Don't Let the Forest In is a 2024 young adult horror novel by CG Drews. It follows two boys who must confront monsters from their creations after they come to life.
Plot
Andrew Perrault, an Australian boy attending Wickwood Academy in the United States, enjoys creating stories featuring macabre and grotesque creatures, which his roommate Thomas Rye then illustrates as black-and-white drawings, which are featured on-page throughout the book. As Andrew deals with his estrangement from his twin sister Dove, bullying from his peers, his newfound recognition of his asexuality and his romantic feelings for Thomas, he discovers that the monsters they made together are manifesting in real life in the academy's surrounding woods, and that Thomas has been fighting to keep them at bay. As Andrew joins him, the onslaught of monsters becomes increasingly difficult to control and his and Thomas' bodies start changing from exposure to the forest.
Reception Kirkus Reviews praised the "rich, extravagant prose," and noted how "Andrew grapples realistically with his sexual identity, and the story has ample genuinely creepy moments with the monsters."
School Library Journal gave a starred review, calling the book "an angst-fueled, twisted fairy tale wrapped tightly in dark academia, exploring the border between love and something more dangerous". +Awards and HonorsYearAwardCategoryResult2025Queensland Literary AwardsYoung Adult WonBarnes & Noble Children's & Young Adult Book AwardsYoung Adult WonLibby Book AwardsYoung Adult FictionFinalist2024Goodreads Choice AwardsYoung Adult Fantasy Finalist (6th place)
References