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Book Summary and Reviews of Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews

Don't Let the Forest In by CG Drews

Don't Let the Forest In

by CG Drews

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  • Published:
  • Oct 2024, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Drews paints a gruesome narrative with visceral descriptions of monsters and the violence they enact, while with equal vigor, encapsulating the trauma of loss, disordered eating, bullying, and anxiety, all of which is counterbalanced by a gentle touch addressing asexual identity. ... Prepare for the emotional roller coaster of plot twists, unreliable narration, and a divisive conclusion. Sure to please those interested in modern horror mixed with a touch of fairy tale." ―Booklist (starred review)

"Genuinely creepy ... Lush, angsty, queer horror." ―Kirkus Reviews

"Compulsively readable. Don't Let the Forest In lures you into a lush world full of terrifying monsters and codependent boys trying to survive their obsessive art―and each other." ―Trang Thanh Tran, New York Times-bestselling author of She Is a Haunting

This information about Don't Let the Forest In was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

CG Drews

CG Drews is the New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In, Hazelthorn, A Thousand Perfect Notes, and The Boy Who Steals Houses. CG's work has been translated into over a dozen languages and won the 2020 CBCA Honour Award. Currently living in Australia, CG never sleeps, and is forever buried under a pile of unread books.

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