I have been salivating for this book ever since I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Don't Let the Forest In and devoured it last year. Botanical horror is not a genre I would have thought of as a must read for me but Drews' beautifully haunting story telling absolutely is, and I am quickly becoming addicted to the genre.
Hazelthorn is an interesting blend of murder mystery and botanical horror. Reminiscent of Knives Out in regard to the first with the death of an reclusive billionaire leaving the maze like manor house and wild sprawling estates of Hazelthorn to a surprising heir, his ward Evander, along with his billions. And the greedy eccentric family that had been previously banned from the estate descend upon Hazelthorn for the funeral all with their own reasons for having wanted Byron dead. Evander knows he cant trust anyone including himself and his own faulty memory and especially not Laurie the beautiful boy that has already tried to kill him before but to whom is forever drawn to. Things are complicated even further with the gardens that seem to teem with a life of their own and are determined to push into the manor however they must.
With Don't Let the Forest In the ending had me closing the book and just staring off in a WTF just happened haze and I fully believe that it was a perfect ending for that story anything else would have been either too tragic or too convenient. Hazelthorn for me has a far more standard closing but one that is equally satisfying.

4.75 stars

This book made my heart hurt but I loved every second of it. I wanted to scoop up Evander and Laurie and protect them from the world.

“There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but I wanted to. Let me ruin myself on you.”

The YEARNING between these two was beautiful even amidst the absolute nightmare that was unfolding all around them. Drews really nailed it with this one, everything these boys went through, I felt like I was going through it right with them. By the end I was on the edge of my seat.

This was heartbreaking but healing. Grotesque and beautiful.

Thank you to netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for the ARC

This book healed me. I've been dying for something to get lost in and I've found it. Super excited for what CG Drews gives us next.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

HAZELTHORN by CG Drews

Thank you Netgalley and Feiwell ans Friends (Macmillan) for the earc (Oct 28)

Evander lives in Hazelthorn...he's trapped in Hazelthorn. Since he was taken in by billionaire Byron Lennox-Hall he was give 3 rules: never leave, stay out of the garden, and stay away from Laurie. When Byron dies, Evander believes it was murder. He teams up with Laurie to find the killer before the garder overtakes everything.
HAZELTHORN is moody and atmospheric with a whodunit mystery at the center of its core. This book was so enthralling and interesting. It was dark and twisty with turns at every corner. Never would I have seen any of that coming: from the first reveal to all the ones that followed. That was one of the reasons I was hooked. Like literally, I devoured this book over the course of day. Most of the characters were likeable and I loved learning about the real history of Evander and Laurie+plus their chemistry and bickering were top notch.
I hadn't read anything by this author before, but I need to read their debut after this one. 10/10 would recommend.

I was super excited for this one because I loved Don’t Let the Forest In, but to be honest, this one just didn’t do it for me. It seemed really chaotic and just not my cup of tea. Looking forward to more from this awesome author though!

Evander lives at Hazelthorn, a crumbling mansion, with his guardian, Byron. Most of the time he doesn't feel real, but he definitely feels alive when he thinks about Byron's grandson, Laurie. The gardens on the estate hold a bloody secret, and when Evander suddenly inherits the property, he starts to learn that he's a part of those bloody secrets as well.

Just wow. What a hungry and suffocating story. This is the second book I've read by Drews, and I just get so lost in their stories. The imagery is incredible. You would think there can only be so many ways to describe a blood-thirsty garden, but Drews' writing is never repetitive and evokes such an insane amount of anxiety that I felt like I was in the garden, too. The gore and body horror was perfect.

The characters were amazing. Being inside Evander's head was such a trip. His feelings of being ill and not feeling in control of his body were nerve-wracking, and I absolutely loved the unfolding of his past and how he realized what was happening. Despite him being "sickly" and frail, I was terrified of Evander. He was such an unreliable narrator. Laurie was a pro at pushing people away, and I just felt so bad for him. I would've loved just one or two POVs from him; just a sprinkle of what he was thinking.

The action really started rolling in the second half of the book and never let up. I wasn't sure how it all would end, but I loved how it all wrapped up.

This book made my head hurt, but in the best way.

I read C.G. Drew’s other book, Don’t Let the Forest In, late last year after wanting the book for ages. Both come with the most beautiful illustrations and feature the most beautifully monstrous protagonists. I will say that I enjoyed Hazelthorn more though. While I was distracted by Evander’s early attempts at detective work, the second half of the book swept me up in all of its turbulent emotional highs and lows. I almost cried.

What truly moved me through this book was a) the protagonists and b) the prose. Evander is a rare example of a well-written character who has flaws, struggles, and is so raw on page that you can’t help but grow attached. And once all the puzzle pieces of Evander’s past are laid out it becomes ten times better. Laurie is also amazing (though I just have a soft spot for character’s who act mean but have a heart of gold).

Onto prose. Oh my god. It only improved as the story went on, and that’s coming from someone who thought the prose was superb from the first chapter. As a writer, this is one of the things I analyze most closely when I read, so the lyrical word choice and lines were a true delight. I wish I could share some of the quotes I highlighted. Once the book is officially released I might still, that’s how much I was awe-struck by the prose. Jaw on the floor.

Overall, Hazelthorn is a novel perfect for those with a taste for the macabre, the gothic, and those who don’t mind the taste of leaves blooming up their throat.

What a captivating thriller that will devour you whole! The way this book pulls you in and leaves you wanting more, unable to break away.. There were several parts that were bone-chilling and left me speechless. I never knew that gothic gay was a category to add to my list, but after this book, wow.. The tension between the two main characters was intense. It made my stomach turn and flutter in the best way. This was a fascinating read that took many unexpected turns!
Thank you, Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for this Arc in exchange for an honest review!

Oh my goodness. A HUGE thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC of this beautiful, haunting, and terrifyingly bloodstained novel. I do have to say, read the trigger warnings in the beginning and take care of yourselves. Hazelthorn does not shy away from heavy topics of medical abuse, murder, gore, eating disorders, and body horror. There is SO MUCH body horror and a bit of body dysphoria. Now, turning to the novel.

Evander is such a delightfully unreliable narrator. The novel opens with Evander, a sickly young man, being locked in his room in Hazelthorn for his own good because he is sick. He is sick because his childhood friend attempted to kill him by burying him alive in the Hazelthorn estate garden. Aside from his present state, Evander only knows a few truths: his parents are dead, Byron Lennox-Hall has taken him in as his ward, and he can never, EVER go near the gorgeously dangerous Laurie Lennox-Hall. The plot kicks off with a two-fold mystery. The first is: who unlocked Evander's door, which has allowed him free roam of Hazelthorn. The second is: who killed Byron Lennox-Hall and why?

The rest of the novel is brilliantly chaotic, suffocating, and bloody. I kept pausing to re-read parts because it was gorgeously written but also because I couldn't believe what was happening. Evander reluctantly works together with unraveling the secrets of the Lennox-Hall's and of Hazelthorn. However, some secrets and truths may be best left buried in the garden. C.G. Drews weaves together a narrative that is full of dead flowers, blood, and bone. The imagery is so violent and vivid. Gore and viscera (both of the plant and people variety) permiate the page as Evander attempts to figure out what is making the garden seem so...hungry and alive.

I cannot recommend this novel enough as it will be the perfect spooky Fall read. The interactions between Evander and Laurie were so frantic and haunting. I do not want to spoil any of the plot, but the ending was almost nothing like what I expected. The gothic imagery, the blood, the flowers, and the decay all come together and urge the reader to travel deeper and deeper through the tangled vines of Hazelthorn. Overall, this is one that will stick with me for a long while. It was beautifully haunting and I feel I left a little piece of myself in the garden.

As I will be publishing my full review with The Game of Nerds, which I will be linking once it's up on the site, this is only a portion of my review.

Enemies to lovers is great and all, but it will never compare to two boys so obsessed with each other that each and every one of their thoughts is consumed by the other, so that the line between love and hate blurs, warping it into a hateful yearning that threatens to consume them whole. Wretched, feral boys who are viscerally obsessed with each other is peak literature and you cannot change my mind.

“His hate for Laurie is unmanageable, wild and bitter as wormwood on his tongue, and he should have lost all interest in him by now. He shouldn’t watch for him through his window. Or crave snippets of his voice. Or think about his cornflower-blue eyes and the beautiful shape of his wretched mouth.”

It is complicated, what they are to each other. From what Evander has been told, he has every reason to hate Laurie. And he does. He hates Laurie. And Laurie must hate him too. They aren’t pretty or soft in the ways they ache for each other. Their first kiss is bloody and monstrous and hateful, cruel in ways a kiss shouldn’t be. But this is who they are. They’ve seen all the ways in which they can be cruel, have even used that cruelty as a weapon against the other, and they still love each other. As if they were made for each other, their love something grown in the haunting, bloody soil of the gardens of Hazelthorn among all the other secrets threatening to destroy them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's been like,, twelve? I think hours since I finished this book. I read it before bed and I kid you not it haunted my dreams (complimentary) and now I have to deal with that reasonably sized hole this book left within my heart with because what is a girl supposed to do with her life now? After this??

I don't typically give standalones five stars since I tend to need more time with characters to truly connect with them. But what the hell I would literally fight the moon for the two main silly goofers featured in this delightful book 😭 I went into this book cautiously optimistic - the synopsis sounded right up my alley and those books usually end up disappointing me most - and boy was I blown away. It tickled my brain in all the right ways and I really couldn't put it down. I ended this book with the revelation that FINALLY. I HAVE FOUND MY PEOPLE.

The atmosphere that C.G. Drews created with the suffocatingly large gothic mansion and its wild overgrown gardens was very delicious (although the descriptions were a bit repetitive. Take a shot every time 'a [adj] thing' is described), though I could have been more disturbed. Like it could have been more horrific imo. I predicted all but one of the plot twists, and there are some questions I have still regarding plot details, but it was still a really fun ride.

The day C.G. Drews stops writing may well be the day I die a sad and unfulfilled life. Please keep blessing us with all these wonderful stories with silly goobers

Thank you so much for NetGalley and Macmillian for this amazing ARC in exchange for an honest review :D

This book was absolutely stunning. First, I loved the Author’s note in the beginning. As soon as I read it, I knew this book was going to be excellent, just like CG Drews’s other works. This is a story about validating queer rage.

<spoiler>When they were young children, Evander was brutally attacked and buried alive by Laurie, and he doesn’t remember why. He has extreme anxiety and physical and emotional scars as a result. As Evander tries to remember what happened to him, he encounters a deadly secret that Hazelthorn is hiding. In summary: “He is just a boy who was once buried alive on an estate full of monsters. And he doesn’t know what else about him is real.” </spoiler>

Words I would use to describe this book: Macabre. Haunting. Luscious. Dark. Botanical. Hungry.

This was such a delicious story that I would definitely read and recommend again.

This book just wasn't for me. I think it'll be great for the audience that they're trying to reach though.

Once again C. G. Drews blew me away. I obsessed over Don’t Let The Forest in and was so excited to read Hazelthorn and it absolutely delivered. The author has a way of writing that is so enrapturing.

I loved Hazelthorn and the journey it took me on, from the suspicion, the intrigue and curiosity to what was happening, and an incredibly satisfying ending.

I can’t recommend this one enough!

This was DELICIOUS! I thoroughly enjoyed Don’t Let The Forest In but Hazelthorn feels like an even more all-encompassing feat. The descriptions were so rich that I actually felt like I was covered in cold dirt at some points. I highly recommend this for fans of atmospheric and deeply descriptive writing and, to me, it felt like a dark, queer Secret Garden retelling and I lived for it. The less you know about the plot before reading, the better in my opinion!

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am emotionally drained after finishing this book. The unfiltered rage and pain behind these two boys was raw and left me in a hollow daze.

Drews continues to have some of my favorite prose I have ever read. I could drown myself in their metaphors and descriptions. The inner suffering was particularly striking in its accuracy. Being stuck in a world the hushes you first, with manipulative coaxing and negligence, then silences you with violence when the first try didn't work, when you proved to be too problematic. It was heart-wrentching to read the abuse both Evander and Laurie faced, and gut-wrenching to witness the violent consequences of that abuse.

With Evander and Laurie have eaten up my entire heart. I want to be garden walls that they can hide behind and not let anyone else near them. Both were written do distinctly, so vividly, you felt each of their emotions, even without one of them having a POV. Watching them traverse a world that punishes queerness and Autism, and demanding that fit a roll, a place, a mold that they were never shaped to fit...it was very painful. But important.

All of that deep emotion mixed with a cottagegore (I said what I said) vibe and some desperate and necessary tenderness easily slotted it into my favorite books list. That is 2 out of 2 so far, making C.G. Drews one of my new very favorite authors.

Thank you SO MUCH to NetGalley and Macmillan for this advance copy! As always all opinions and thoughts are completely my own. ALSO A HUGE THANK YOU TO CG DREWS FOR WRITING THIS MASTERPIECE.

“He knows what it is to be buried alive, the feeling of dirt in his mouth and the quiet fitting around him like a well-tailored grave.”

Evander has no memories before he was buried alive and almost killed when he was 11 years old. The only things he knows for sure are that his guardian keeps him locked up in his room due to his fragile health, he must NEVER go in the garden, and he hates Laurie Lennox-Hall. Laurie, the boy with the blonde hair and the blue eyes and the golden skin. Laurie, the boy who consumes all of his thoughts. Laurie, the boy who was with him in the garden that day when his lungs filled with dirt.

“Or maybe a small part of him wants to remember that day, the pain, the betrayal. Maybe he needs the reminder of how dangerous Laurie Lennox-Hall is so he can forget those blue eyes and that beautiful mouth.”

The sudden death of Evader’s guardian brings into sharp question each of the three things he knows to be true. Why did he have to stay locked up due to his fragile health if he suddenly feels better once he’s not fed medicine and forced into surgeries? Why must he stay out of the wild and untamed garden when he feels most alive amongst its thorns?

“He should be anxious and terrified, fumbling in the dark. He shouldn’t feel this confident……….There is something wrong with him and the way he constantly wants to put the whole garden in his mouth and swallow.”

And most importantly, how can he hate Laurie when he’s the only thing Evander has ever craved?

“But maybe the thing he truly wants to understand is how he, too, can hate this boy and yet long to use his own bones to build a shelter around Laurie’s raw, bleeding heart. It is unfathomable to feel that way. Yet he can’t make himself stop.”

As Evander races to uncover the truth behind his guardians death he realizes the true mystery he needs to solve is what happened to himself. As he struggles to uncover the truth behind his amnesia and illnesses he must survive against greedy relatives, an unbearable hunger, and a bloodthirsty garden bent on revenge. Can he really trust Laurie again, and most importantly, can he really trust himself?

CG Drews weaves a masterful tale full of heartbreak and yearning, set against a back drop of botanical nightmares. She somehow manages to make the most grotesquely horrific imagery still come across as poetic and beautiful.

“The scream grows in his skull as he stares down at himself. He has been vivisected-sternum to the bottom of his rib cage. A cut meant for heart surgeries. A cut meant to remove. Vines entwine through the stitches and tiny mauve flowers blossom from his skin. Clover has begun to grow between the ladder rungs of his too-sharp ribs, as if it had always belonged there.”

Every single line in this book gave me goosebumps. Either from pure delight or revulsion, and I loved every second of it. It’s not very often you read a book that evokes such visceral emotions with its imagery and prose. Throughout the story we witness our main characters grow and evolve and learn how they fit together. They both struggle with anxiety from trauma, described so evocatively you can feel their discomfort in your own chest. Laurie and Evander are so tenderly soft for each other and their love story is beautifully destructive as they tear themselves apart in order to make the other whole.

“There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but I wanted to. Let me ruin myself on you.”

In case it wasn’t obvious, I want this book tattooed on my heart and imprinted on my brain. It was fantastic. The end 🫶🏼

C.G. Drews does it again! Don't Let the Forest In was my introduction to this author and it felt like that book was made for me personally. I devoured it in nearly one sitting and became instantly obsessed. So when I heard about Hazelthorn, I knew it would be love at first bite.

AND IT WAS.

This novel has everything I love: a queer enemies to lovers romance, a thrilling gothic setting, an eldritch garden, and a mansion hiding a generational secret. Hazelthorn was a page-turner that I devoured. The mystery kept me curious, the worldbuilding kept me present, and the prose left me swooning. I would inject C.G.'s words directly into my veins if I could.


DO NOT GO INTO THE GARDEN.

After the tragic passing of his parents, Evander has been living in the crumbling estate known as Hazelthorn as the ward of billionaire Byron Lennox-Hall. He is kept locked away in his room for his own safety - or at least that's what he's been told.

One afternoon, Evander finds that the door to his bedroom has been unlocked - something that should never happen. He uses his unexpected and newfound freedom to roam the sprawling mansion, stopping only once he comes across Byron in the conservatory. He watches in horror as Byron dies right before his eyes, choking out one last warning for Evander: Do not go into the garden.

But how could he not? It's been half the source of his obsession over the past seven years. And the other half...

Since surviving a brutal attempt on his life seven years ago by his childhood friend, Laurie, Evander spends his time stewing in his own hate for the boy. But is it truly hate he feels? After all, obsession is the fine line between hate and love.

As the Lennox-Hall's converge on the estate after Byron's passing, Evander and Laurie find themselves in a hesitant truce while they attempt to uncover the truth behind the strange behaviors of the family that now surrounds them. Together, a shattering truth is unearthed that threatens the Lennox-Hall's vast wealth and reputation.

Will Laurie and Evander succumb to the horrors of the garden? Or will they kill each other before they even have the chance?


This novel is the queer gothic horror my heart has always yearned for. The pacing was perfect, the twists landed at the right moments, and I even cried once. The last two chapters were god-tier exceptional. I am giving a standing ovation. I cannot wait for more from C.G. Drews!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this stunning novel in exchange for my honest review!

Wow!!! Absolutely loved this book! It’s my first by this author but definitely won’t be last! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for opportunity to read it early!

CG Drews has done it again. I cannot express how gruesomely beautiful this story is written. Two incredible complex characters that have real issues? They’re everything we could possibly have ever wanted.