I love psychological horror and this was right up my alley. As soon as I saw the cover I knew I was going to read Don't Let the Forest In. I was totally locked in reading this book. It was perfect to read as the leaves are changing and the weather gets colder. I can't see what else CG Drews writes within this genre.

Don't Let the Forest In is a story about a private school in Virginia where there are monsters in the woods and a good amount of secrets being kept.

We are told this story from the POV of Andrew who attends school with his twin sister Dove and best friend Thomas. The primary issue I had with this story was that Andrew is not very likable - I found myself not caring because he made so many dumb decisions and caused a few unnecessary problems.

There is a lot of history about these characters we get told about but don't really get to experience in the story. Andrew is obsessed with Thomas but it's not really clear why he feels the way he does and why he would die for Thomas.

The story was a little confusing at times but I feel the monsters in the woods based on Andrew's stories and Thomas's drawings were extremely unique and were often times my favorite part of the story.

I do think this story is worth a read but it was certainly different than what I was expecting which ultimately led to some disappointment

This book has been one of my most anticipated books in the queer genre since I saw the blurb and cover and it did not disappoint. Very well written, I adore the representation and the characters and honestly just so beautiful.

This one was so disappointing for me. I love the cover and the atmosphere of the book. I was absolutely pulled in in the beginning of the story. I truly thought this story was going to be something different than what it is, so I guess I'm disappointed in the direction the story started going. I made it 34% before I just didn't even have the gumption to pick this up and keep trying to move forward. Maybe I can try and finish it at another time but as of right now I feel like I need to cut my losses. The characters also really bothered me. I didn't like any of them and frankly I was annoyed the entire time I was reading.

Amazing read, very eerie and atmospheric, perfect for this fall season. LOTS of TW so check that in case its needed, it is a very dark, haunting book.

A beautifully written story with breathtaking descriptions of monsters and the forest taking over. I loved the characters and the story line was good.

Title: Don’t Let the Forest In
Author: CG Drews
Genre: Horror
Format: eARC
Series: NA
Star Rating: 3.5 stars

tw: blood/gore, body horror, panic attacks, grief, eating disorder, bullying, self-harm, child abuse, homophobia, death

A special thank you goes to Netgalley and MacMillian for providing me with a copy of this book. Please know that this does not influence my rating or thoughts on the book itself.

I have been following CG Drews since I first started my book review journey. Their reviews inspired me and I wanted to be a reviewer just like them. The way they wrote their reviews was so well done and I always looked forward to the days they posted. When I heard that they were getting a book published, I was beyond excited! Then when I found out they were releasing a horror book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

Anyway. Enough fangirling. While I enjoyed this book, one of the biggest problems I had with this book was the writing. The writing was very flowery. I usually enjoy that style of writing in the beginning but after a while, it starts to wear on me and I tend to get very confused about what is going on in the book. While, at first, I enjoyed it, after a while it started to get in the way of the plot. Especially toward the end. I started to get pretty confused about what was going on. I have a theory about what happened but I truly don’t know what was going on. But that could be the point of the book. There is a lot of mental illness representation in the book, so in a way, you never know what is truly going on because the characters themselves don’t seem to know what is going on either.

One thing that stuck out to me, was that this book reminded me of a very dark version of Inkheart. The main character, Andrew, is a writer, and his best friend, Thomas, is an artist. Thomas has been drawing Andrew’s stories and the monsters in them. Those monsters have been coming to life. So you can see why I would get Inkheart from that if you know what the premise of Inkheart is. That’s what drew me to this story.

Another thing that was incredibly well done was Andrew’s anxiety. I have anxiety but wow, Andrew’s anxiety makes mine look like I just have casual worries. At times, the anxiety started to get to me but then I remembered that I also have anxiety and I’m sure it wears on people that love me every once in a while. It was starting to make me super anxious. I just wanted to give the boy a big hug. He needed one desperately.

Overall, I did enjoy his book quite a bit despite some of the complaints I had. It certainly is the perfect book for the upcoming spooky season. It’s incredibly dark and pretty bloody with quite a bit of gore, which surprised me. Andrew and Thomas have an interesting but volatile, bordering on toxic relationship. If you can get past the pretty descriptive and prosy language, then I think this would be a great book for a lot of you.

this book made exceeded all of my expectations and then rewrote other expectations. i will be following the author for more reads!

Again, I am pleasantly surprised by a YA horror. I've started to pull away from reading YA novels because I’m just not connecting but there seems to be something lingering for me with YA horror.

Don't Let the Forest In is, if anything, beautifully written. It gives strong Kingfisher vibes which I really enjoyed. Some reviews have complaints about the pacing—I personally didn't find anything off or confusing, I felt the story moved along well enough.

I’m honestly not sure if I like or dislike this book? I’m so confused of my own feelings. If you enjoy T Kingisher’s style of horror and Erin Morgensterns prose you will probably love this. I think it sits at a solid 4 for me right now!

Andrew and Thomas have started their senior year at Wickwood as their best friend (and Andrew’s twin) ignores them, dark rumors about Thomas arise, and Andrew struggles to figure out how he fits with Thomas. The forest outside the school haunts them both, full of monsters born from terrifying imaginations, and thirsty for blood. But only these two boys stand in the way to protect their school. What cost will be required to save them all?

On one hand I love the dark academia, nature inspired horror and prose. The descriptions of the monsters is vivid and amazing, I truly squirmed reading some scenes. But I also disliked the pacing, confusing at times narrative, and erratic plot. At times the romance felt thrown in and I wish it had felt more cohesive. But all in all I devoured it and enjoyed this creepy story for the spooky season!

The way this book will haunt me for years to come. This was such a perfect creepy fall read that just got more and more unhinged as the story went on.
I was so invested in not only Thomas and Andrew our main characters but in every single person mentioned no matter now short their on page time was. I’ve already started recommending this book to people to snatch the moment it comes out.
I’ll never look at a forest the same way again.

This book is not like my usual reads and I absolutely loved it. It felt me feeling a bit confused, and terrified of trees, but I think that was the intent (at least based on the author's note). This book is scary in a way that feels like its crawling into your skin. Andrew is an unreliable narrator, who is dealing with loss and darkness around him, to the point he can't tell what is real. Thomas is scared of losing Andrew, but also himself as the monsters from their drawings and stories come to life in the forest behind their school. The darkness seems to just slip throughout the book and make a place within your heart. The writing is beautiful, which helps with all the emotions I felt. There are many body-horror scenes, so do be sure to check triggers to make sure those things won't effect you. There is a lot of blood, bullying and confusion about one's self throughout this book.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I think the horror elements were very well done, and I think the creatures Andrew and Thomas created were unique and fascinating, and I think I'd really enjoy reading a short story collection based on the tales Andrew wrote. I also appreciated the asexual representation; as an asexual person myself, it's always exciting to find a book with ace rep.

That being said, I didn't connect with this book the way I'd hoped, and I think a lot of that lies within the characters, as I didn't particularly like any of them. Normally, I'm all for unlikeable characters, but I'm not sure that was intentional with this book. We had an unreliable narrator (and I did enjoy the twist at the end) but because Andrew was so in his head, it was hard to understand what was going on at times. Upon reaching the end of the book, I realize this was intentional, but I don't think it was executed well. I should've been interested in learning what was going on, but I was mainly just confused. The writing style, while good on its own, felt out of place with teenage boy main characters and seemed melodramatic at times.

While this book might not have been for me, it's clear that the author has talent and I look forward to seeing what they write in the future.

⭐️⭐️.5

Despite the beautiful cover art and darkly descriptive prose in this book, it was a total miss for me. There's no doubt the author can write, but unfortunately, I think this is a book that tries to accomplish too much, confusing the message. Although the prose was beautiful, without further substance, it did get repetitive as the story wore on. So many ribcages, lungs, hearts, vines, mud, and thorns. I also felt like some of the prose dedicated to Andrew's love for Thomas, like wanting to cut open his chest and put Thomas's lung in it, got to be borderline creepy, and not in a good way.

Spoilers contained in the following paragraph...

I really enjoyed the horror aspects of the story and wish the author would have written the ending for the macabre monster story, rather than copping out with was the main character just delusional this whole time? Or was he? Between that ending and the way Andrew described himself, I was also more confused about asexuality after reading this book, and I'm pretty sure that's not the message the author was intending. I did find a few minority reviews that mentioned there may be confusion between asexual and aromantic. Aromantic was not a word used in the book, but I'm leaning towards agreement after some brief reading about it. I'm definitely not an expert on this, and perhaps I'm not the intended audience, or I just completely missed something, but I have no desire to reread it to find out.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and CG Drews for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Don't Let the Forest In.

3.5 ✨

“Everyone wanted something. Everyone yearned or searched or hungered- even monsters,”

Thank you to netgalley and Macmillian publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest review of this book.

I am having a hard time gathering my thoughts about this novel, let alone articulating how to put said spiral of thoughts into words.

On one hand, there were aspects of this book I adored, honestly. It was one of the reasons I couldn’t put this novel down and finished it in two days. It is filled with lush prose, beautiful personification- a living, breathing forest who serves as the enemy. I love a good nature metaphor and this book is the embodiment of one.

I loved the idea of monstrous fairy tales come to life. Of using them, first as conflict, and then altering them to serve the plot as was needed. I love novels with darkly seeded stories- books about books. After-all, that is why we are all reading because we feel an insatiable hunger for stories in every form- whether they be dark or joyous. As long as they offer us an escape we devour them, and we can all relate to Andrew in that aspect, whether we are the ones creating said story or reading it. The fantasy elements, the abstract among everyday life, were one of my true loves in this book.

The action is non stop and it will keep you reading, sucking you in, having you hold your breath until you discover what comes next, but i found myself never being able to decide if I loved or hated the main characters. On one hand, I believe this to be a reflection of how Andrew views them himself. He is back and forth between loving and hating Thomas and Dove, and at times himself, even tho he mostly lands in the self- hatred front. This is fitting and a good representation of his decline in mental health. As someone with bpd, i’ve learned the line of self love, and self loathing is a very thin one. Aside from this factor though, I often found the characters to be insufferable. The angsty thing works well for beautiful writing, but plot wise it didn’t fair well. When things seemed like they were about to be resolved they were sent to a sudden halt. I couldn’t tell if this was to prolong the inevitable until the climax peaked or because Andrew couldn’t get past his self loathing enough to give us what we all hungered for.

While I found the plot interesting and fast paced I found faults as well. I saw the big twist coming from a mile away, and while I have not come across any books that have done it, i’ve seen it quite a few times in films, and so it seemed unoriginal but I believe many other readers will eat it up. The ending itself didn’t give me enough. It wasn’t clear enough and I would think this purposefully done but the way it gave us some and nothing more left it feeling unfinished rather than left open ended for interpretation purposes. Some smaller plot points were just left to dangle as well. Wholeheartedly, I just wanted more.

While I, mostly, enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend it to most readers, I just am unsure how my feelings about this book will stand the test of time. The setting and atmosphere were really perfectly executed and I believe with some aspects being more fleshed out this book could’ve been a new favorite of mine, but sadly it just didn’t deliver in some aspects like I had hoped.

“It was strange, Andrew thought, how when something moved in the dark, everyone’s first instinct was to go inside and hide under the covers. As if monsters couldn’t open doors and crawl into bed with you.”

Thank you NetGalley,Macmillan children’s publishing and CG Drews for the ARC of Don’t Let the Forest In.

Don’t Let the Forrest In was a completely immersive young adult horror book. The writing was fantastic and I felt like I was in that space with the characters. I could smell the Forrest and feel the fear. I will say there were a few things a little off as others have said the lack of adult supervision was top on my list but again it’s a book and fiction sometimes liberties need to be taken to make the book work. I enjoyed the book and would recommend if you can get past some little things and just enjoy the book for the meaning.

This book feels like if you put the classic Tumblr emo vibe, Harry Potter, and cringy angst poetry in a blender and set it to max. What comes out is the most angsty emo version of purple prose I have ever read, and when I was 15 I would’ve LOVED it but as an adult I did not.

When an author who is not an artist writes a character who is an art prodigy and doesn’t do their research, it shows. The most unrealistic part of this book was not the monsters coming and eating people. The most unrealistic part of this book is the fact that Thomas creates ultra realistic drawings purely from imagination in extremely short amounts of time, while also being chased by monsters, and also that he likes everything he draws. Have you ever talked to an artist, like, ever?? Do you know that’s not how art works??

SPOILERS AHEAD
There a huge plot twist at the end that “explains” something that’s been going on the whole book, and the answer is just “he was hallucinating this entire person because he was so sad” and it was so ridiculous and jarring that it made me angry about everything I had read up until that point. I didn’t dislike the book until that point. But that made me dislike the entire thing. Ugh.

4.25

“Everything inside me is in ruins,” Thomas said. “For you.”

Stoppp I am obsessed with these damaged, broken boys.

Thank you so much Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much. The creepy vibes, the dark forest, the way the horror built a d built, adding a sense of urgency as you read, was all so perfectly done. This is what I’d been looking for with some other books I’ve read this month that have missed the mark.

Being inside Andrew’s head was A LOT. Drews really captures that all-encompassing anxiety, that feeling you’re going mad, really freaking well. It added an extra frantic energy to the story. But I loved this terrified, damaged boy so, so much. I just wanted to wrap him up and take care of him.

The relationship between Andrew and Thomas was almost dangerously co-dependent but, given everything they’ve gone through, it makes absolute sense. The slow burn of their relationship and all that angsty pining was absolutely delicious.

I also really loved Lana and Chloe and the image of the group of them potentially being besties together if things had been different was a really lovely one.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

My only complaint is how long it took Andrew to realise it was HIM creating the monsters and feeding the forest. It may have been that he just didn’t want to acknowledge it because it was tied up in so much trauma, but it was so painfully obvious to me early on that his continued ignorance became frustrating during the second half.

Two boys in love - one who writes terrifying fairytales and the other who illustrates them - and their love brings these monsters to life. Say less! I blew through this book in less than 24 hours because I was absolutely hooked. I needed to know what was happening with the monsters in the woods, and I needed to know what was causing them to creep around to begin with. I loved the asexual representation with Andrew while also allowing him to explore his feelings for Thomas and what it means to love someone without wanting to be sexually intimate with that person. The botanical body horror in this book was top tier, and it gave me the ick so many times. I also thought the anxiety representation via Andrew was well-done. Overall, I loved this and I am so excited to get my hands on a physical copy.

ambiguous endings are my downfall. other than that, this book was a great spooky fall read. I loved Andrew so much, he and Thomas being that obsessed with one another, ugh.

this was my first of C.G. Drews books, but I will definitely be picking up another in the near future. Thank you to Netgalley and Feiwel for the e-arc!