“If he is to be held, to be touched, he wants it to be like this and only by this boy.”

Hazelthorn was gruesome and lovely. Read the first sentence of chapter 1 thinking, "oh hell, wow," and the feeling just slowly amplified to the end lol. Evander and Laurie’s slow crawl to radical rage and the reclamation of autonomy was the racing pulse of this story, and I think it’ll make an impactful addition to YA and horror shelves.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the eARC! Buzzing to get my hands on a copy this October~

SHUT UP THIS WAS SO GOOD.

I'm not sure a book has ever made me cry, gag, and yearn before.

This was such a wild ride, I absolutely loved it, easily a new favourite. The prose was absolutely beautiful, the themes hit me, the plot twists had me by the throat.

Everything about the book is unique: the way the genres morph from a murder mystery to botanical/folk/psychological horror to a unhinged gothic retelling and back again; Evander and Laurie's dynamic (which had me gnawing on my kindle); Evander's entire characterization.

I stayed up until 2:30am to finish this - the last 70% of the book had me TENSE, okay.

I loved Don't Let the Forest In and it was one of my favourite reads of 2024, but there was something about Hazelthorn that drew me in and devoured me in a way that I haven't felt with a book in a long time.

A huge thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends, and NetGalley for the ARC! I am going to be so obnoxious about this book, oh my GOD.

After reading Don't Let The Forest In I knew I'd read, and love, anything by C.G. Drews. The way they write their characters feels so real, emotions are raw and visceral and haunting.

Hazelthorn beautiful and scary, I could not put this book down. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me look at myself in a new way.

Remember:
the garden
wants you
back