Ponder: Don't Let the Forest In

Don't Let the Forest In ©2024 by CG Drews is a #1 best seller in Teen & Young Adult monster fiction per Amazon. I did not even know there was such a category. This book was a real page turner for me, despite the category — or most likely because of it. I chose this young adult book because I enjoyed the author's adult novel You Did Nothing Wrong which I recently read and reviewed 10/9/26. I gave You Did Nothing Wrong four stars and will similarly give Don't Let the Forest In four stars as well.

My reading choices this October have most certainly leaned toward the macabre, probably because I have Halloween on the brain. This leaning is weird for me. I am a "merry witch, Casper the Friendly Ghost, or smiling pumpkin" type of gal. This book is definitely none of those. Although it is chuck full of monsters, I could not help caring deeply for the characters and their struggles. These are teens in their senior year of high school and the stresses put on them, above and beyond the academic and social ones, are tremendous. I felt like I wanted to defend them and comfort them.

All the while I was reading Don't Let the Forest In, I kept visualizing how this novel would make an awesomely illustrated animated horror movie. I was about to scan some of the illustrations from the book to show what I meant and realized there were only a few in the book. Those of monsters were not at all what I had pictured. The text in this book is so vivid, my mind was filled with curling, coiling, twisting images of vines and tendrils and claws, slender and graceful while deadly. The teens longing, affection, and defense of each other ran painfully deep.

The setting takes place at a boarding school in Virginia. Andrew and Dove, twin siblings, and Thomas are the main characters and share a sort of a three-musketeers-type camaraderie. Andrew is an incredibly talented author whose strength lies in writing macabre fairy tales with monsters. Thomas is an incredibly talented artist who generates illustrations that bring these gruesome tales to life. These monsters live in the forest which is on the other side of the fence from the school. When the monsters begin to cross that boundary and seek satiation among the students and teachers, Thomas and Andrew take it upon themselves to act as protectors and fight the beasts. An intense plot keeps this book moving due to nightly monster battles. However, the emotions and relationship among the characters was also a real draw for me. A nasty, vindictive teacher, an abusive bully, and gender identification struggles add the spice to the story in the same way hops plays a key role in beer production. The resolution was not what I expected.

I rate Don't Let the Forest In four stars, deducting only one star because the novel may favor a limited audience. I could not put it down; it was riveting and sad. If you are curious... no, it did not give me nightmares. 

  ★★★★☆ Really good; maybe only one weak aspect or limited audience

I generally do not read Amazon reviews until after I have read a book to prevent the reviews from influencing my blog post. If you read this book however, and wonder how to interpret what really happened, this review on Amazon for Don't Let the Forest In is an excellent clarifier. I cite only the opening paragraph here, but the four star review is worth looking up after you've read the book.