thomas breathed art, and Andrew craved stories, they all had pledged their hearts to this library.” And this is only a tiny taste of the descriptions in this book! At times it seems like Andrew is being swallowed by the forest like quick sand, the more he struggles the faster it grabs him. There were numerous times I did not know what was real or not, and much of what I knew was real was so rotten and horrifyingly stunnning I couldn’t take my eyes of the page. Truly, this is some of the most beautifully written words I’ve read, and the darkness of this twisted fairytale only enhances that. If you enjoy
House of Hollow, ninth house, one dark window and the overall creepy fairytale essence, this book is for you.

“Andrew would write them as a story someday. He’d make the blackest parts beautiful and he’d write the kisses bloody and the vengeance sweet”

Wow. My first five star book of the year. This is one of those books that when you finish it, you are left astounded and just need time to process what just happened before you dive into another book. I want to spoil it so bad because I just want to talk and talk about it, comparing our thoughts and feelings. This book is about Andrew and his mental health problems. Trigger warnings: self harm, death, violence, murder, depression, struggling with sexuality. Andrew is in love with Thomas, but only in love, as he is asexual. This book is heavily Andrew's processing on his sexuality, his feelings, how he copes, what he's hiding. I'm not sure if I want to think that this is supernatural, mental health, or a mix of both. And I love that. I love open ended books, usually.

I think I do believe that it is mental health and not at all supernatural, which will make for an interesting reread when this amazing book comes out. I love finding hidden gems!!! It will certainly bring a much darker turn for the book, thinking this way. Also, guys. THE ENDING?! Oh my God. I am in shock. I have no words. I want to scream. I freaking love Thomas so much, it's not even funny.

I'm sure some people will be upset that an asexual character is being portrayed like this but I want to note: asexual characters can have mental health problems that affect them negatively just like straight people. It really is a pet peeves of mine when people say lgbtq+ people can't be evil, or have a disorder, or anything negative. It is not villianizing (usually, though there are definitely books out there where it is). It is not saying lgbtq+ = bad. But just like straight people, the lgbtq+ community can have bad eggs too. It's the nature of the world.

Pleaseeeee check this book out. Check for trigger warnings and I'll leave you with a slight spoiler: BEWARE!!!

SPOILER: sleepaway camp vibes

Dont Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews 5/5 stars⭐️ This was absolutely incredible. Definitely going to be in my top books of the year!

Release date: October 29, 2024

This is a young adult psychological horror following Andrew Perrault and his best friend Thomas, both seniors in high school. Andrew, secretly in love with his best friend, would do anything for him. Protect him, lie for him, even kill for him. When Thomas’ parents go missing, he starts to act strangely. Whenever Andrew asks him about it, Thomas shuts down and doesn’t want to talk about it. Andrew, desperate to figure out why Thomas is acting so weird, goes in the woods looking for Thomas, only to find him fighting a nightmarish monster. Andrew and Thomas work together to fight these monsters and figure out why they won’t stop coming to get them every night, all while growing more and more obsessed with each other.

This is a devastatingly beautiful queer love story with an asexual main character that absolutely tore me apart and I loved every second of it. It’s creepy and beautiful at the same time. It has twists and turns, especially near the end, that I was absolutely not expecting! Would highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group for sending me a digital copy for me to review and enjoy! These are my honest thoughts and opinions.