I read this ARC as an ebook. I was first attracted to the dark macabre artwork on the cover, and the story did not disappoint as exactly that. “But his ribs were a cage for monsters and they cut their teeth on his bones.” I see this book as if you mixed a Stephen King nightmare with unrequited love and yearning. For YA it felt very grotesque and dark, with some very detailed violence. But the writing was so poetic I never felt repulsed. The characters are engaging and fragile. You can care about both the boys as you read the horrors they endure. I’d say this went beyond my expectation, I found myself highlighting passages that I thought really portrayed a certain emotion or picture. The plot itself was intriguing. I did feel that the middle did drag a bit, with the monster fighting becoming a bit tedious. The ending was spooky and thought-provoking though, making up for the bit of drag. The prose was beautiful and my favorite part of this book. “He needed Thomas, needed their lungs sewn inside each other so he could remember how to breathe”

CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror, characterized by its eerie allure and unsettling narrative, captivated me from the very first page. In this chilling tale, Drews' weaves a web of friendship, obsession, and nightmarish creatures that lurk in the shadows of the woods. The story revolves around Andrew Perrault, a high school senior whose refuge lies in the twisted fairytales he pens for his friend Thomas Rye. Drews masterfully portrays Andrew's complex emotions, his unwavering loyalty to Thomas, and the dark secrets that bind them together. As Andrew delves deeper into Thomas's world, he discovers a darkness that threatens to consume them both.
The narrative unfolds with a sense of urgency, each chapter drawing readers further into the gripping tale. Drews' prose is both lyrical and haunting, evoking a sense of dread that lingers long after the final page is turned. The twists and turns keep readers on the edge of their seats, unsure of what lies around the next corner.One of the novel's most compelling aspects is the exploration of friendship and its darker implications. As Andrew and Thomas grapple with their own demons, their bond is tested in ways they could never have imagined. The dynamic between them is raw and visceral, adding depth to an already captivating story. CG Drews proves herself to be a master storyteller, seamlessly blending elements of psychological thriller and supernatural horror. With its richly drawn characters, atmospheric setting, and spine-tingling plot, this novel is sure to leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods of their imagination.

What a dark and twisty ride. The imagery is horrifying, disturbing, repulsive, and gorgeous. The fantasy elements of this book, specifically the excerpts from Andrew's stories, worked extremely well for me. However, it did feel at odds with the "real world" setting/tone in a way that was jarring at times, and some of the discussions about queerness and asexuality felt dropped in from a different book entirely. I also felt that the pacing was a bit off - it took a while for the story to pick up, and while the third act was breathtaking and compulsively readable, the actual ending felt too rushed. I also think it could have used more of a build in the tension and drama, instead of starting with the pedal all the way down and never really letting up.

Ultimately, this book was unique, unsettling, and gripping enough to overcome these complaints, and I think it's pretty successful viewing it through a YA lens.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends in exchange for my honest review.

Amazing, evocative imagery - disturbing for sure, and gory and often bloody… but gorgeous, sumptuous, disgusting, sad, and heartbreaking.

Andrew returns to his boarding school for senior year, after things changed at the end of the last year. His twin sister has been distant, and once at school is deeply concentrating on her classes. Their best friend and Andrew’s roommate Thomas was late to arrive the first day, and showed up with a bloody sleeve - and quickly followed by cops asking about his missing parents.

Something’s in the forest, and it’s tied to Thomas’s art and Andrew’s dark fae stories. Bullies in the school make days hard, and staying up all night to fight monsters in the forest means they’re failing classes, too. Plus Andrew has all these weird feelings for Thomas.

I was hooked immediately by Andrew and Thomas and Dove’s dynamic, the imagery of Andrew’s’ stories and of the monsters and the forest. Their obsession with each other hovers around toxicity, and their inability to speak honestly to each other leads them both into dangers untold.

Utterly gripping and haunting - I’m rereading this one again right away.

My eternal thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Publishing, and author CG Drews for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Once upon a time Andrew wrote twisted fairytales, now he’s not sure what is real anymore. His best friend, Thomas, is left fighting monsters in the woods. His twin sister, Dove, is mad at him and he can’t remember exactly why. Andrew is desperate to get things back to normal, and to maybe kiss Thomas (but that’s all!).

The Author ends their Acknowledgments with “And to you, reader, thank you. May this one haunt you.” Don’t worry C.G. Drews, It does! I am left feeling all kinds of emotions, but I can’t stop thinking about this one. The last book I felt this way about was “The Twisted Ones” and it gives similar vibes.

I did enjoy this, for the most part. It starts out slow, but that doesn’t take away much. Just eases you in to all the monsters slowly. When it picks up, it makes things feel that much more desperate. I feel the pacing matches Andrew’s mental decline. I would have rated this 5 stars, but that ending! I’m still mad!

C.G. Drews knows how to write a story! You will be drawn deep into the tale of Andrew and Thomas, captivated by their fight for survival and to love each other deeply. The descriptions of the monsters and emotions throughout this book will make you feel like you are right there with them. This was such a wonderful book and I can’t wait to read it again someday.

Nightmare. Dream-like. Poetic. Beautiful. All these describe this book. So does confusing.

It also vividly describes toxic co-dependent relationships. So that could be a bit hard for some to deal with.

I'm only removing a star because I dislike books with ambiguous/confusing endings.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends for an eARC of Don't Let the Forest In!

I was absolutely floored by this book. I finished it in just a few short hours- this fantastically dark and atmospheric novel had me gripped from the very first page, This book has ACE rep, BI rep, and other queer side characters. This book has haunted forests and monsters. There's murder and constant feeling of dread. Without giving too much away, I promise you that you will jump up at some point in the story and say "Holy crap, holy CRAP, HOLY CRAP!" CG Drew's writing is absolutely fantastic and this story is seriously unputdownable, what a debut for sure. I will be keeping my eye on this author and begging for more stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through this dark and twisty fairytale of monstrous fairytales. The tormented anguish and vivid imagery were such well-written, gripping elements of this book that I’m certain I will be thinking about for a while. The characters were interesting and flawed and mostly hard to like but in a way that worked incredibly well with the story. There were a few scenes that I felt slowed down the pacing a bit more than I would have preferred and I can see how other readers may revel in soaking up the dark academia vibes and details of the slower scenes. Overall this was an incredible and haunting read for anyone who likes dark gothic academia-slash-nature horror.

This book had me wondering what was going on, in a good way. C.G Drews had me up late finishing this book. I loved how descriptions connected back to the theme of the forest and overall how detailed the emotions were of the characters.

I cannot begin to explain how this book tore me apart. I read the description before I dived in and thought I knew what I was in for, but it gave me so much more than I had anticipated. I'm not one to usually read horror, but I loved this story and everything it delivered. I'm still reeling from al the emotions it made me go through. I finished with awe at just how well C.G. Drews destroyed me.

With amazing descriptions of forest monsters that come to life through drawings, Andrew and Thomas hold onto each other as they try to survive day by day. I was fully immersed and wanted to see Andrew and Thomas come out on top of this horrible nightmare. It was this and so much more with an achingly familiar depiction of Andrew going through the confusion of figuring out his sexuality and dealing with anxiety. It made it so easy for me to relate to him and Thomas. Don’t Let the Forest In hits all the marks for a book that I would recommend to anyone who is interested in a story of a queer, heart-wrenchingly beautiful love story with a mix of horror and characters just trying to make it through their senior year while not knowing more is at play around them.

I thoroughly enjoyed Don’t Let the Forest In from beginning to end. I highly recommend you to read it if you’re looking for something spooky and beautiful that will make you cry.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

This is a beautiful and haunting gothic-fantasy story about an obsessive relationship between two teenage boys at a boarding school that is surrounded by a chilling mystery. I really enjoyed this book, actually a lot more than I thought I would. The writing is absolutely beautiful and Drews is really able to create this eerie setting that is a perfect place for this creepy story. I loved how the MC (Andrew) isn't this perfectly strong person who immediately knows how to save the day. There is this sense that something is incredibly wrong (outside of the main conflict) that he is oblivious to and adds even more suspense to the story. He really has to fight and work towards becoming strong and helping the other characters. As someone who also suffers from anxiety/social anxiety, I really loved seeing a MC that also struggles with these issues in a very realistic way. While I was able to guess the mystery Andrew was oblivious too, it was still really satisfying to see the reveal and how it connects to the rest of the story.
I always really enjoy stories about obsessive relationships--there's just something about the emotions the author's are able to convey that really get to me--and this story did an amazing job of this. Not only do we see the mental reliance Andrew has on Thomas, but we also see a crazy mental decline when their relationship is strained. The fantasy is very interesting, but isn't overwhelming. Yes it is very important to the story, but it seems much more like a vehicle for us to see the relationship develop between Thomas and Andrew and to see Andrew's wavering mental state. The only negative thing I can say is I really wish we could have seen more scenes between Thomas and Andrew, specifically from the previous year. I just wanted a bit more insight into their relationship and how exactly Andrew developed such a dependent mindset. However, what we were given was beautiful.

This is an absolutely heart-wrenching (literally and figuratively) book that made me question my sanity and beautifully utilized stories and art as symbols for devouring, consumptive monsters. The main conflict between Andrew and Thomas was set up wonderfully, and I was continually on the edge of my seat worried about where the story would take them (and that ending! I will never be able to get over it). The interactions and subplots that occurred with other characters (Dove, Thomas’ parents, Lana) felt a little strange (although that seems to be by design) and the plot points with them felt mostly unsolved by the end. The interaction of the story with nature was done beautifully, and the descriptions of it overtaking Andrew’s body were visceral and powerful. All in all, one of my favorite books! I’ll definitely be rereading it as well - it just has to be appreciated for its gory artistry!

This review makes references to the story, but does not contain any plot spoilers.
I really enjoyed this book from the cover art (beautiful!) to the concept. I overall enjoyed the fact that the story brought up themes of mental health, anxiety, queerness, bullying, etc. Now, with all the great reviews, I'm here to provide some thoughts on what I think didn't work the best.

I kept having to remind myself that the characters were in fact high school seniors, and not freshmen or eighth graders. Maybe this is common, but I haven't read a YA book set in high school in some time because they're generally not my favorite, but I thought the characters just acted younger than they were supposed to be, making me feel the book would be better for a younger audience than intended.

The queerness. I'm not sure if I can adequately put into words what I didn't like about this aspect but I'll try. I think the scenes where there was queer representation and conversations felt like the scenes were written separately and then sporadically shoved into different sections of the book. They felt removed and forced to me. One of the characters struggles with being asexual and says they don't have crushes because of this. This is just a bad representation of what it is to be ace and I think it could have been portrayed better.

The ending. I feel like when we finally got to the big reveal at the end, it was AT THE END. There were like 5 pages left of the story at that point. Sure, we all saw it coming by that point, but for the story progression I feel like it should have taken place earlier so there was more time to wrap things up nicer at the end, instead of have 5 pages of text afterward to explain the reveal, and then wrap up the story. Sort of. The story does NOT end with everything tied up, so if that's your kind of story, don't go for this. It leaves you figuring out what happened on your own.

Overall I still really enjoyed the book. But I always find the "dislikes" more helpful when reading reviews, so here are mine. 3.5 rounded to 3.

A hauntingly beautiful read that was impossible to put down. The author’s way of creating imagery & the depth all the characters she created only added to the experience while reading. I can’t wait to get a physical copy once they release!

Don't Let the Forest In follows a senior at boarding school who is struggling with his mental health and crush on his roommate and best friend all while the world is beginning to change around him in a very sinister way.
This is one of those books where I knew where it was heading generally, but I was still surprised with the turn. And for that, I loved it. It is Wednesday meets We Were Liars meets Summer's Edge. It was wild and confusing in that way that horror can sometimes be because a good horror author just throws you in. CG Drews is giving "There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation." Another one of my favorite parts was how the setting was a character in itself. The boarding school comes alive and the forest breathes in a way that gives the story such a gothic and intense feeling as you're reading.
I can't wait to hear other people's interpretations when they read this book because I have not been able to stop thinking about the ending and what I think truly happened. I need to know how other people took the last page. What really happened???

I receive a copy of this book from NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

I am currently experiencing a grief I am not accustomed to and decided to escape into this story. This story, which is so full of grief and longing and regrets and everything to sum up my numbness, with the most hauntingly beautiful imagery I can picture.

I was so consumed by this, that for a while I forgot how true it is that the monsters are real and they live inside all of us. How we deal with them is up to our own choices.

I definitely felt like I was lost in a dream within these pages. How much is real? It’s left with the empty confusion that comes with the very feeling of losing someone.

I needed this, at this exact time. Beautiful and tragic. And worth every minute spent and every stray thought that brings you back to it.

I review this book as part of my work on the Printz committee, but I due to committee policy I cannot share my specific thoughts or opinions here. I have rated it 5 stars because I am required to rate the book for this program, but please note this does not reflect my actual rating. I just want to thank you for providing this book for review!

This is a no spoilers review!

This was the first ARC I was approved for in NetGalley and as such, I'll always be extremely thankful to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. I was so excited to be given this chance and really enjoyed reading this book. I finished it in about 3-4 days.

What drew me: The blurb for this book starts off with beautifully poetic lines. Throughout the book, there are intermitted poetic lines that are just absolutely beautiful to read and I am a fan of the way some of those lines are formatted. They were written the way you might find in a poem, rather than just straight up prose, and added to the meaning of the words. I love when authors do this.

The author skillfully put me into a tense realistic atmosphere where the extraordinary could be real and both sides were haunting in different ways.

Characters: They are well fleshed out and individualized well. You know clearly what drives them, what hurts them, what they need to grow in, what kind of habits they have and how they behave. They were very distinct from each other and I found myself invested very early on because of the main character's feelings.

Plot & Pacing: From the beginning I was attracted to the world the author drew and wanted to keep reading. I never had to "pull through" or force myself to continue, which I was immensely thankful for since this was an ARC read and I was committed to finishing it regardless. The pacing was well done throughout most of the entire novel but the ending and resolution was very very short. I really wish there was more, but the acknowledgements section makes it clear, the author deliberately finished the book this way. Perhaps it is a sign the book was good because I really wanted to hear more about the conclusion for the characters. I wasn’t ready for it to end.

Audience: I find this novel fitting for YA, as it is scary but not too scary, more haunting than anything else. The love is very innocent, which I also liked.

Writing: The writing is simple yet deep and moving. My feelings became the main character's and I felt I was in his world, which was painful and haunting. The vocabulary fits for YA. But sometimes the beautiful descriptions were confusing because it wasn't always clear what was an allegory and what was really happening, since there are fantastical things happening. It was clear enough that I was able to discern it, but I did have to double back at times because of this to check and make sure I was reading it right.

First line is a winner: “It hasn’t hurt, the day he had cut out his own heart.”

I re-read and flipped thru again knowing the ending, and the foreshadowing is delicately hidden and allusive. Not too much to be obvious but on a second read over you can tell it was on purpose.

Overall: I really enjoyed reading this book and can recommend others read it too. The only cons were some of the adjectives were very repetitively used such as "rot" which is in there many times (but the situations did call for it so I'm not sure there was any other way to describe it) and the very short conclusion. I really wish there was more and that we had gotten a longer picture of the resolution, but again, it was the author's intention so I guess this is more of a personal preference thing.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
“It was the witching hour and Thomas held a sketchbook and Andrew gripped the hatchet.”
Holy cow, what a beautiful and nightmarish read! At the heart of it, this is a love story, but it can be hard to remember that when nearly every page is filled with secrets, anxiety, and monstrous horrors. It was nice to see so many characters from the LGBTQ+ community included in the story; as well as mental health. This is one of those haunting stories that will stick with readers for a long time.