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A review by cottageivy
Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
After I finished this book, I went to heat up the dinner I forgot to eat in my eagerness to finish this, and just. Processed what I had just read because, for lack of a better phrase, holy shit.
I finished this two days ago, and it took me until now to be able to write this review because, again, I just couldn't stop thinking about this book long enough to piece this together.
First of all. The writing style of this book was absolutely gorgeous, I felt myself dog earring every page for the gorgeous prose and quotes (i had forgotten my annotating supplies in my room, and I was too invested to move from my place on my balcony). It also didn't suffer what I sometimes see with books too focused on this aspect, which is the characters. It struck such a good balance of gorgeous words and making Thomas, Andrew and the other characters feel like real people.
speaking of Thomas and Andrew...
"He drew like this because Andrew wrote like this. They fed off each other relentlessly, their fever dreams bleeding through their eyes long after they woke"
"'When I cut you open,' Andrew finally said, 'all I'll find is that we match.'"
"He could cut me to bloody pieces if he wanted.
Andrew hated how he loved those words."
And a million more quotes like that. While they're definitely codependent, and individually unhinged and even more so when they're together, the way you can feel how deeply they love and care for each other is amazing. they have these intense feelings about each other, but at the same time have simple moments where they joke, or do little actions to help the other feel better.
The twists!! The twists were so well done! I feel like I figured it out at a perfect part, (and even then they did make me doubt it for the briefest second) which was before Andrew figured it out, but not too far in advance where it got tedious, but in a way where after I figured it out, I watched on in horror as Andrew unravels and gets closer to the truth, until he's right on top of it. The plot is so well woven that even upon a quick skim/reread to pull those quotes and look at plots again, it still holds up. I'm so excited to be able to buy the gorgeous b&n edition of this and reread it, and fill it with my annotations bc goddd its so good.
And the ending. Fuckkkkk.
um so safe to say i loved this book lol. I might add more to this review as I think of it, but! Thank you to the publisher for sending this arc to my store! (barnes and noble)
I finished this two days ago, and it took me until now to be able to write this review because, again, I just couldn't stop thinking about this book long enough to piece this together.
First of all. The writing style of this book was absolutely gorgeous, I felt myself dog earring every page for the gorgeous prose and quotes (i had forgotten my annotating supplies in my room, and I was too invested to move from my place on my balcony). It also didn't suffer what I sometimes see with books too focused on this aspect, which is the characters. It struck such a good balance of gorgeous words and making Thomas, Andrew and the other characters feel like real people.
speaking of Thomas and Andrew...
"He drew like this because Andrew wrote like this. They fed off each other relentlessly, their fever dreams bleeding through their eyes long after they woke"
"'When I cut you open,' Andrew finally said, 'all I'll find is that we match.'"
"He could cut me to bloody pieces if he wanted.
Andrew hated how he loved those words."
And a million more quotes like that. While they're definitely codependent, and individually unhinged and even more so when they're together, the way you can feel how deeply they love and care for each other is amazing. they have these intense feelings about each other, but at the same time have simple moments where they joke, or do little actions to help the other feel better.
The twists!! The twists were so well done! I feel like I figured it out at a perfect part, (and even then they did make me doubt it for the briefest second) which was before Andrew figured it out, but not too far in advance where it got tedious, but in a way where after I figured it out, I watched on in horror as Andrew unravels and gets closer to the truth, until he's right on top of it. The plot is so well woven that even upon a quick skim/reread to pull those quotes and look at plots again, it still holds up. I'm so excited to be able to buy the gorgeous b&n edition of this and reread it, and fill it with my annotations bc goddd its so good.
And the ending. Fuckkkkk.
um so safe to say i loved this book lol. I might add more to this review as I think of it, but! Thank you to the publisher for sending this arc to my store! (barnes and noble)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse