An exquisite gem of a novel. Drews has the incredibly rare ability to intertwine the horrifying with the hopeful and keep readers invested in every single step of the story.

“Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn’t know how to scream. Fuck making your agony silent to avoid disturbing others. Maybe they should be disturbed.”

Plant horror, my beloved. Hazelthorn absolutely has my heart. This was such a beautiful book, and despite not having a heartbreaking ending made me cry upon finishing it. The language was absolutely stunning and atmospheric. The main characters were deliciously complicated and rage-filled. I honestly have zero complaints which is super rare for me. This book was disturbing in all the right ways. If you're interested in twisted, dark, angry novels definitely pick this one up.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

4/5 stars
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This book is full of vines and rot and botanical imagery that pulls on my love for horror and nature. I devoured both "Hazelthorn" and "Don't let the forest in" by CG Drews. Before discovering CG Drews I wasn't aware this book genre was missing from my life. There's absolutely no turning back now. I'll just have to read everything they write.

Hazelthorn is a scrambled combination of "The Secret Garden" By Frances Hodgson Burnett and "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" By Shirley Jackson. And it just works so well. It's obsessive, desperate, haunting, and steeped in sinister moss and rotting flesh. You won't be able to put it down. Vine tendrils will keep pulling you back in.

Drews always strives for including diverse representation in their books and if that is something you look for as a reader you won't be disappointed. This book is a great combination of Autism spectrum disorder, a flesh eating garden, and an LGBTQ+ love story.

The cover is gorgeous. The dedication is perfect. And the printed text is very detailed. Reads who like flowery and poetic descriptions will enjoy this. CG Drews definitely utilizes and treats writing like an art form. Which is refreshing and something I really enjoy about their books.
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Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing me with a e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, CG Drews and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for the eArc of Hazelthorn.

This book blew me away. CG Drews has a very poetic way of writing. It's so descriptive, it draws you in, grabs you and doesn't let go. I really related and enjoyed the representations of this book. Knowing people in my life that are Queer, Autistic, ADHD and just in general, different. CG Drews portrays how devastatingly lonely being different can be and what lengths, wishes almost not to be. There is also acceptance and love within his writing.

The elements and pacing of this book worked really well, it flowed and I pretty much read this in one sitting. As with his previous book Ive read, Don't Let The Forest In. I loved the illustrations with in Hazelthorn, so much so, I wish there was more,


5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Publishing for providing me with this ARC!

This book was so atmospheric and spooky; I was engrossed by the vibes. I was on edge the whole time reading and physically squirming at some scenes. The third act was phenomenal and gripping.

I really wanted to love this but had a lot of difficulty connecting to our main characters. I am autistic and so I loved that aspect of Evander and related to it heavily, but the rest of his personality I just felt removed from. I felt similarly with Laurie—got a lot of smirks from him but not much depth for a lot of the book.

Right from the beginning I knew Hazelthorn was going to be a love letter to rot and decay. This book was dark, gory, lush, and wild. Evander’s character was so unique and complex that even though I predicted he wasn't totally human, I was still shocked at every twist and turn the story took. The reader looks Hazelthorn right in the face from the start, they just have to dig to truly see it. CG Drews is one of the greatest voices of YA horror that I've read in a long time.

I ate UP “don’t let the forest in” & was soooo excited to get approved for this book. I am a sucker for gothic books & this exceeded my expectations. a haunted mansion? a creepy garden? an eerie, unsettling plot? OMGGGGGG. this book hit every mark & then some. CG Drew is quickly becoming one of my auto buy authors.

I was impressed! I really like YA fiction and I have consumed a lot of it. This concept was fresh, which is always nice to read. Also! THE COVER! Wow, it is so pretty.

A huge and expansive thank you to Macmillan Publishing and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews in exchange for review.

5/5 stars

I didn’t know that the immaculate atmospheric vibes and eerie feelings I got from “Don’t Let The Forest In” could be topped, however Drews has done it again. Hazelthorn is my favorite read of the year so far and I know it’s only March but I’ll likely feel this way for some time.

Everything about this book spoke deep into my soul: the longing, the mystery, the lack of trust and desperation for understanding, the mystical magical compendium of poisonous botanical beauty and horror.

Random side note: I’ve been planning to get a tattoo “sleeve” on my leg of poisonous plants and feel so inspired to add Kings Sleep and everything else mentioned within this story into the design — a little piece of Hazelthorn with me forever that most likely will be able to travel across property lines (lol).

Back to the non spoiler review: I have so much to say about this book but want to post as spoiler free so those who are curious about this book can see how much I loved it without worry of ruining their own experience.

The characters are so well imagined and thought out I could easily visualize every single one of them. Drews writing is comprehensible but with so much depth that I was so wildly sucked into the moment and wasn’t considering the bigger picture for my theories and was fully taken by surprise by the shocking twists and turns the entire way through.

In my opinion this is a perfect book, I’d change absolutely nothing. If you are considering, please read this book! I will be full strength pushing this to all my friends who read because I know they’ll love it.

Thank you so much! I absolutely devoured this. (When’s the next book?)

This book was a masterpiece. It makes me rethink all the gardening I have to do in the upcoming weeks at my home in all honesty. The way the author writes is poetic in a way that pulls you in and makes it hard to ever put the book down. I loved every second and will be immediately buying a copy for my shelf and recommending it to everyone. I also didn’t know which characters to love, hate, trust, or be uneasy about. Overall, well done and 5 stars.

This book wrapped vines around me and dragged me down into the dirt rot bury me and I thanked it kindly. Once again, CG Drews delivered a fantastic, horrifying story laced with delicious, all-consuming romance. I devoured this book and I want more.

The haunted forest mixed with a pretentious, rich family and a boy who’s been told he’s broken made for an amazing story of horrific hunger. The way Hazelthorn hates the Lennox-Halls was divine. The prose, as always with Drews, is perfectly atmospheric for the haunting feeling of the Hazelthorn estate.

An absolute perfect book if you enjoyed Don’t Let the Forest In or if you’re looking for a haunting book about a boy who’s just a little bit wrong and has an insatiable hunger for the boy who tried to kill him.

I’d like to read this book forever. C.G. Drews is one of my top favorite authors and they should be yours too.

4.25/5 stars
I went into reading Hazelthorn with almost no knowledge besides that it was queer garden horror and that I LOVED the cover. Honestly, I’m happy I went in with know idea what was in store. I loved the atmosphere and how everything felt so alive in such a twisted and sinister way.
Hazelthorn is classified as YA, but doesn’t shy away from darker themes of familial trauma, child abuse, and obsession. It also has several depictions of gore throughout—to be expected in a horror book, but not for those who are negatively affected by descriptions of blood and guts.
Oftentimes, the language felt flowery in a self indulgent way, which felt strange for a teenage boy (no matter how recluse), but while reading I thought it lent itself to the atmosphere. Though I took note of this, I got to a point during the book where I realized the overly flowery language was very intentional and served a very specific purpose to the story besides just atmosphere. Sometimes the sentiments were a bit repetitive, but I didn’t mind it. They felt like a peek into the brambles of Evander’s brain.
I loved the mystery of the book and the dynamics of the characters. There were some elements of the mystery that I did predict, but I didn’t have an exact idea of what was happening. Greed, resentment, and blood were essential characteristics of each relationship. What I love about a lot of horror is— despite any supernatural, paranormal, or fantastical elements— the real monsters are people. We definitely saw a bit of that in Hazelthorn as well.
I highly recommend Hazelthorn, especially if you like scary plants, queer disaster bois, and being unsettled in an almost romantic way.
Enormous thank yous to Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group and Feiwel & Friends for approving my ARC request on NetGalley!

A twisted fantasy about a garden with a taste for human flesh and the obsessive relationship between two haunted teenage boys, HAZELTHORN kept me up until 2 in the morning. Deeply disturbing and original, it's The Secret Garden but make it gay and murderous. CG Drews' prose is stunning as always. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of one of my most anticipated books of the year in exchange for an honest review.

Deep within the hills of New England sits Hazelthorn Manor, where within these walls, Evander is a sickly, helpless boy. When his caretaker dies under mysterious circumstances and leaves his entire fortune to him, Evander must sort through a murder mystery and the secrets of a family for whom greed outweighs guilt.

I found the concept intriguing, though not what I was expecting in a Horror novel. I would consider this story to fit more as a dark romantic fantasy. Still, I would recommend it, as long as you know what to expect going into it.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Feiwel & Friends for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel!

I was extremely lucky to receive an arc of this book after reading the authors first book Don’t let the forest in, Which was one of my most favorite novels of last year! So when I saw I was able to read this book I was ecstatic. Drews provides another thorny and sickly tale of love and horror. They weave a tale of a mysterious boy and an even more mysterious family. We have our untrustworthy main character Evander, a dangerous grandson of billionaire caretaker and formidable family members.

This was such a great read! The Hazelthorn will change how I look at gardening. The bittersweet relationship between the characters made this story.

What a horrifyingly beautiful book.

C.G. Drews has easily become one of my favorite authors. I would read their grocery list at this point. This book was so beautifully written. The prose alone made me fall in love with it.

I just want to sweep up these two precious boys and protect them forever. They deserve the whole freaking world. I felt for poor baby Evander the most. My heart hurt so much every time someone treated him wrong or spoke to him poorly. I just want to give him anything and everything he wants. I related to him in lots of ways and it made me sad reading the way he thought about himself because I have had similar thoughts.

It took me longer to warm up to Laurie (which was the point), but once I did I realized just how much the poor boy deserves to be loved. He was so funny and snarky despite everything he’s been through, and I loved that about him. It also broke my heart realizing how low he thought of himself.

I loved the mean, yet playful banter between the both of them. I just kept screaming “kiss already” because of how stinking cute their conversations would be when they were messing around with each other. I was a little put off at first by Evander’s obsession with Laurie, but it did all make sense in the end.

This book was a bit more predictable than their last book, but I still really enjoyed it. One thing that did kind of bother me was the obsession over Laurie’s body, it felt too much at one point. But at the same time, they’re teenage boys with sexual hormones so it does make sense. This book felt a bit slow paced, too; I felt like it took longer for things to actually happen. But oh boy, when they did, they really did! So it was worth the wait.

The big secret about the garden felt a little anticlimactic to me, I think I was expecting more from it? I suspected what was happening but not the outcome of it, and I think the outcome disappointed me a little. Not that much to affect my love for the book, though.

I would highly recommend this book. Especially if you’re a fan of horror/plant horror! C.G. Drews has me OBSESSED with plant horror now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC of "Hazelthorn" in exchange for a review! 4/5 !

C. G. Drews does it again! This was such a good read. I loved "Don't Let The Forest In", so I went into "Hazelthorn" expecting it to be just as good. And it was!!

Everything about this book was so good, I love the way it's written, the characters, the story itself, the ending!! Genuinely so good. The way it was written worked so well with Evander's thoughts and his actions, being third person but having those moments of his exact thoughts were really good and it made me love him so much.

I truly enjoyed reading "Hazelthorn", and I can't wait for its release to read it again!

CG Drews has once again written a hauntingly beautiful YA gothic story. This book had me hooked from the beginning with the beautiful prose and tragic plot twist right off the bat. The murder mystery element has you flipping the pages. The writing is immersive and makes you feel and see everything in the story. It is an enemies to ???? story. Evander is a very interesting character that is often times an unreliable narrator that you are rooting for. The theme of mental health and being ashamed of who you are is one that is carried out well, and relatable for many people. The imagery is so vivid you feel like you’re going through everything with him. The details leading up to the ending are so well done. The plot twist towards the end is absolutely wild as well!! Drews writing haunts me after I’m done and I mean that in the best way!! Excellent story.

Thank you ro netgalley for an early copy of this book to review.

How am I supposed to have any words for this book? The writing is impeccable. It's easy to follow and understand and evokes imagery in a way that I'm not sure I've ever experienced. Drews gives you things in the beginning, small bits of info that needs to be remembered because it connects to information and actions and events that are later in the book. I spent the whole book questioning pretty much everything. There were so many things that I questioned and spent the whole book wondering about. And the answers, the info, the end of the book? Everything came full circle, everything made sense, they answered every question. Their writing style really draws me in. I'm not typically one to highlight things but there were so many sentences in this book that deserve to be noted and remembered. They took my breath away. I can't tell you how many times I reacted to something out loud. Evander and Laurie made me giddy with their interactions and obsession with eachother, my stomach drop in anxiety multiple times, and ultimately ripped my heart out, crushed it in the dirt, and sewed it nack together with vines. This book makes me wish I was better with words, better at describing things, better at book reviews, because this book has quickly become an obsession. If you ever get the chance to read this, or anything by Drews, I implore you to take it. It'll take you on a wonderfully horrible ride.