This was a great book for the upcoming spooky season. I could not put it down. I do think that parts of the story will take some getting used to. I know that I struggled a little. But once I started really getting into the story I was hooked.

Wow, what did I read?!?!?! I'm trying to get more into this genre as I don't read many books within it and this one has me HOOKED. I absolutely cannot believe half of what happened in this story. I truly hope there will be more than one book because I need more!

I have such mixed feelings about this book.

First, let me say that the cover got it into my head that it was a horror, and the tags suggest that it’s a thriller, both of which are inaccurate. It’s definitely more of a dark fantasy novel than anything else. That’s not a commentary on the novel itself, obviously, but I had to adjust my expectations a couple of times along the way.

As far as the story itself: I liked it just fine up until about two thirds of the way through. In addition to being a ‘chosen one’ narrative, there were some cool descriptions, and some allegories about system racism.

Unfortunately, the climax of the story left me puzzled, because the magical action-adventure components pretty abruptly ended, only to be followed with a few chapters of monologues from various characters. Then the denouement included a number of details that completely eliminated most of the stakes from earlier in the book, which for me undermined the point that I think Jackson was going for. It made the ending have a weirdly middle-grade feel.

I liked the message of this book, and Douglas was a solid protagonist, but the finale derailed the action of the story, and I ended up frustrated by the way a couple of things were handled.

On the other hand, the descriptions were super cinematic, and I think a cursed boarding school makes for a great setting in which to talk about systemic privilege and class disparity. And the monsters were really cool! So I’m going with an average of my wildly fluctuating takeaways and hoping that this book finds its way into the hands of the right readers.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Forest Demands Its Due was a wild ride and I loved every moment of it. The plot had me on the edge of my seat. The characters were so lovable I grew attached to each one. Sometimes main characters can be totally insufferable, but I enjoyed reading from Douglas’s point of view. The magic and mystery aspects were so interesting and made for a fun read.

The Forest Demands Its Due was a solid four out of five stars. I would recommend this to fans of Andrew Joseph White’s books.

I feel like this had.apooky vibes but not the scary vibes I was expecting from the cover and description of the book. The pacing was also a bit slow but some things did catch my eye.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.
This book was atmospheric and filled with tense moments that really put a focus on the horror and dark academia aspect of the story. I thought the novel was well-paced with an eerie vibe that matches the strange tone of the characters. It was a overall good young adult horror novel that was suspenseful and enjoyable to read.

A dark fantasy horror set in a sleepy town with a tragic history.

I read the summary, and I knew what I was about to read, but I didn't expect this...

Though the story takes place at the academy, it really has nothing to do with the school itself, but those that happen to be there and how they're manipulating those around them for their own purpose.

And that plot twist was a pleasant surprise and added another layer to the story, and it's horrific past.

The premise is interesting. I stopped at the end of chapter 1 (5%) because the writing is very in-your-head and I'm a plot-driven reader, but the writing is well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I really enjoyed this book, it felt like the perfect blend of all of my favorite horror/dark-academia features, and I was invested the entire journey. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I loved that this was from the perspective of someone so unhinged. It intensified the eeriness and made for a very entertaining read. I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for the chance to read and review this book :)
What a good book to read for pride month. Douglas and Everett were cute together. I will say their relationship felt rushed. Douglas was so angry and had lots of outbursts at the beginning to become such a martyr at the end. The characterization was inconsistent and the story did not flow. There were too many settings without a solid reason for them. Things got a whole lot better in the forest. They started to feel like characters, but I felt like I missed out on how they got there. I wish more was done with Henry in the end. I also felt like the dark Monroe line was very rushed and could have been better written out. However, I did have fun with the second half of the book and enjoyed the story, just though it could have been better executed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

2.5 stars! Despite my low rating of this book, I didn’t think it was terrible. The concept was super interesting but it just wasn’t executed well in my opinion. There were things that I would have done differently and I think I would have liked it more if the pacing was different. I do think people could get something out of this story though, so I would still recommend giving it a shot! It was a solid stand alone, just not for me personally.

I thought the gore and horror aspect was done well! It had a spooky vibe and atmosphere. I think this is a great book to read around Halloween.

I loved the emphasis on Douglas being a black man. His journey from not thinking he is worth anything to where he was at the end of the book was amazing to see. On the other hand, it was sad seeing that people of color were being used in horrible ways; Douglas included. It was sad to see him talk about how black people get treated unfairly, especially because it is still true in some cases in our world today.

I liked that it had just enough world building without giving too many details about Douglas’ past. That being said, it took forever it seemed for the actual story to pick up for me. It wasn’t until about 100+ pages that I finally was getting a little interested in the story. There was too much time spent inside the school and not actually solving the curse until about halfway through. Once Douglas did start looking into the curse more, I didn’t really care that much since it took so long to get to that point. I get the author was probably trying to build up suspense, but it didn’t really work for me.

The Emissary’s reminded me of Leshy’s from the Witcher which was cool for me personally! Honestly this whole book felt like a side Witcher quest which I loved.

I wish we got more of Emma before we saw more of her at the end. She was so cool! I loved her.

I really liked Everett and Douglas together! Everett was so sweet and caring to Douglas, he was such a loving partner. And Douglas was such a selfless and good man as well, They were great characters, especially for each other!

That being said, I do wish their relationship built more. They didn’t get together right away which I was happy about, but one minute they barely talked and the next they seemed to be super close friends and then into each other. I still think they are good for each other, but it was hard for me to connect with their relationship because it seemed very fast.

I feel like the ending wrapped up a little too quickly, but I got answers to the questions I had so that was good a least.

Kosoko Jackson is a phenomenal writer and a creative genius, but woo boy was this book too strange for me. There was a level of suspended disbelief that required the story to land effectively with a reader, and I was unfortunately unable to reach that. However, the main character was incredibly written, and watching his progression and growth throughout this harrowing and strange tale was a really great experience.

I really enjoyed this! I loved the intensity of the story and the super eerie atmosphere. That coupled with a super unreliable narrator made for a really intriguing story. I think some of my main issues with the story, though, were that it was hard to suspend my belief and really dig into the story and that it was pretty long for what the story seemed to need. The main character was too engrained in the plot, where it felt like they only existed to prop one another up, to the point that I was a bit confused because his characterization gets swallowed up. I also think that this story was pretty long for what the plot demanded. I think that because of this the pacing could be pretty inconsistent--it took a while for me to get through the beginning, but the middle flew by pretty fast. Overall, I loved the rep and the idea for this book but I was a little lost in the execution. I can absolutely see why people will love this, and I do think that my teens at the library will enjoy this as well, but for me personally I just wasn't thrilled by it. I do love the narrative ability of this author, though, and will still definitely read more by them!

This was intense, full of suspense with an ever-present eerie atmosphere. It handsome good scares, but most interesting was the main character--unreliable and unhinged. This book did get confusing in places and it was quite long, otherwise a solid YA horror.

This is an intense YA horror novel that more than lives up to its cover. The comps seem very apt, in many ways, as well, and the ways Kosoko Jackson builds up suspense and atmosphere are stunningly done.

I decided to request The Forest Demands Its Due because Kosoko Jackson is one of the authors I enjoyed in the Queer Fear anthology that was also an ARC I received here on Netgalley. You say "comped as Get Out" and I say "fk yes".

However....

Im a great amount of dsappointed in the flow and narration of this story. It's chaotic, and messy, but not in a character's style sort of way. The way the story is written is a choice I don't much prefer in terms of sentence structure motivations.

You'd think this main character would bring something new and nuanced to similar stories that we have read again, and again, and so on. My point is, it's everything I've read or heard before.

The main character is unreliable-- not in the way some authors manage to make a character unhinged and unknowable, but in a way that shows a lack of character. The main character functions as a plot device in itself, the history and life of him is lost behind the events rapidly unfolding from page one. By 18% I was unfortunately too disblieving and confused to continue.

I don't think this novel is for me. I think there's readers out there for it, and I commend what Jackson is attempting to do, but I don't see myself enjoying it, so I'm going to have to let it go!

Read For:
Dark Magic
Small Town
Prep-School
Eerie Atmosphere
Dark Academia Vibes

Think Ace of Spades (by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé) meets a Supernatural episode.

This book was a great queer horror/thriller. The vengeful gods, creepy monster slaying, and a setting that was written really well, drawing the horror with the eerie atmosphere and learning the lore of the small town only made it all the more horrific; also had a sweet romance with new friends to lovers vibes.

Douglas was an entertaining main character even if I didn’t like some of the decisions he made at some points at the end. The beginning took me a minute to get into but the middle of this book was so good! The ending was good but also a bit bittersweet.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author/publisher for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(First Person POV)
Spice: n/a (just kissing)

Rep: Gay MC, POC MC

⚠️ Content Warnings:
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Racism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Gaslighting, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Gore
Minor: Suicide and Sexual assault

The Forest Demands Its Due is a dark academia horror-fantasy about a queer Black boy, Douglas, who attends a boarding school that has murderous monsters and a curse on the town that makes everyone forget the kids who have been killed by those monsters. Except, Douglas doesn’t forget, and he may be the key to breaking the curse.

This book is just perfection! From the first page I knew this was going to be an amazing read. The writing sucked me in and never let me go. I loved so many things about it. It was incredibly creepy & mysterious, had so many twists & turns, there were so many layers to the story, and had the most lovable characters. Douglas was everything. I just wanted to protect him from the world🥺 And in a very shocking turn of events, I actually enjoyed the romantic subplot. I’m not usually a person who enjoys romance outside of the romance genre, but this was needed. The love interest, Everett, was so sweet. Douglas really needed a soft place to land during this story and that’s what Everett was to him. The ending was a tiny bit too long in my opinion, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I really loved this book! I think it’s my favorite book of the year so far!🥰

I’d recommend this story to anyone who’s in the mood for a mysterious, fast paced, horror-fantasy with lovable characters and a plot that will keep you guessing! This is a book that will make you stay up all night reading because there’s never a good time to stop! Definitely pick this up when it comes out in October because it is the perfect Halloween/Autumn read!

(Also, have you seen this cover??? Perfection!)

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books/Quill Tree Books and Netgalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: homophobia, homophobic slur, racism, death of a parent, sexual assault briefly mentioned

You know a book is really something special when, even in its uncorrected state, it's phenomenal.

I absolutely adored the utilization of nature in the development of the magic system. The lore and the connection to Douglas in present day Winslow was a great way of giving him the power to harness towards the end of the book. It really made a concrete connection between him and Etaliein. And the sort of bittersweet ending had me tearing up a bit.

Some of the typos and grammatical errors were a bit distracting, but like I said, it didn't diminish the impact. Thanks to the author & NetGalley for the ARC.