4/5

This novel reads like a dark fairy tale. There's something in Drews's writing that's heart-achingly earnest but also dark as it gets. Andrew's mind is a twisted place and living in it for 350+ pages is an adventure. The relationships in this novel are strong and believable. The main characters are both caricatures (with fits with the fairytale vibe) but also incredibly real and broken in a way that works. The prose is haunting and you're never quite sure what's going on. It's definitely a mood read more than a straightforward plot, but if that's the vibe you want, it delivers in spades.

The only flag I have is that the 'twist' was fairly apparent to me very early in (~20%). I'm not sure if that's because I read a lot of similar books or if it was intentionally obvious. I lean towards the latter as, seeing what the twist is really brings every single aspect of Andrew's narration and reality into question. It's creepy and ethereal and the best kind of dramatic irony.

Also, that cover. I requested this galley entirely based on the cover and if you like the vibe of the cover, the vibe is the book.

cw: <spoiler> gore, body horror, bigotry, bullying, death, violence </spoiler>

I enjoyed this young adult read. It had just the right amount of horror and such vivid descriptions throughout. I love that the main character was asexual as I haven't read any books in which a character was. It was a nice change of perspective from the typical heterosexual romantic relationships found in most books. I felt a goo connection with the two main characters and wanted to see them have their happy ending. Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group for this ARC!

“For a vicious moment, Andrew thought about slipping his fingers into Thomas’ cut. Taking hold of his rub and breaking it. Pulling the soft, crumbling bone from his chest and sewing it into his own. They’d be forever together, rib against rib, fused in gore and blood and adoration.”

There’s a ravenous quality to Don’t Let The Forest In, CG Drew’s fever dream of a fantasy. It’s nominally YA, though it’s full of shredding teeth and slicing claws, and that’s just the monsters.

The humans, including anxious Andrew, our narrator, the distant Dove, his aloof twin sister, and the wild Thomas, their shared best friend, are starting their senior year at Wickwood Academy, a private boarding school for privileged kids when monsters start creeping in from the forest, once the friend’s shared domain, an off-limits kingdom they conquered and kept in spite of the rules.

The appearance of tiny, wicked thistle fairies and creatures who cut the tears off of faces to slake their thirst coincides with the implosion of Thomas, Dove, and Andrew’s friendship, with the disappearance of Thomas’ parents, with the ever-growing aloofness between Andrew and his twin.

Andrew, who is asexual, wrestles amidst all of this, with his longing for Thomas, an uncontainable boy whose mouth is “crammed full of thorns and lies.” The two are a pair of vampire stars, feeding their mutual codependence as they battle the forest and its monstrous outpourings, creatures that seem birthed from the stories Andrew writes and Thomas illustrates. Don’t Let the Forest In is interspersed with these dark fairytales, even as they become a terrible portent of things to come.

“He had this boy in pieces, had him carved down to a desperate, trembling nub. He’d sliced into Thomas’s heart with brutal precision and found no trace of Dove, so shouldn’t it feel like he’d won? Thomas couldn’t exist without him and he wouldn’t ask for things Andrew couldn’t give.”

Don’t Let the Forest In is gloriously beautiful; I highlighted what feels like half the book. I feel like readers who love Summer Sons and The Wicker King will devour Don’t Let the Forest In. There are shades too, of The Raven Cycle, with its privileged, entangled boys. It’s a book too, for lovers of art, and fairytales, and for those who’ve wrangled with the monsters in their head that the book is dedicated to.

As for me, I read it twice in a row, a thing I’ve almost never done, desperately drawn to its dark, lush prose.

“What would it even look like, to cut their feelings out, bloody and aching and raw, and compare them? To find they didn’t match. To be left with guts vivisected and no way to sew themselves back up so they looked the same as before.”

Sure, my adult self might recognize the toxic aspects of Thomas’ and Andrew’s reliance on each other (and their exclusion of the rest of the world) and I realized pretty quickly that the elusive Dove <spoiler> was dead (though I thought she was a ghost, rather than a manifestation of the dark heart of the forest), </spoiler> but Don’t Let the Forest In is wild and wonderful in the tradition of the best fairytales.

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillian Publishing, Feiwel & Friends, and the author for the ARC.

“I think someday you’ll hate me.” Thomas’s voice stretched with a loneliness Andrew had never heard before. “You’ll cut me open and find a garden of rot where my heart should be.” —
“When I cut you open,” Andrew finally said, “all I’ll find is that we match.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Don't Let the Forest In! This was such a refreshing read.

This was fun, eerie, easy to get through, and wholly captivating. I really loved a lot of the imagery - it was just creepy enough while still maintaining a bit of a whimsical, fantastical feel. Whatever this genre of horror is, that centers around nature and death, has to be my favorite. This was the kind of YA that appeals to everyone. Mental health representation was strong throughout the story, which I think is so so important in books for teens.

My only critique was that the imagery did get repetitive after a while. I felt like I was reading a lot of the same words restrung into different metaphors every chapter. This is really minor and I doubt anyone else will feel any type of way about it, but it kept nagging at me so I had to mention.

Truly, this was so enjoyable and will be a great October/autumn read. I'd highly recommend for any other House of Hollow fans.

what a delightful queer story. we’ve all known a love like this, i fear. it’s scary enough to be a horror book, but in the YA space, it’s just enough to bridge the gap to be a quick read for adults. i loved it! thanks to the publisher on NetGalley for the advanced read!

I'm not sure i would pick up this book based on the cover.

4.5 stars

Andrew, Thomas, and Andrew's twin sister, Dove, are back at Wickwood for their senior year at the private boarding school. After Andrew scarred his own hand breaking a mirror last year, whispers are following him everywhere and after a summer with no contact from his best friend, Thomas, Andrew is eager to have things back to the three of them, but right away it's clear Thomas and Dove are fighting. On top of that Thomas, Andrew's roommate, starts avoiding him too.

Are you ready for this book to drag you into the forest and maybe let you walk out? This one will haunt me for a while. I appreciated having an asexual main character; Andrew is exploring what that means to him and for his feelings for Thomas throughout. Dark Academia YA, dark fairy tales, art bringing monsters to life, forestcore horror and more. There's some really lovely and cutting prose throughout.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an ARC on @NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Don't Let the Forest In had some truly creepy scenes and a momentum in the plot that kept me hooked. It's dark and there is some difficult content, but I had a blast reading it. This would be a good read for people who liked The Raven Cycle but wanted more of a focus on the darkness or for people who liked the complicated relationship and reality bending of The Wicker King.

I’m sorry but this was just such a mess. It really wanted to be house of hollow but it couldn’t get a solid plot going at all. The twist at the end didn’t feel believable given the storyline. And the main character was just SO WHINY. Were it not short simple language i do not think i could have finished.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group for this ARC!

Let me start by saying I don't think my words will do this story enough justice. That being said, I will risk being dramatic and say I don't think five stars is enough for this book. The things the author was able to accomplish in 336 pages are incredible. I don't think I have ever felt more hollowed out and empty (in the best way possible) than I did when I finished this book. I closed my Kindle and stared at the wall for a solid five minutes before opening my Kindle once again and making sure I read that ending correctly. It has easily skyrocketed to my top read in 2024 and might even take the spot for my favorite book I have ever read. I loved the ace and LGBT representation in this book! Every character was so well-thought-out, and you could tell so much thought had gone into mapping it all out. I was so attached to each one of them through the book. The pacing in this book was incredible and built up so much suspense and anxiety. All in all, if you are a fan of horror or suspense, I highly encourage you to pick up this book. It will be with me for a long while yet.

The very end of this book punched out my ribs and hurt all of my feelings. But worry not, I enjoyed the ride.

Don't Let the Forest In is BEAUTIFUL. From the front cover to the very last page there is something to admire, something that just sits with you and allows these boys with their deep passion and their wild forest full of monsters to live inside your mind.

I did not want this book to end.

The language is beautiful, the descriptions colorful, gory, terrifying. I could see Wickwood, I could see Andrew and Thomas and all of the monsters and the rot and the decay. This is the first time I've ever highlighted things in a book to return to because there were certain lines that I wanted to come back to and read again.

<i>"But his ribs were a cage for monsters and they cut their teeth on his bones."

"What were twins, if not one to shout and one to whisper?"

"The monsters knew how weak these boys were and they found it delightful."</i>

This book captured me from the very beginning, kept me hooked through and then broke my heart at the end.

But what is this book about?

Andrew Perrault returns to Wickwood Academy after a rough year and an all too quiet summer. He thrives at Wickwood, not because of the school itself but because that is where he is reunited with his best friend Thomas Rye who, together with Andrew's twin sister Dove, completes the perfect trio of friendship. But this year Dove is giving them both the cold shoulder and Andrew doesn't really understand why. Thomas, beautiful and wild and made up of charcoal and paint, seems a little distant too but once returned to his side Andrew feels he's right where he belongs (nevermind that he is absolutely and passionately in love with his best friend despite his own asexuality).

But something is different. Something is wicked and rotten and it's creeping in from the edges of the forest and Andrew can't ignore that Thomas is hiding something from him.

So when he goes to discover what it is and finds Thomas in the forest fighting monsters that have crept out of his drawings Andrew's world changes. The monsters seem to hunger for something - can the boys sate it before the forest consumes everything and everyone?

Don't Let The Forest In is what happens when love and grief come to life with ink and blood.

Please read this book, even if it hurts your feelings because it hurts so good.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley, who provided an ARC of this book for my honest review.

This book was haunting and chaotic and overwhelming and heartbreaking. It's definitely a psychological forest horror novel. I love the characters and representation in the book of the various characters in the LGBTQIA community and the various mental health issues included in the book. The main character is ace, which is really great to see, as that isn't represented much. I felt it was a very raw and emotional snapshot into the character and the struggles of his identity and mental health.

The imagery was intense in the book and very vivid. There was so much going on and so many emotions in this book that it felt very overwhelming the entire time, but in a mostly intentional way. I think my brow was furrowed the entire time, and per the authors note at the end, if you finish the book frowning at the wall, all is as it should be.

There is a lot to think about and unpack with this one. Would be great to sit on and really absorb for a while after reading and then to have a book club discussion on. I really enjoyed this book and think it will be on my mind for a long while. 4.5/5

Atmospheric, creative and most importantly, very gay. Thank you Netgalley for the arc. This book was right up my alley and was interesting

Wow…. This book might honestly be one of my favorite books ever!

"his ribs were a cage for monsters, and they cut their teeth on his bones." The macabre setting, heartful romance, and exquisite writing were the best I've seen in a while, with utterly to-die-for characters and storyline.

So the story starts with Andrew, an awkward and quirky kid, who returns to Wickwood Academy with his twin sister, Dove. But, when Dove starts to avoid Andrew, Thomas, the rebellious and troubled best friend of the two twins, becomes Andrew's entire universe. Andrew, unable to stand Thomas distancing himself from him too, begins questioning his friend about his mysterious disappearances into the woods. But as further strain grows between the two, something entirely different begins to rise to the surface, something they both have kept locked in their monstrous drawings and stories for far too long.

I loved the romance between Thomas and Andrew; these two made me feel as if my heart was in my throat—such a great representation of a diverse community that is often undermined in literature.

I would also like to congratulate the author on their beautiful writing, and I will buy another copy when this book comes out. Don't Let the Forest In is a definite must-read!

Thanks so much, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley, for this ARC. Now, a favorite book of mine!

Don’t Let The Forest In is one of the BEST YA novels I’ve probably ever read. I finished it last night and have told everyone and anyone who will listen to me about it. Just….damn.

DLTFI is a dark academia, queer psychological thriller/horror about Andrew, his twin sister Dove and his best friend Thomas. Andrew writes gorgeously haunting fairy tales, while Thomas brings them to life (quite literally) with his creepy and enthralling art.

“You’ll cut me open and find a garden of rot where my heart should be.” Andrew let the silence sharpen between them, waited until Thomas’s breath caught in quiet anguish from being made to wait. “When I cut you open,” Andrew finally said, “all I’ll find is that we match.”

The start of their senior year comes with overwhelming anxiety, monsters crawling out of their stories from the forest hell bent on getting the sacrifice they demand and a growing tension between Andrew and Thomas. Andrew is struggling to grapple with his sister cutting him off, his growing feelings for Thomas and coming to terms with his asexuality and what that means for him.

“You could cut me open and devour everything that I am,” Thomas said, ragged and thin. “I would let you. I’d ask you to.

The asexuality representation in this book is absolutely top notch. Many books try and fail to portray characters along the sexuality spectrum and either come up short or miss the mark altogether. DLTFI handles Andrew’s sexuality with grace and care, giving him room to question, understand and ultimately accept who he is.

This book is also overwhelmingly about grief and anxiety and what that does to a person. Loss comes in many forms and the way that the topic was approached and discussed in DLTFI was tender and almost frighteningly real. I felt everything these characters felt right along with them.

“To write something nice, he’d need something nice to say. But his ribs were a cage for monsters and they cut their teeth on his bones.”

Now let’s get to my absolute favorite part and something I think might be slightly polarizing. The writing of this novel was BEAUTIFUL. Absolutely gorgeous, lyrical and highly atmospheric. How else could a story about fairy tales be written? It fit the subject and characters so well and made you feel like you’re trapped in the twisted reality right there alongside them.

“For a vicious moment, Andrew thought about slipping his fingers into Thomas’s cut. Taking hold of his rib and breaking it. Pulling the soft crumbling bone from his chest and sewing it into his own. They’d be forever together, rib against rib, fused in gore and bone and adoration.”

All in all this novel was incredible and I highly highly recommend!

Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read and review early!

Amazing!! I had a feeling this was going to be good from the synopsis but I didn’t think it would be THIS GOOD! I will think about this one for a long time. It will haunt me forever.
The writing is beautiful and descriptive. The friendship and love is just amazing. I love the representation of sexuality and mental health. I felt like I was in the school, running through the forest with these boys. I’m sad it’s over.

Thomas, and the twins Dove and Andrew, are close. Their whole summer is spent waiting to get back to the private school they all attend to be with each other again.
However, something is different this semester. Andrew has severe scars on his hand, Dove and Thomas aren’t speaking and everyone at school is told to not go into the forest surrounding the school or they will be expelled. The forest is hiding secrets and what’s there could destroy them all.

This is If We Were Villians/ These Violent Delights for beginners. Beautifully written and a wonderful love letter to fairy tales but the characters fell a little flat to me and because of that the plot twist really didn’t make me feel anything in the end.

I instantly texted a fellow ace bookseller about this book because a disaster, anxious asexual teenager dealing with Forest Horrors is so exactly what we would have wanted in high school that it almost made me want to cry. This is a DARK story with the type of heavy trigger warnings that I definitely would mention when handselling, but I found it so cathartic and so deeply emotionally propulsive that even the tiny nitpicks I had (how on earth did the school let this happen??? how did Andrew not put certain pieces about his involvement in the magic together sooner?) felt irrelevant.

I loved this. I will make my store buy this. I want more than anything to find the angsty mess who needs this book and shove it into their hands.

at the end of the book, in the acknowledgements the author finishes by saying “may this one haunt you” and i think it’s safe to say it will. i might get crucified for this, but i will tentatively recommend this one to people that enjoyed “these violent delights” by micah nemerever or “the wicker king” bt k. ancrum because they give me similar vibes - codependency, toxic characters, absolutely unhinged plot twists.

i had absolutely no expectations going into this book, as i requested the arc on a whim because pretty cover = sold, but jesus, it was such a pleasent experience to read it. i stayed up to try and finish the novel, but i had stuff to do the next day, so i was forced to finish it in 2 days, otherwise i think this would’ve been one of those read-in-one-go type of book for me. i was kind of impressed it managed to get me out of this reading slump i’ve been fighting, because lately no book managed to keep my attention for more than 15 minutes at a time.

the writing was great, very poetic and full of metaphors. i can see some people complain about it being a bit too purple-prose-y, but i think it’s just the right amout to fit the main character’s state of mind and the atmosphere of the story. i this the writing style was perfectly used as a tool to subtly note andrew’s deteriorating mental health. i also liked how the action scenes were written, i think they weren’t rushed at all. the atmosphere was very creepy at times - i had parts where i was kinda uncomfortable reading, which is absolutely amazing because not many books are able to do that.

the characters were fleshed-out and the relationships between them were well explored. being in andrew’s head and watching him slowly losing his grasp on what’s real and what’s not was interesting to follow along. i wish we would’ve gotten to see his relationship with his twin sister, dove, a bit more, but it’s not that big of a deal. i liked both thomas and andrew and their dynamics quite a lot.

the setting of the book is quite limited, but i think that works out amazingly with the story because it feels claustrophobic. we’re confined to the forest and the campus and neither places are safe for the characters, so everyone is constanly looking out for themselves, therefore the readers are forced to be alert as well. i liked how the forest was described and the actions scenes in which they fight monsters were insanely fun to read as well. we got vivid descriptions of each monster.

i also liked how andrew’s asexuality was handled - it’s nice to see the rep in books, especially since it’s not very talked about usually. there’s also themes of grief and what that can do to someone, but i don’t want to give any spoilers.

overall, “don’t let the forest in” is a really good YA horror, perfect for those that like psychological themes in their horror. the writing was amazing and i liked how eerie the atmosphere was at all times. i’m looking forward to the author’s future works and i hope they will continue publishing horror novels, because this one was well done.

"But his ribs were a cage for monsters and they cut their teeth on his bones."

I don't quite have the words to really explain how deep into my soul this book got. But in quite certain it's going to live there for a very, very long time.

The writing is just exquisite, while at the exact same time the story being told is full of horror and violence and things of nightmares. It takes an extremely talented author to be able to create this type of world that feels so dark and yet so welcoming.

CG Drews is a brilliant and gifted storyteller, and I cannot wait until the next time I'm lucky enough to once again journey into their dark mind and stories 🖤

Thanks so much to NetGalley, CG Drews, and Macmillan for the chance to review this A C of Don't Let the Forest In.

"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."