Deliciously dark and dangerously addictive indeed. A queer dark academia horror filled with twisted fairytales and monsters that will keep you up at night. No one would want a heart like his but he’d still cut it out and given it away.

A novelist who finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the boy with hair like autumn leaves. An artists who’s sketches of the monstrous creatures from the stories have come to life. Desperate to discover the truth the writer follows him into the forest one night to find him fighting a nightmarish monster.

To ensure no one else dies they go to battle together side by side overnight. Their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and one begins to fear the only way to defeat them is to destroy their creator.

A novel filled with horrific eldritch beings, a forest that will consume you whole and an obsessive romance that will lead you mildly horrified. Filled with beautifully detailed illustrations that bring these monsters to life.

Thankfully not literally as they do in the novel. I think forest horror has become my newest obsession.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞 (𝐇𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫) 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐂 𝐆 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for approving my request to read an arc of this book

I was first drawn to the beautiful cover and then when I read the plot it sounded so interesting and I requested right away. There was mystery and dark academia which I found intriguing and was glad to find another book with ace representation.
I did notice some format issues near the beginning where some words were cut off down the edge of the page.

I have been excited for this book for nearly a year now. The niche horror category I call 'toxically co-dependent unhinged gothic horror gays' is one I know and adore.
Prior to receiving this e-ARC I had already preordered the audio, and it took me to chapter 5 to realise that this stunningly haunting book would be one I want to refer back to (which let to me also purchasing the eBook so I could highlight and read along). I devoured this book and then was approved for this eARC the following day. Made all the worse by the fact I also want to purchase the physical copy because it is simply so stunning. Is four copies of the same book too much? No, for this book it isn't.

Don't Let the Forest In managed to blend the psychological horror of trauma and grief with all the classic elements of any good gothic horror tale. Where the monsters that lurk outside the walls aren't the only thing to be afraid of. The reader gets to witness as Andrew descend further and further into his own madness, and the madness brought on by monsters.

Don't Let the Forest In managed to surpass my already exceedingly high expectations through its unique blend of horror and beauty - reflected both in the story and the prose. Coupled with some wonderful acespec rep and a dynamic cast of flawed and troubled characters, this book is almost certain to be one of my top rated of the year (and I've read 437 books so far this year so this is high praise).

An easy 5 stars

I know the point of arc reviews is to detail all the ways in which you loved the book you just read… but Don’t Let the Forest In has left me speechless, truly. The author’s note stating that you should be staring at a wall by the time you finish the book was all too accurate because I sat and stared at my bedroom wall in silence for a solid 15 minutes trying to digest everything I had just read.

The tone was perfectly creepy— Drews doesn’t try too hard or make it overly gratuitous. Instead, she captures this perfect uncanny and eerie atmosphere that is so unsettling and unique. I read parts of this in my dark bedroom in the middle of the night.. don’t recommend that! The story’s premise where the monsters are in fact the drawings of Thomas’s come to life was genius in my opinion, and it was further heightened by the ambiguous unreality of the entire book. What’s real? What’s not? Maybe we’ll never know.

But ultimately, I adored Andrew, our main character. I related to him deeply and my heart ached for him during his mental health struggles. He was so easy to root for and I just wanted to protect him from the world, and loved that Thomas would do literally ANYTHING to protect Andrew. We love two people who would burn the world down for each other.

All in all, I just loved the hell out of this book. The writing. The tone. The artwork. The characters. The themes. It’s like C.G Drew’s wrote it specially for me with everything I love! With that ending, I could see a sequel but I don’t want one. It ended perfectly even if I have a million questions still.

A true work of art!

A YA novel set at a boarding school, with folklore/mythology-inspired chaos brewing in the nearby woods (and/or the young protagonists' febrile imaginations). The story hurtles, breathless, from the first page and has great atmosphere and imagination. It reminded me of 'A Monster Calls' and the film 'Heavenly Creatures' in the way the magical elements are woven into the story.

There are some great lines - e.g. "he wore his uniform like he'd been in a fight - white shirt scrubby and untucked, tie a mangled noose at his throat." The illustrations were perfect for the story (I'd have liked more). I read this on kindle, but my impression is that the print version will be a beauty.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy.

My first love about this book is the writing itself, and how it is truly an ode to storytelling. Drews has a gorgeous writing style. The prose is beautiful (which I already knew as an avid lover of their other works) and I’d absolutely be willing to try another book by this author with these horror influences just because of that. This book is hugely atmospheric and dreamlike (or nightmarish?) with hauntingly beautiful imagery that I have taken infinite screenshots of so I can read my favourite lines over and over again. There are also snippets from the stories that Andrew writes that are interwoven throughout in a way that doesn’t distract from the main story and leaves me wanting more. I also can’t wait until my preorder arrives so I can appreciate the formatting of these pages in person.

The thing that means the most to me about this book is the asexual main character, confirmed by the author on social media, in addition to on-page labels and discussions of it throughout the book. The spectrum of representation in this story is refreshing and touches on themes of identity, mental health, and disordered eating. These are not easy topics to discuss with equal parts honesty and sensitivity, but they are important to talk about, especially for the young adult target audience.

I’ve noticed that this book is receiving some criticism for how it portrays asexuality, and there’s just something about asexual representation that I find people criticise a lot more than other sexualities. (In my opinion, because this is my identity, it’s something I pay attention to a little more). With these books, there are always people who review negatively because it doesn’t fully represent their own experience, but…that’s the whole point, to me at least. Don’t Let the Forest In represents an experience that is specific to the author and their character, and also painfully reminiscent of my own, which is why I identify with Andrew so much. But everyone’s sexuality is unique to themselves, and no author can hope to sum up (or fully explore) the experience of every individual reader.

Don’t Let the Forest In is ultimately a love letter to grief, coming to terms with the complexities of asexual identities, and the dichotomy of warmth and brutality that I’ve come to love about C.G. Drews’ works. It’s also completely unafraid to pay tribute to those former weird little kids who lived in their daydreams, and that’s something about this book that makes me feel as if I’m going to come back to it time and time again. It’s a good fit for readers who enjoy stories about intense friendships, overcoming darkness, and the struggle to protect loved ones from inner and outer monsters. C.G. Drews’ debut young adult psychological horror will leave you breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.