Description

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AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

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...

About the Author

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CG Drews is the author of the award-winning The Boy Who Steals Houses and the NYT and Indie Best Seller Don’t Let The Forest In, which is also a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, Indie Next Pick, Barnes & Noble YA Book Club Pick, and one of School Library Journal's Best Books of 2024. Their work has been translated into eight languages, received a nomination for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal, and won the 2020 CBCA Honour Award. CG lives in Australia, never sleeps, and is forever buried under a pile of unread books.

Praise For…

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Praise for Don't Let the Forest In:

A New York Times Bestseller
An ABA Indies Bestseller
A Publishers Weekly Bestseller
An Indies Next Selection
A B&N Best Book of 2024
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Goodreads Choice Award finalist
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors Choice

"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

"More Brothers Grimm than Disney, Drews’ modern-day fairy tale artfully tackles heavy topics, including homophobia, bullying and eating disorders, while skillfully weaving in the dark fantasy elements that anchor the story. Drews’ words feel like poetry, almost lyrical in their grotesque execution, and you can’t help but keep reading. The story opens with a boy cutting out his heart for love; by the time you reach the final, gripping page, you may feel like doing the same." —The Seattle Times

"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

"CG Drews has crafted a beautiful, horrific novel out of underbrush and ink stains and blood. Perfect for any reader who has looked into the sharp mouths of disturbing fairy tales and found themself entirely at home." —Andrew Joseph White, New York Times-bestselling author of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth and Hell Followed With Us

"A bloodied tale of toxic romance and botanical horror, this book will ensnare you like the tendrils of a haunted forest." —Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Unholy Terrors

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

"With a lingering terror that will lurk well after you finish, this psychological horror is packed with monsters of fairytale, folklore and so much more. Good luck not getting hooked (and haunted)." —B&N Reads

"Lush [and] immersive ... In their first horror novel, Drews embraces the genre with style and intensity via truly malevolent monsters and compellingly creepy botanical horrors. Readers who enjoy high-stakes stories of obsession, epic battles with monsters of the world and of the mind, and artistically expressed blood and gore will revel in Don't Let the Forest In." —BookPage

"Beautifully cutting and achingly full of writhing love, painful loss, and horrors beyond imagination. Love is a weapon full of cutting ribs and thorns in this gut-wrenching story by CG Drews." —Kaitlyn Mahoney, Under the Umbrella Bookstore (Salt Lake City, UT)

"C.G. Drews’ return to young adult fiction is a gloriously gothic exploration of fairytales, isolation and obsessive friendship, set in an elite boarding school and a dark, untouched forest. ... This is a dark and emotional fantasy thriller, and a must-read for fans of dark-academia books like Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains." —Bella Mackey, Readings (Melbourne, Australia)