Things haven't been the same for Andrew, Thomas and Dove since their argument at the end of last year. Thomas broke his phone so twins Andrew and Dove spent the summer without a word from him. They used to share a love of Andrew's grim fairy tales and Thomas' sketched depictions of the monsters that fill the darkness of them. Now the new year is beginning, their senior year and Andrew is determined to make things right between the three of them, but that means hiding his feelings for Thomas and finding out why Dove keeps avoiding him. He will also have to face the demons of his own stories, as Thomas' drawings are coming to life in the forest just outside the schools walls.
I have been following CG Drews on Bookstagram pretty much since I started on there, so when I saw that her newest book was coming out, I snatched up an E-Arc from Netgalley.
When I read the synopsis of Don't Let the Forest In, I thought it sounded like a great fantasy read, but I was wrong. While there are fantasy elements, this book definitely leans more into the horror genre in the style of the original Grimms Fairy Tales. I absolutely loved reading the bits of Andrews stories and I think I was more engrossed in the descriptions because I didn't have Thomas' drawings to lean on (you'll find some of them in the print edition).
This book is the perfect mix of character and plot focused. The world building doesn't come at you all at once but in vibrant sprinkles throughout the pages. The characters are so complete that at any moment it feels like they could walk right off the pages, even the side characters with bit parts. Don't Let the Forest In is a completely engrossing novel that will have you hooked from the first chapter.
Author Katee Robert reviewed this book in a reel/tiktok and said that it left her "bereft" and I would have to whole heartedly agree. I never imagined that a horror novel would leave me feeling so grief stricken after I was forced to leave the world behind. Andrew, Thomas and Dove felt so incredibly real to me that saying good bye was just too much and left me crying for hours. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars from me and I would give it a million if I could. This is absolutely in my top 3 reads of the year and I will be telling everyone I know that they NEED to read this book!
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