Don’t Let the Forest In

Don’t Let the Forest In Book Review by C.G. Drews

I thought I was going to like this book so much. Everything was up my alley: angsty boys pining for each other, a brooding environment at a dark academia-esque location, fairytales and dreams, beautiful writing, the list goes on and on. 

But…I didn’t. 

I seem to be the only one. All the reviews I’ve looked at online have people raving over Andrew and Thomas, their relationship, and the plot, all of which I never felt like I could connect with. 

Don’t Let the Forest In is the second book by C.G. Drews, an author that I have a strange past with. I never read Drews’ first novel, The Boy Who Steals Houses, but I used to love following Drews on instagram.

I was first drawn to her because of her beautiful color-coded library pictures, but then I started reading her book reviews and found myself agreeing with her most of the time. 

This never happens. Reading and rating books is so subjective, but my alignment with C.G. Drews was almost uncanny.

However, I’ve lost track of her the last few years only to see her name stamped on a gorgeous book over at Barnes and Noble and topping the New York Times Bestseller list. 

Don’t Let the Forest In is that book. 

Because I respected C.G. Drews so much I thought I would love her novel. We agreed on so many things and yet…Don’t Let the Forest In didn’t do it for me. 

The book revolves around two boys: Andrew and Thomas. Andrew is a melancholy, anxiety-riddled teenager who can only write dark stories and obsess over Thomas. Thomas is a volatile, aggressive artist who is suspected of killing his parents.

The whole book deals with the two boys going into the forest next to their school to kill monsters at night, monsters of their own creation. They must stop these creatures before they come after the boys themselves and innocents at the school. 

I’ll say the first and only thing I liked about this book: the writing. C.G. Drews is a surprisingly talented writer. Her writing was fluid and aching, albeit dark and brooding, but still overall evocative in nature and compelling to read. 

Now I’ll get into everything else. 

First, the characters. Thomas and Andrew were the people who mattered in this story and yet, I couldn’t even remember which one was Thomas and which one was Andrew.

Maybe it’s because I read The Foxhole Court, which includes a short aggressive character also named Andrew. So I kept confusing Drews’ short spitfire (Thomas) with Sakavic’s (Andrew).

Or maybe Thomas and Andrew felt so indistinct to me that I had a hard time distinguishing their names, even if they had different personalities. 

Personalities which mainly included being obsessed with each other, playing the martyr card, and being starving artist sorts. The whole book shows the boys pining for each other, but being too scared to say anything, and getting badly injured in intervals from disturbing beasts in the forest that they concocted themselves. 

Why didn’t they just leave the school, you ask? Especially since they didn’t give a shit about anyone else and were tortured daily by stereotypically cruel bullies and callous teachers?

No idea.

There was no good reason they didn’t and yet…they stay night after night to “protect” the school by going into the forest to kill monsters and get maimed in the process. 

The overall environment of this book was also very…dark. I didn’t realize until later that it is touted as a psychological thriller and horror, which is very apt.

There is also a ton of body horror elements that really disturbed me. I get that this is a personal problem on my end, but I found this book more horrific than the last true adult horror book I read called Home Before Dark by Riley Sager, which was way more cartoonish and entertaining than C.G. Drews’ young adult novel. 

But, if you like horror you may end up really enjoying this book despite its plot holes. I personally couldn’t jive with the forest growing inside of Andrew and all the squeamish detail that entailed. 

Lastly, and most importantly, there is one thing I hate more than anything. My top pet peeve that books sometimes do: ambiguous endings. 

If I am going to read your 300+ page book, I want answers. I want a solid ending that wraps up all the pieces. I don’t want to have to guess or wonder or decide on my own.

And that’s exactly what C.G. Drews did. Did Andrew imagine everything? Is he dead? Is Thomas dead? Are they sharing a heart? I have no freaking clue because she wanted me to be confused…

Sigh. 

Mission accomplished. 

Putting all these pieces together, Don’t Let the Forest In was a book I actively avoided reading. I’m glad that others seem to enjoy it and maybe a younger me would have had my curiosity piqued by two obsessive boys, but I’ve had that particular niche filled by much better books—The Foxhole Court, as previously mentioned, and I saw others compare it to The Wicker King by K. Ancrum and These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever, both books I’ve read and liked more (although I had my issues with both of them as well). 

Recommendation: You’re better off reading the books mentioned above than Don’t Let the Forest In. Save yourself the teen angst and read about (and fall in love with) the OG Andrew instead. 

Score: 4/10