I received this as an ARC from NetGalley.

I'm typically not a horror type of person when it comes to books/media, but I picked this up because the premise was so interesting. I have no regrets; this book was read in one sitting. The word choices are absolutely visceral, and it's obvious that there was a lot of care taken to ensure it was clear. Without spoiling anything, this is the kind of book you need to read to believe it. Not many books do this to me, but I'll definitely be thinking about this book for a while. All the best to the author for such an amazing debut novel!

Don't Let the Forest In is C.G. Drews' debut in the horror genre, and it's a book that I've been dying to get my hands on ever since I saw them posting about it on Twitter and it was added to Goodreads as Skeleton Boys. It's a bit of a genre change from The Boy Who Steals Houses and my beloved A Thousand Perfect Notes, but those young adult contemporaries contained enough darker elements that I knew I would be safe in C.G.'s hands.

Content warnings for this book include bullying, blood and gore, body horror, death, disordered eating, grief, homophobia, self-harm, and violence.

High school senior Andrew finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality - Thomas, his best friend who turns his stories into whimsically macabre art. And, with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to boarding school, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more. But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas is haunted by something. Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator.

My first love about this book is the writing itself, and how it is truly an ode to storytelling. Drews has a gorgeous writing style. The prose is beautiful (which I already knew as an avid lover of their other works) and I'd absolutely be willing to try another book by this author with these horror influences just because of that. This book is hugely atmospheric and dreamlike (or nightmarish?) with hauntingly beautiful imagery that I have taken infinite screenshots of so I can read my favourite lines over and over again. There are also snippets from the stories that Andrew writes that are interwoven throughout in a way that doesn't distract from the main story and leaves me wanting more. I also can't wait until my preorder arrives so I can appreciate the formatting of these pages in person.

The thing that means the most to me about this book is the asexual main character, confirmed by the author on social media, in addition to on-page labels and discussions of it throughout the book. The spectrum of representation in this story is refreshing and touches on themes of identity, mental health, and disordered eating. These are not easy topics to discuss with equal parts honesty and sensitivity, but they are important to talk about, especially for the young adult target audience.

I've noticed that this book is receiving some criticism for how it portrays asexuality, and there's just something about asexual representation that I find people criticise a lot more than other sexualities. (In my opinion, because this is my identity, it's something I pay attention to a little more). With these books, there's always people who review negatively because it doesn't fully represent their own experience, but...that's the whole point, to me at least. Don't Let the Forest In represents an experience that is specific to the author and their character, and also painfully reminiscent of my own, which is why I identify with Andrew so much. But everyone's sexuality is unique to themselves, and no author can hope to sum up (or fully explore) the experience of every individual reader.

Don't Let the Forest In is ultimately a love letter to grief, coming to terms with the complexities of asexual identities, and the dichotomy of warmth and brutality that I've come to love about C.G. Drews' works. It's also completely unafraid to pay tribute to those former weird little kids who lived in their daydreams, and that's something about this book that makes me feel as if I'm going to come back to it time and time again. It's a good fit for readers who enjoy stories about intense friendships, overcoming darkness, and the struggle to protect loved ones from inner and outer monsters. C.G. Drews' debut young adult psychological horror will leave you breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.

This book hooked me in from the first chapter. I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

This was an extremely atmospheric read. The depictions of grief, rage, and helplessness in this book were expertly done, and the prose was adequately flowery for the type of story the author wanted to tell, without sounding pretentious. The queer aspect of the book was also a highlight, and the tragic obsession the two main characters had with each other added stakes to the story beyond the horror aspect while still coming across as realistic for their age group.

The horror in this book was muted when it needed to be, and downright ghastly at other times. Though there is not much subtlety with the story or themes, it was refreshing to read a book as thoroughly bold as this one. This recommendation comes with a major content warning for body horror, and other warnings can be found at the beginning of the book. Many thanks to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for this ARC. This is my honest review.

5/5 Sorrow will eat you from the inside.

This book is everything I hoped it would be and more. It follows two broken boys spiraling apart while they fight off a forest's worth of monsters at a boarding school. It's dark and visceral with beautiful, twisted prose. I fell in love with the atmosphere of this novel right away, and stayed in love through the end. There's gems of sentences scattered throughout like little treats. I kept highlighting parts going "this is my favorite" only to find a new favorite a chapter or so later.

The Ace rep in this book was fantastic. I love messy Queer characters, and I'm glad to be (finally?) getting a messy Ace character. Andrew struggles with his sexuality and what it means in a very real way. There's some great commentary about how the world treats ace folks. I also enjoyed how Andrew's aceness plays into his relationship with Thomas. It's really messy when you don't know if they way you love works for the person you love, and I like that Drews wasn't scared to dig into that.

I found Andrew to be truly relatable, a mirror to the places my brain goes in its dark moments. His social anxiety, panic attacks, and general feelings of brokenness felt real, and the horror of the story responds to it in a way that amps it all up. Don't Let the Forest In is definitely not for everyone, though. There are some pretty gross moments, body horror, and gruesome monsters. There's tense scenes, but I found the overall suspense of the book to be manageable. The balance of mundane and monstrous was really compelling for me.

I was a little confused at the start of the book, but by the end I understood why I was confused and went to start again. It's the type of book that changes on a second read. If you go in wanting a story that ends neatly wrapped with a bow you'll probably be disappointed, but if you want a dark adventure that will stick with you past the final pages, Don't Let the Forest In is for you.

For fans of Saltburn and The wicker king.

“Well, obviously? Andrew, you’re beautiful. Of course I … I told you. I am in ruins for you. I’d give you anything.” Andrew was going to cry. This was worse than anything, worse than the monsters sinking teeth into his skin. He wanted to say, You are my everything, too. He wanted to say, I don’t exist without you. He wanted to say, Kiss me.

“Don’t let the forest in” is a staggering and beautifully terrifying novel. Everything about this book feels like hooked claws trying to tear open your chest. It felt as the story and writing were seeping off the page and swirling around my body. The writing of this book was so poignant and staggering. The characters came to life and their story felt so real. I wanted to read this book immediately after finishing it!

Without spoiling much, I think CG wrote the relationship of Andrew and Dove so fantastically being a boy girl twin myself I saw my relationship with my sister, and it broke my heart in a special way.

The relationship between Andrew and Thomas was incredible as well. It was completely raw and real. It
was an actual and accurate on how it feels to love someone so much! The openness that you feel in your body. It made me want to scream and smile at the same time. It’s probably one of my favorite relationships that’s I’ve seen. And it was nice to see it as a friendship and romantic. I know what it feels like to fall in love with my best friend and I saw myself in this.

It is often said by people that a certain book changed them. And I will be another to say that. This book has changed my life. Being an ink drinker like myself you read hundreds of books. You find your favorite and imagine that you wouldn’t ever find another book that you would love as much. But then one day you do. This is how I feel about Don’t let the forest in.

I'm trying to find the words to accurately convey my feelings having just finished this book. It's not easy. Usually when I really like a book (and I did really like this one) I read them really quickly. This book, however, took me over a month. I had to take my time with it and take bite sized bits out of this story. It's so rich and dark, sickly sweet almost. I don't even want to say too much about it because I truly think you should just go in blind like I did and experience this.

My first thought while reading it was that it reminded me a lot of The Raven Cycle which is one of my all time favorite series. I don't know if it's the rich kid school setting or the fact that Thomas could easily be a long lost Lynch brother. Thomas and Andrew feel so incredibly real. I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to reach inside my kindle and give them each a giant hug. They need a little TLC and my heart ached for all that they were going through.

Don't Let the Forest In covers topics of trauma, abuse, mental illness and questioning your sexuality. I think all of these topics are broached in a very realistic and beautifully chaotic way. I genuinely was in Andrew's headspace throughout and felt just as confused and disoriented as he did. I think the author did a fantastic job or portraying such visceral emotions as fear and anxiety and grief in a very relatable way.

This book is gory, scary at times and downright heartbreaking. All of that being said the prose is stunning and the imagery is everything. If you're someone who is put off by the idea of this book being YA, thinking that it won't hit as hard as an adult book... it does. This book doesn't read like a YA novel whatsoever.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this book. It was an absolute honor.

This was such a cozy read for me. I love reading books, but especially YA books that feature a school environment. It's something I will never get tired of, and Don't Let The Forest In is no exception. I've personally always dreamed of attending an artsy fartsy private school myself. As someone who is really into "darker" themes in art, Andrew's and Thomas's interest into dark fairy core painting and writing made me feel right at home. One of my other favorite things about YA is the angst, and oh does this story have so much of it! The way Andrew is just yearning for Thomas who is by all accounts the schools misunderstood bad boy had me kicking my feet in the air, giggling, and twirling my hair. I think this story offers such great representation in queerness and mental health. As someone who has struggled similarly with Andrew this story holds a special place in my heart, and I can't wait to reread it during spooky season with my book buddies. Please come out with a special addition version that contains illustrations!
Thank you NetGalley for providing me a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars, 7.71 on CAWPILE

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for an ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Okay, I don't read horror. This book was definitely outside of my usual genre but let me tell you, I am glad that I read it!

First of all, the vibes. The atmosphere is so creepy and just.. it feels.. mossy in a way if that makes sense. CG Drews does such a good job of making you FEEL and sense the forest, even in the middle of you living room, and it's a creepy as hell forest too, thick and heavy and rotting.

The writing was very flower-y, almost too flower-y for me, but still enjoyable. The first half seemed to go slowly. Tension was building but there were times when I was just wanting something crazy to happen.

The second half is when this book really grabs you by the throat. It was wild, I couldn't put it down, wondering what the heck was going on, what was in our heads and what was real.
The plot twist!! I was expecting SOMETHING but it wasn't with that particular character!!

And the ending??? WHAT THE??????

I'm a little torn, to be honest. On the one hand, I think the prose is really very strong. I loved the descriptions and the way the horror elements felt so visceral. On the other hand, I feel as though the book sort of lost the plot along the way. If it were just using horror as a means of discussing the uncertainties of identity or sexuality, I think it might've worked. But there was a strange mystery element to it that didn't quite seem to match up. At least, not in the way the author wanted it to, I think. It sort of felt like the author couldn't quite commit to the mystery or towards the discussions of sexuality, so instead decided to just dance around both. Unfortunately, that sort of led to a bit of an identity crisis, in terms of plot. I never really felt fully convinced of either, so by the time the ending came around, I felt more than a little confused and slightly frustrated.

In regards to the sexuality discussion, I'm not quite sure if I think it hit the mark. The main character is asexual and really struggles with both accepting this about himself and also finding a way to tell his best friend (and the boy he loves like more than a friend) about it. I thought that was the way the story was going to go. The forest as a metaphor for the all the things Andrew can't and won't talk about, burst forth into the real world. The actual story wasn't quite like that, though. Plus, I'm unsure of how well the representation came across. More than once in the story, Andrew refers to himself (and his heart) as rotten. I feel like that could potentially have negative connotations, especially when paired alongside his asexuality. I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and say that wasn't what was intended, but the fact that it could read that way means the intent was more than a little unclear. I wish things were slightly more concretely resolved on that front.

As for Andrew as a main character, I'm not completely sure he had a full character arc. Like, I definitely felt for him. He's struggling heavily with a multitude of issues: self-worth, sexuality, eating disorder, mental health. Despite the ending, it never really felt like things concluded in a satisfactory way. Maybe that's what the author intended; I'm just not sure how well I feel like that was done.

Overall, I do think this was a haunting and creepy novel with some pretty luscious writing. I just don't know if I enjoyed it due to the uneven plot and pacing. This honestly might have been better served as a novella, if I'm honest.

This was a very good book. It was full of angst and trauma. It was throbbing and aching with grief and pain and confusion. It was growing up feeling different and wrong and broken. It was the feeling of being a teenager - full of emotions and unimaginable pain.
I fell in love with Andrew and Thomas and Dove. I totally vibed with being a tortured artist living in world of my own making.
While I did feel this story to my core, I also was frustrated by the story. Where were the adults? And where was Andrew and Dove's father? And why was there no mandatory counseling? I know that no teen would talk to or open up to any adult, and teens are so good at hiding important stuff; but really? Nothing?
Still, this story felt very real and very lived in and very hard. Growing up and finding yourself and learning how to live with yourself and accept yourself and allowing others to accept and love you - this is hard, and the story made me (the reader) feel all the pain and confusion and grief and trauma that goes along with being a teen.
Very good writing and very good story. I recommend.

This book cut out my heart, tore it to pieces, and shoved it back in mixed with mud and leaves. Each chapter, each page had me yearning for more. It was a beautifully tragic tale of the horrors of grief and self-loathing and desperate, all-encompassing love. I was rooting for Andrew and Thomas the entire time and was terrified of the ending to come. The story and plot are perfectly crafted and beautifully told. The prose was a gorgeous mix of forest beautify and gore. It was an added bonus that this is a queer story, with an asexual protagonist, that delved into what queerness means to different people and how alienating it can feel when not surrounded by other queer or supportive people. This is an absolutely perfect book for fans of queer stories, horror fantasy, and dark fairytales.

There is no reason for this book to be this good. I read it in a day. It was harrowing, it was gross, and it was scary. I loved how the author laid out the story. I loved the twists. I will literally be thinking about this story for a long time. I loved the relationship between Thomas and Andrew. I loved the introduction of Lana and Chloe. I will be thinking about what was real and what wasn’t for so so long.

I wish there was a way to forget everything I just read so I would be able to start it all over again. Words can not express how beautiful and terrifying this story is, and I could curl up inside of these pages forever.

There are so many things I want to say and so many parts I could talk about and dissect for you, but this book really just needs to be experienced to understand. Nothing I have to say will do it the justice it deserves.

I've already started recommending this book to my friends and will absolutely be purchasing hard copies for myself and for gifts. This book is so so good it has literally become a new favorite of mine and I need to go obsessively consume all her other works... brb. Five stars for being one of the few books that created an ending that absolutely ripped my heart out. I"ll be crying about this book for the next week.

Oh my goodness, this book is a revelation - Andrew and Thomas are two brilliant characters that will stay in your mind long after you finish the story.

The only light in Andrew's life is Thomas, the boy he loves, the boy who has so many secrets and who is perpetually drawing monsters based on the stories Andrew creates. Thomas's home life is grim, and when he starts showing up bloodied, Andrew breaks every rule to go into the forbidden forest and find out what is happening.

He finds that Thomas has been physically battling the monsters from his drawings, and as Andrew joins the fight, he must decide if the boy he loves, the boy who has created these monsters, needs to die in order for his creations to be stopped.

The prose in Don't Let the Forest In is evocative, delicate, and intense. This is a wonderful debut from an author with a sure hand at creating a world that is terrifying and beautiful at the same time.

I love horror stories and this was certainly one...

The ending left something to he desired and I am not quite sure how I would have like the ending to be different....

Maybe with just more of an explanation I guess???

Not a bad story overall.

I was already familiar with C.G. Drews’ previous works when I started reading Don’t Let The Forest In, so I knew I’d appreciate the vulnerability of her characters and her deft turns of phrase but in no way was I prepared for how well-crafted this book is.

As I read, I found myself highlighting beautiful sentence after beautiful sentence. Drew is one of those writers who not only creates a new world in her books, but she makes you feel like you’re living in that world, and even when that world is harsh, as it is here, you want to be there to bask in the pure magic of it.

The relationship between Andrew and Thomas was alternately painful and beautiful, violent and heartbreaking. These two boys are so appropriately lost to themselves, each other, and the secondary characters that their story is almost physically painful to read. That isn’t a criticism; to the contrary, it takes a talented writer to pull off two main characters who are floundering so desperately.

This is probably the first book I read where a character discusses being asexual without it feeling forced and artificial. The pull between Andrew’s knowledge of who he is and how he feels about Thomas is tangible and natural.

While I guessed the plot twist soon into the book, I think it was well-handled. The book reminded me of Kayla Ancrum’s The Wicker King (a good thing) in its question of whether the horror is reality or the product of a mental health crisis.

I'm grateful to have read this one early, and can't wait for Drews' next books.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book. This a perfect book for a Halloween. Creepy, scary, full of monsters yet beautifull and full of love.

Wow, this one was one ride and half. Andrew and Thomas are so beautifully twisted. Andrew's dark fairytales were so shocking and well-crafted in their brevity I was left wanting more; truly, I would buy a book that just had them. They were so good and had me enchanted with how much they told in so few words. Andrew's stories start whimsical and then take a turn and the imagery is nothing short of grafic and bloody and I gobbled them up. These two boys suffered so much not just because of how much they loved each other, but also because of how much they felt and how little they knew about how to deal with all of it. The setting is perfectly gothic and Andrew wanting to borrow inside of Thomas' bones and sewing their lungs together and Thomas wanting to let him had me gasping and swooning. My lovely, broken boys. The descriptions truly made it feel like the walls were closing in, the forest watching, the monsters waiting. The tension builds and builds so that when it releases you breathe along with Andrew and Thomas. Bryce and Clements got what they had coming for them and I can't say I felt sorry for either. I'm usually not a fan of open endings, but I can appreciate them when they fit an overall story. This dark, exquisite story was so good. 4.75/5, what a delight. It's perfect if you're in the hunt for a classically romantic plotted story in a modern setting.