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Hazelthorn
Hazelthorn
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Young Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi (2025)Knives Out meets Belladonna in this gorgeously gothic queer YA horror and dark romance about an inherited estate, murderous relatives, and a garden with a taste for blood, from the New York Times bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In and The Boy Who Steals Houses.
Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian.
He can never leave, he can never go in the gardens and he can never be alone with Laurie, the boy who tried to kill him seven years ago.
But when his guardian is murdered and Evander inherits Hazelthorn, Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer.
As dark secrets unravel, moss bleeds though the walls, poisonous mushrooms flourish beneath the floorboards, and Evander must discover what he's really inherited before Hazelthorn's garden demands to be fed.
Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian.
He can never leave, he can never go in the gardens and he can never be alone with Laurie, the boy who tried to kill him seven years ago.
But when his guardian is murdered and Evander inherits Hazelthorn, Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer.
As dark secrets unravel, moss bleeds though the walls, poisonous mushrooms flourish beneath the floorboards, and Evander must discover what he's really inherited before Hazelthorn's garden demands to be fed.
369 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 28, 2025
About the author
C.G. Drews
13 books26.6k followersCG Drews is the award-winning NYT Bestselling author of Don’t Let The Forest In, Hazelthorn, and You Did Nothing Wrong. Their work has been translated into over 12 languages, was nominated for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal, and won the B&N 2025 YA Book Awards, and are also Indie Next Picks and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections. CG lives in Australia under a pile of unread books. Find on Instagram as @paperfury and TikTok as @cgdrews or at cgdrews.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,222 reviews
April 12, 2026
I absolutely devoured C.G. Drews’ Don’t Let the Forest In, so when I saw the hauntingly beautiful cover and the intriguing premise of this gothic queer thriller, I couldn’t resist diving in. And let me tell you—it surpassed my expectations. With its eerie, atmospheric world-building, a haunted mansion, and a sinister garden that chills you to the bone, this book is even more immersive than the author’s previous work.
At the heart of the story is Evander, a boy trapped in his own personal nightmare. Confined to his room like a prisoner, numbed by drugs, and waking up covered in bruises with no memory of what happened, his life is a constant cycle of fear and confusion. His loneliness is gut-wrenching—more painful than his physical wounds. He’s only seventeen, yet he’s been abandoned, left to fend for himself like an unwanted weed struggling to survive. After his parents’ tragic accident, he was placed under the custody of reclusive billionaire Byron Lennox-Hall, a man who keeps him locked away—especially after Byron’s grandson, Laurie, once tried to bury him alive.
But one morning, everything changes. Evander’s door is mysteriously unlocked—not by Byron’s cold, condescending butler. For the first time in years, he roams the estate, only to come face-to-face with his worst enemy: Laurie. Suspended from school, Laurie shouldn’t even be on the property, yet here he is. Determined to finally confront his cruel guardian, Evander finds Byron in the observatory, only to witness his horrific death—poisoned by something unnatural, something crawling from his throat. His final warning? Do not go to the garden.
As suspicion looms over the estate, a new lawyer arrives to execute the will, bringing unexpected revelations and drawing estranged relatives into the mansion—including the formidable Aunt Oleander and her cunning children, Bane and Azalea, who are determined to stake their claim.
Strangely, Evander finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with Laurie, his former childhood friend turned sworn enemy. But something doesn’t add up—why can’t Evander remember the bond they once shared? What if Laurie isn’t the villain he’s always believed him to be? As the two uncover buried secrets, the mystery of the estate, the forbidden garden, and the ominous red door hiding something monstrous, Evander finds himself drawn to Laurie in ways he never expected—like a moth to a flame, even if it means burning alive.
Will they survive the madness of the estate? Or will the garden claim them both?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is an absolute masterpiece of gothic horror! The eerie atmosphere, the lush yet chilling descriptions, and the thrilling mystery kept me hooked from start to finish. It’s haunting, immersive, and deeply emotional—a perfect blend of horror and romance that lingers in your mind long after you turn the final page. I highly recommend this mesmerizing gothic queer thriller to all readers!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends for providing me with an ARC of this phenomenal YA horror novel in exchange for my honest review.
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At the heart of the story is Evander, a boy trapped in his own personal nightmare. Confined to his room like a prisoner, numbed by drugs, and waking up covered in bruises with no memory of what happened, his life is a constant cycle of fear and confusion. His loneliness is gut-wrenching—more painful than his physical wounds. He’s only seventeen, yet he’s been abandoned, left to fend for himself like an unwanted weed struggling to survive. After his parents’ tragic accident, he was placed under the custody of reclusive billionaire Byron Lennox-Hall, a man who keeps him locked away—especially after Byron’s grandson, Laurie, once tried to bury him alive.
But one morning, everything changes. Evander’s door is mysteriously unlocked—not by Byron’s cold, condescending butler. For the first time in years, he roams the estate, only to come face-to-face with his worst enemy: Laurie. Suspended from school, Laurie shouldn’t even be on the property, yet here he is. Determined to finally confront his cruel guardian, Evander finds Byron in the observatory, only to witness his horrific death—poisoned by something unnatural, something crawling from his throat. His final warning? Do not go to the garden.
As suspicion looms over the estate, a new lawyer arrives to execute the will, bringing unexpected revelations and drawing estranged relatives into the mansion—including the formidable Aunt Oleander and her cunning children, Bane and Azalea, who are determined to stake their claim.
Strangely, Evander finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with Laurie, his former childhood friend turned sworn enemy. But something doesn’t add up—why can’t Evander remember the bond they once shared? What if Laurie isn’t the villain he’s always believed him to be? As the two uncover buried secrets, the mystery of the estate, the forbidden garden, and the ominous red door hiding something monstrous, Evander finds himself drawn to Laurie in ways he never expected—like a moth to a flame, even if it means burning alive.
Will they survive the madness of the estate? Or will the garden claim them both?
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is an absolute masterpiece of gothic horror! The eerie atmosphere, the lush yet chilling descriptions, and the thrilling mystery kept me hooked from start to finish. It’s haunting, immersive, and deeply emotional—a perfect blend of horror and romance that lingers in your mind long after you turn the final page. I highly recommend this mesmerizing gothic queer thriller to all readers!
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Feiwel & Friends for providing me with an ARC of this phenomenal YA horror novel in exchange for my honest review.
medium blog
August 4, 2025
Hello! I am the author of the book. If you'd like a list of content warnings please see my website here.
April 15, 2026
“There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but I wanted to.”
4.75 🌟 Wow this was so incredibly captivating, disquieting, haunting & beautiful. It completely seeped its way inside me.
The writing in this book is outstanding. The prose is not only stunning but it weaves a path for this story to completely come to life. It is beautifully descriptive in a way that allows its metaphoric nature to hit with deep significance. The way in which the autistic rage, the injustice and the despair was so loud throughout.
The last 30% of this story was extremely overwhelming, the mystery had me feeling smothered by my own stress & my questions continued to mount up until the very end.
Laurie and Evander are the type of characters who will linger in my mind for a while. Their shared traumas & own individual horrors were reflected through the atmospheric nature of this whole story.
Their romance was haunting, emotional, tender and left me with a deep craving & longing for more. They consumed me in a way in which they consumed each other. The author managed to create a yearning that slowly intensified as the story unfolded.
I don’t think I’m equipped enough to fully describe this book, other than I’d highly recommended it and you really just have to experience it for yourself.
This is one of those books that truly hits the hardest as you turn that very last page and sit with how captivating it was.
I have never read a gothic, botanical horror before but this just set the bar very, very high! This whole author’s catalog is officially bumped up my TBR!
While Evander has to think of Laurie every day. He shouldn’t. He tries not to. But he still thinks of this boy until his lungs seize and his mouth fills with rust from a bitten tongue.
When he fractures, it is in a place so deep inside himself that he cannot begin to collect the shattered pieces. He is kneeling there, terror unraveling in bloody ribbons from his mouth, his body a locked tomb.
He really needs to pull apart the wicker cage of his ribs and see if he can find the reason he’s so obsessed with that boy hidden amidst the rot. He craves him. He thinks about him all the time.
“Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn’t know how to scream.”
“I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat, I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth against yours.”
“What if the worst of us is the only part that’s real?”
___________
i am so excited to read this 🥹 a dark, queer gothic horror/mystery. just read 2 chapters and im already so confident this is going to be a hit, captivated instantly.
4.75 🌟 Wow this was so incredibly captivating, disquieting, haunting & beautiful. It completely seeped its way inside me.
The writing in this book is outstanding. The prose is not only stunning but it weaves a path for this story to completely come to life. It is beautifully descriptive in a way that allows its metaphoric nature to hit with deep significance. The way in which the autistic rage, the injustice and the despair was so loud throughout.
The last 30% of this story was extremely overwhelming, the mystery had me feeling smothered by my own stress & my questions continued to mount up until the very end.
Laurie and Evander are the type of characters who will linger in my mind for a while. Their shared traumas & own individual horrors were reflected through the atmospheric nature of this whole story.
Their romance was haunting, emotional, tender and left me with a deep craving & longing for more. They consumed me in a way in which they consumed each other. The author managed to create a yearning that slowly intensified as the story unfolded.
I don’t think I’m equipped enough to fully describe this book, other than I’d highly recommended it and you really just have to experience it for yourself.
This is one of those books that truly hits the hardest as you turn that very last page and sit with how captivating it was.
I have never read a gothic, botanical horror before but this just set the bar very, very high! This whole author’s catalog is officially bumped up my TBR!
While Evander has to think of Laurie every day. He shouldn’t. He tries not to. But he still thinks of this boy until his lungs seize and his mouth fills with rust from a bitten tongue.
When he fractures, it is in a place so deep inside himself that he cannot begin to collect the shattered pieces. He is kneeling there, terror unraveling in bloody ribbons from his mouth, his body a locked tomb.
He really needs to pull apart the wicker cage of his ribs and see if he can find the reason he’s so obsessed with that boy hidden amidst the rot. He craves him. He thinks about him all the time.
“Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn’t know how to scream.”
“I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat, I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth against yours.”
“What if the worst of us is the only part that’s real?”
___________
i am so excited to read this 🥹 a dark, queer gothic horror/mystery. just read 2 chapters and im already so confident this is going to be a hit, captivated instantly.
November 10, 2025
I’m stunned. Dazed. C.G. Drew just took my breath away.
He is the cuckoo in the nest of broken twigs and wishbones and bloody hearts.
They did it again. They left me speechless, my words fumbling as I struggled to form a coherent sentence. But nothing came out. What can I possibly say about a lonely and anxious boy who hasn’t stepped outside Hazeltorn in seven years? Whose voice creaks from lack of use after all this time in silence? Who is chasing the idea of being normal, even though he doesn’t even know what normal means anyway?
He wishes he wasn’t like this, wishes he could stand even parallel to normal and be someone who fits next to those his age, who goes to school and kisses an appropriate amount of pretty people and isn’t bothered by things like an odd seam in his clothes or the very existence of socks.
I’m flabbergasted at how easily this book snatched me inside the pages and held me captive until the last sentence and even after closing it.
The thing he truly wants to understand is how he, too, can hate this boy and yet long to use his own bones to build a shelter around Laurie’s raw, bleeding heart.
I wanted to protect Evander with my life—not only him but Laurie, too, the boy whose smile could cut ice and whose voice could be like pure acid.
Laurie has buried the vulnerable truth of himself as deep as he can, leaving only this insolent mask for everyone to see. Maybe he does this to protect himself. Maybe he does this to hide.
This book is genre-bending. It goes from a psychological thriller to a murder mystery to almost vampire-like to horror to psychological again, and I ate it up in a terrifying hunger for more.
Unless you’re making everything up because it’s easier to imagine monsters than admit you’re lonely and scared and overwhelmed by inheriting this estate.
I almost don’t dare say it, but I think this one might even be better than Don’t Let the Forest In.
He is an autumn leaf, meant to be pressed between the pages of an old book and forgotten.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tatiana, from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, for sending me my most anticipated ARC of 2025. Of course, this one ended up being one of my favorites, or even my favorite of 2025. I just can’t describe with words what this story did to me.
Once the garden has a taste, it wants the rest.
This story is so good that I’m almost mourning the fact that I can’t read it for the first time ever again. Bravo, C.G. Drews, bravo! Your author’s note made tears burn in my eyes.
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He is the cuckoo in the nest of broken twigs and wishbones and bloody hearts.
They did it again. They left me speechless, my words fumbling as I struggled to form a coherent sentence. But nothing came out. What can I possibly say about a lonely and anxious boy who hasn’t stepped outside Hazeltorn in seven years? Whose voice creaks from lack of use after all this time in silence? Who is chasing the idea of being normal, even though he doesn’t even know what normal means anyway?
He wishes he wasn’t like this, wishes he could stand even parallel to normal and be someone who fits next to those his age, who goes to school and kisses an appropriate amount of pretty people and isn’t bothered by things like an odd seam in his clothes or the very existence of socks.
I’m flabbergasted at how easily this book snatched me inside the pages and held me captive until the last sentence and even after closing it.
The thing he truly wants to understand is how he, too, can hate this boy and yet long to use his own bones to build a shelter around Laurie’s raw, bleeding heart.
I wanted to protect Evander with my life—not only him but Laurie, too, the boy whose smile could cut ice and whose voice could be like pure acid.
Laurie has buried the vulnerable truth of himself as deep as he can, leaving only this insolent mask for everyone to see. Maybe he does this to protect himself. Maybe he does this to hide.
This book is genre-bending. It goes from a psychological thriller to a murder mystery to almost vampire-like to horror to psychological again, and I ate it up in a terrifying hunger for more.
Unless you’re making everything up because it’s easier to imagine monsters than admit you’re lonely and scared and overwhelmed by inheriting this estate.
I almost don’t dare say it, but I think this one might even be better than Don’t Let the Forest In.
He is an autumn leaf, meant to be pressed between the pages of an old book and forgotten.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tatiana, from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, for sending me my most anticipated ARC of 2025. Of course, this one ended up being one of my favorites, or even my favorite of 2025. I just can’t describe with words what this story did to me.
Once the garden has a taste, it wants the rest.
This story is so good that I’m almost mourning the fact that I can’t read it for the first time ever again. Bravo, C.G. Drews, bravo! Your author’s note made tears burn in my eyes.
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January 17, 2026
✶ hazelthorn ౨ৎ 3.5 stars
⤿ what an unexpected but delightful surprise this was!! this was my first horror book ever, and i’m so relieved to say that i enjoyed it, thoroughly. c.g. drews did such an amazing job writing a book that gives you full-body chills. reading the blurb before picking the book, i was already *very* intrigued by the plant horror, but the author truly shocked me at how interesting it was.
the mystery: intriguing
the plot twist: WTF
the romance: precious
the horror: creepy
the only thing that made me hesitate when giving this 4 stars, is that i was a little bored at times, especially around 50-70% throughout the book. but overall, fantastic!! definitely recommend if you’re trying to get into the horror genre 🪴🌟
and how could i properly complete this review without mentioning my favorite part of reading this book?? thank you so much yienne, for reading this book with me! our ranting, screaming, and collective disgust made this experience ten times better. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! 💚 cannot wait for infinity more buddy reads.
⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹
ᝰ ⋆ ── preread ✶
first horror ever 👀, and what better way to go about it then with my favie yienne 🧸💚 very excited to read this with you, hopefully we have a fun time 🫂!!
⤿ what an unexpected but delightful surprise this was!! this was my first horror book ever, and i’m so relieved to say that i enjoyed it, thoroughly. c.g. drews did such an amazing job writing a book that gives you full-body chills. reading the blurb before picking the book, i was already *very* intrigued by the plant horror, but the author truly shocked me at how interesting it was.
the mystery: intriguing
the plot twist: WTF
the romance: precious
the horror: creepy
the only thing that made me hesitate when giving this 4 stars, is that i was a little bored at times, especially around 50-70% throughout the book. but overall, fantastic!! definitely recommend if you’re trying to get into the horror genre 🪴🌟
and how could i properly complete this review without mentioning my favorite part of reading this book?? thank you so much yienne, for reading this book with me! our ranting, screaming, and collective disgust made this experience ten times better. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! 💚 cannot wait for infinity more buddy reads.
⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹ ﹒ ⁺ ﹒ ⊹
ᝰ ⋆ ── preread ✶
first horror ever 👀, and what better way to go about it then with my favie yienne 🧸💚 very excited to read this with you, hopefully we have a fun time 🫂!!
October 25, 2025
4.5
FINALLY I FOUND A GOOD POISON BOOK.
PERFECT for spooky season! This is unlike any read I’ve picked up, as I don’t really read horror often.
I absolutely devoured this one though. CG Drew’s writing was SO atmospheric and immediately pulled me deep into Evander’s head. Filled with rage, and a lot of “why am I like this” feelings - his was a painful POV to be in, but made for such an interesting read.
Obsessed with the inheritance drama, the murder mystery, and the underlying theme of hunger throughout the story.
Check content warnings! There is quite a bit of gore and some potentially sensitive subject matter.
FINALLY I FOUND A GOOD POISON BOOK.
PERFECT for spooky season! This is unlike any read I’ve picked up, as I don’t really read horror often.
I absolutely devoured this one though. CG Drew’s writing was SO atmospheric and immediately pulled me deep into Evander’s head. Filled with rage, and a lot of “why am I like this” feelings - his was a painful POV to be in, but made for such an interesting read.
Obsessed with the inheritance drama, the murder mystery, and the underlying theme of hunger throughout the story.
Check content warnings! There is quite a bit of gore and some potentially sensitive subject matter.
November 9, 2025
Happy release day!!! Go grab this little garden rot and toxic boys...if you dare 👀🖤💚
Guys. GUYS 👁️👄👁️
After reading and loving Don’t Let the Forest In last year, I was hoping for another blast by the author. And oh my god I was not disappointed. C.G. Drews seems to have a gift for writing from the Fae. Not the cute little ones, oh no. The Fae folk who would lure you to their world to feverishly dance through the night till the soles of your feet bleed. Drews has a deliciously macabre way with words that speaks to something deep inside me.
The story is gripping right from the first paragraph, full of descriptions of writhing nature coming alive in a malevolent way, setting the tone as insidious. I don’t think I’ll ever see plants the same way - and I never thought a queer botanical horror would be my thing, but here we are!
I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere of an old mansion being actively eaten by the surrounding gardens... Gardens where Evander, our MC, is never supposed to venture. For his own good. At least, that’s what he’s told by the people who of course have his best interests in mind.
All those little eyes-widening, jaw-dropping moments of horrified “wait...what??”, coupled with Evander being an unreliable narrator, made a perfect recipe for a heartbreaking story with sharp teeth. Evander and Laurie, our two seventeen-year-old boys, were created to make my bottom lip wobble constantly, I swear 🥺 I rooted for them to own themselves entirely, with all their flaws and quirks others tried to force out of them.
"Who tells you to be quiet all the time?" Laurie's words are a low, thickened spill of warm honey. "Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn't know how to scream. Fuck making your agony silent to avoid disturbing others. Maybe they should be disturbed."
I don’t want to give away the story itself, because as with the previous book, it’s better to go into it blindly. Although beware of the trigger warnings, it’s quite an intense read. I’ll just say that the last fifty or so pages are an absolute mindfuck that left me alternately crying, raging, and horrified... and finally, the ending brought out in me a monstrous satisfaction.
Because the rightful rage at being denied autonomy over your own body, at being gaslighted and abused into thinking you should feel ashamed of being emotional and “abnormal”, has to come to a tipping point. And when that finally happens, it’s bound to be messy...and oh so glorious.
I’ll leave commenting on the accuracy of the autism representation on more qualified readers, however, to me as a mostly neurotypical person, it felt genuine and real.
I will say, the descriptions got a sliiightly bit repetitive at times...and that’s about my only critique 👀
If staring at the wall is the indicator of a great book, let it be said I’ve spent a good amount of time in a trance. I finally feel like I know these walls of mine 😳
...and I’m eyeing the fuck out of my few plants (that have survived my dubious care so far). If you never hear from me again, their lovely long leaves probably created a bloody smile in my throat 💀
Thank you to Tatiana from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!
Guys. GUYS 👁️👄👁️
After reading and loving Don’t Let the Forest In last year, I was hoping for another blast by the author. And oh my god I was not disappointed. C.G. Drews seems to have a gift for writing from the Fae. Not the cute little ones, oh no. The Fae folk who would lure you to their world to feverishly dance through the night till the soles of your feet bleed. Drews has a deliciously macabre way with words that speaks to something deep inside me.
The story is gripping right from the first paragraph, full of descriptions of writhing nature coming alive in a malevolent way, setting the tone as insidious. I don’t think I’ll ever see plants the same way - and I never thought a queer botanical horror would be my thing, but here we are!
I loved the claustrophobic atmosphere of an old mansion being actively eaten by the surrounding gardens... Gardens where Evander, our MC, is never supposed to venture. For his own good. At least, that’s what he’s told by the people who of course have his best interests in mind.
All those little eyes-widening, jaw-dropping moments of horrified “wait...what??”, coupled with Evander being an unreliable narrator, made a perfect recipe for a heartbreaking story with sharp teeth. Evander and Laurie, our two seventeen-year-old boys, were created to make my bottom lip wobble constantly, I swear 🥺 I rooted for them to own themselves entirely, with all their flaws and quirks others tried to force out of them.
"Who tells you to be quiet all the time?" Laurie's words are a low, thickened spill of warm honey. "Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn't know how to scream. Fuck making your agony silent to avoid disturbing others. Maybe they should be disturbed."
I don’t want to give away the story itself, because as with the previous book, it’s better to go into it blindly. Although beware of the trigger warnings, it’s quite an intense read. I’ll just say that the last fifty or so pages are an absolute mindfuck that left me alternately crying, raging, and horrified... and finally, the ending brought out in me a monstrous satisfaction.
Because the rightful rage at being denied autonomy over your own body, at being gaslighted and abused into thinking you should feel ashamed of being emotional and “abnormal”, has to come to a tipping point. And when that finally happens, it’s bound to be messy...and oh so glorious.
I’ll leave commenting on the accuracy of the autism representation on more qualified readers, however, to me as a mostly neurotypical person, it felt genuine and real.
I will say, the descriptions got a sliiightly bit repetitive at times...and that’s about my only critique 👀
If staring at the wall is the indicator of a great book, let it be said I’ve spent a good amount of time in a trance. I finally feel like I know these walls of mine 😳
...and I’m eyeing the fuck out of my few plants (that have survived my dubious care so far). If you never hear from me again, their lovely long leaves probably created a bloody smile in my throat 💀
Thank you to Tatiana from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!
November 9, 2025
There’s a sensation that lingers throughout life — a feeling of bittersweet pain woven with an incomparable underlying pleasure. It’s the type of ache that beckons you back for more, and this book encapsulates that sentiment perfectly.
The author possesses a remarkable gift for crafting narratives that are disturbingly vivid, marked by raw sorrow and infusions of horror, yet imbued with glimmers of hope. They capture yearning in a manner at once exquisite and agonizing.
At the heart of this tale are two boys bound together by their struggles. It is a story of transformation—of a monster learning to embrace love and a boy who has forever sought the monster's affection.
Evander is a protagonist who will be etched into my memory for a long time, a character defined by his turbulent blend of anxiety, depression, trauma, and rage. His emotions are a torrent that sometimes leaves me disoriented, yet beneath this tempest lies a yearning for both his obsession and beloved. Evander grapples with self-hatred, but throughout the narrative, he embarks on a journey toward self-acceptance. He is simply a boy who has endured relentless pain, ultimately reaching a breaking point. I found myself captivated by his complexity and depth.
Laurie, on the other hand, emerges as a multifaceted character from the outset. Initially unlikable, presenting as an arrogant figure, his true motives unfold by the story's conclusion. It becomes clear that his driving force has always been a profound desire for Hazelthorn. He is a boy who has faced his own share of hurt, yet along the way, he discovered the courage to fight back. His journey of self-discovery and resilience resonated with me, and I too loved and admired him.
The bond between Evander and Laurie is fraught with pain and misunderstandings, a relationship marked by their shared yearning for each other. Their intense connection evokes a kind of pain that leaves the reader hungry for more. Obsessed with one another, their relationship is riddled with red flags, yet when contrasted with the other characters and the darker elements of the story, they emerge as a relatively healthy couple. Their love serves both as their downfall and their salvation.
At the center of this narrative lies Hazelthorn—a garden that fiercely protects what is rightfully its own and loves with an equal fervor, fueled by passionate rage.
In summary, I believe I found this story even more compelling than "Don't Let the Forest In." It has cemented its place as my favorite read of 2025.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{“Trying to stay away from you. I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat,
I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth
against yours.”}
{ “There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve
carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had
the chance to touch, but I wanted to.” His voice unravels, massacred on
yearning. “Let me ruin myself on you.”}
{He belongs to this boy in the way a flower belongs to its god.}
{“Thank you for coming to eat,” Evander says. “And be eaten. Long
may you rot.”}
{The garden, helping.
The garden, tending.
Because however deep its rage runs, it hasn’t always been a blood-
soaked monster.}
{“I told you, right from the
start, I wanted Hazelthorn.”}
The author possesses a remarkable gift for crafting narratives that are disturbingly vivid, marked by raw sorrow and infusions of horror, yet imbued with glimmers of hope. They capture yearning in a manner at once exquisite and agonizing.
At the heart of this tale are two boys bound together by their struggles. It is a story of transformation—of a monster learning to embrace love and a boy who has forever sought the monster's affection.
Evander is a protagonist who will be etched into my memory for a long time, a character defined by his turbulent blend of anxiety, depression, trauma, and rage. His emotions are a torrent that sometimes leaves me disoriented, yet beneath this tempest lies a yearning for both his obsession and beloved. Evander grapples with self-hatred, but throughout the narrative, he embarks on a journey toward self-acceptance. He is simply a boy who has endured relentless pain, ultimately reaching a breaking point. I found myself captivated by his complexity and depth.
Laurie, on the other hand, emerges as a multifaceted character from the outset. Initially unlikable, presenting as an arrogant figure, his true motives unfold by the story's conclusion. It becomes clear that his driving force has always been a profound desire for Hazelthorn. He is a boy who has faced his own share of hurt, yet along the way, he discovered the courage to fight back. His journey of self-discovery and resilience resonated with me, and I too loved and admired him.
The bond between Evander and Laurie is fraught with pain and misunderstandings, a relationship marked by their shared yearning for each other. Their intense connection evokes a kind of pain that leaves the reader hungry for more. Obsessed with one another, their relationship is riddled with red flags, yet when contrasted with the other characters and the darker elements of the story, they emerge as a relatively healthy couple. Their love serves both as their downfall and their salvation.
At the center of this narrative lies Hazelthorn—a garden that fiercely protects what is rightfully its own and loves with an equal fervor, fueled by passionate rage.
In summary, I believe I found this story even more compelling than "Don't Let the Forest In." It has cemented its place as my favorite read of 2025.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{“Trying to stay away from you. I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat,
I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth
against yours.”}
{ “There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve
carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had
the chance to touch, but I wanted to.” His voice unravels, massacred on
yearning. “Let me ruin myself on you.”}
{He belongs to this boy in the way a flower belongs to its god.}
{“Thank you for coming to eat,” Evander says. “And be eaten. Long
may you rot.”}
{The garden, helping.
The garden, tending.
Because however deep its rage runs, it hasn’t always been a blood-
soaked monster.}
{“I told you, right from the
start, I wanted Hazelthorn.”}
March 17, 2026
AASBJDNDDNNDJAJAQJ CZYTAJCIE DZIWNE KSIĄŻKI!!!
![Profile Image for ariyel ⟡ [semi-ia].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1773105650i/112956157._UY200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
November 9, 2025
── ⋆˙⟡ 4.75 stars! ★
﹒⌗﹒contains no spoilers﹒౨ৎ˚₊‧
“he is icarus with wings of swan feathers, who chose to fly into the sun because it looked like a pretty boy.”
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ my thoughts♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ i don’t even know what to say. i had like three days to sit on this and i still have no words… i was just so extremely excited to read this. don’t let the forest in was one of my favorite reads this year so i was hoping it’d deliver. and it absolutely did. i do think i liked dltfi more, but this was still so good. the writing? stunning. the characters? loved them. the plot? completely unhinged. and absolutely my thing. and the vibes. god. i will read literally anything this author puts out.
the first half was definitely my favorite. i loved being just as confused as evander, stuck inside the house, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. the mystery, the paranoia, the weird rules—i had theories and suspicions but i never really knew where it was going.
also the botanical horror??? i don’t think i’ve read that anywhere else yet, but i love how this author does it. it’s creepy and weird and gross but in this really beautiful, eerie way. like the plants shouldn’t be alive but they are and they’re watching. they know things. i loved it.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ characters♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ evander! my beloved. like yes he’s deeply traumatized and unraveling at the seams and definitely not okay, but he’s so compelling. he’s scared and angry and obsessive and full of rage he’s not allowed to express. and the writing really makes you feel his spirals, especially in those locked door chapters where everything gets unbearably tense.
ৎ laurie was such a menace. and i loved him. he’s a little shit the entire time and somehow it just made him more fun to read. i liked how you could never tell what his deal was. he’s charming and careless and mean, and then he’ll suddenly be soft in the most suspicious way.
ৎ side characters did exactly what they needed to. byron was terrifying. carrington gave off weird cryptkeeper energy. everyone felt like they were hiding something and it just added to the whole gothic mess. and then there’s the garden. which is absolutely a character in itself. i loved the way it was described and how it creeps in more and more as the story unravels.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ romance♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ it’s not a romance exactly. but also yeah it is. it’s obsession and trauma and toxic emotional entanglement and maybe something gentler underneath all of it—but it’s all so buried. i loved how unpredictable their dynamic was, how it kept shifting between hatred and fondness and distrust and craving. evander thinking about him constantly, remembering these strange little moments from their childhood, trying not to care but clearly so affected.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ extras♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
— the concept is just so cool?? creepy manor. murder mystery. alive garden. inheritance. like. yeah okay i’m in.
— the garden scenes were insane. every single one.
— genuinely thought i was going insane with the whole surgery plotline.
— really loved how this book messed with memory.
— the conservatory scene?? horrifying. the tea. the plants. the thing in his throat. i knew from that moment i was in.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ overall♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ just so deeply weird and unsettling and beautiful. i had such a good time with this. i loved the characters. i loved the plot. i loved the writing. genuinely cannot wait for whatever this author writes next.
── ⟢ ・⸝⸝ entry 0366 ❞
☆ 🖇️ pre-read 𖥻 ＜꒱
i am! so! excited! don’t let the forest in basically rewired my brain so. yeah. i’ve been waiting for this one. if this even comes close to that one i will be insufferable.
﹒⌗﹒contains no spoilers﹒౨ৎ˚₊‧
“he is icarus with wings of swan feathers, who chose to fly into the sun because it looked like a pretty boy.”
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ my thoughts♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ i don’t even know what to say. i had like three days to sit on this and i still have no words… i was just so extremely excited to read this. don’t let the forest in was one of my favorite reads this year so i was hoping it’d deliver. and it absolutely did. i do think i liked dltfi more, but this was still so good. the writing? stunning. the characters? loved them. the plot? completely unhinged. and absolutely my thing. and the vibes. god. i will read literally anything this author puts out.
the first half was definitely my favorite. i loved being just as confused as evander, stuck inside the house, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. the mystery, the paranoia, the weird rules—i had theories and suspicions but i never really knew where it was going.
also the botanical horror??? i don’t think i’ve read that anywhere else yet, but i love how this author does it. it’s creepy and weird and gross but in this really beautiful, eerie way. like the plants shouldn’t be alive but they are and they’re watching. they know things. i loved it.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ characters♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ evander! my beloved. like yes he’s deeply traumatized and unraveling at the seams and definitely not okay, but he’s so compelling. he’s scared and angry and obsessive and full of rage he’s not allowed to express. and the writing really makes you feel his spirals, especially in those locked door chapters where everything gets unbearably tense.
ৎ laurie was such a menace. and i loved him. he’s a little shit the entire time and somehow it just made him more fun to read. i liked how you could never tell what his deal was. he’s charming and careless and mean, and then he’ll suddenly be soft in the most suspicious way.
ৎ side characters did exactly what they needed to. byron was terrifying. carrington gave off weird cryptkeeper energy. everyone felt like they were hiding something and it just added to the whole gothic mess. and then there’s the garden. which is absolutely a character in itself. i loved the way it was described and how it creeps in more and more as the story unravels.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ romance♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ it’s not a romance exactly. but also yeah it is. it’s obsession and trauma and toxic emotional entanglement and maybe something gentler underneath all of it—but it’s all so buried. i loved how unpredictable their dynamic was, how it kept shifting between hatred and fondness and distrust and craving. evander thinking about him constantly, remembering these strange little moments from their childhood, trying not to care but clearly so affected.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ extras♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
— the concept is just so cool?? creepy manor. murder mystery. alive garden. inheritance. like. yeah okay i’m in.
— the garden scenes were insane. every single one.
— genuinely thought i was going insane with the whole surgery plotline.
— really loved how this book messed with memory.
— the conservatory scene?? horrifying. the tea. the plants. the thing in his throat. i knew from that moment i was in.
﹒ ⋆ ꩜ ⋆ 𓂃 ₊ ⊹
⟢ ⌗ ⋮ overall♟️ ིܳ ﹾ ⸝⸝
ৎ just so deeply weird and unsettling and beautiful. i had such a good time with this. i loved the characters. i loved the plot. i loved the writing. genuinely cannot wait for whatever this author writes next.
── ⟢ ・⸝⸝ entry 0366 ❞
☆ 🖇️ pre-read 𖥻 ＜꒱
i am! so! excited! don’t let the forest in basically rewired my brain so. yeah. i’ve been waiting for this one. if this even comes close to that one i will be insufferable.
January 4, 2026
Two boys, bound by fate and a voracious desire ingrained in their souls despite their animosity, inhabit the chilling, suspenseful world of Hazelthorn, a botanical gothic horror that explores the complexities of moral ambiguity, selfishness, love, and the cost of ambition.
Seven years ago, Evander was buried—alive—by his childhood friend, Laurie. Now, hidden away in the grand yet suffocating mansion of Hazelthorn, he lives confined to a single room. He is never allowed to leave, and his only company comes from his watchful guardian, Byron, and the dutiful butler, Carrington. One day, he finds his bedroom door unlocked. For the first time, he steps out into the looming darkness of the halls—and from that moment on, things take a dark turn as he begins to unravel the cruel secrets hidden within it.
Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews is an incredibly well-crafted piece of horror fiction. From the first page, we are introduced to the distorted cycle of solitary confinement that Evander experiences. Evander is a whirlwind of confusion, desperation, and raw emotion. ‘Pain has become a thing he wears,’ as the book says. He’s a character of extreme complexity; and the moral ambiguity he carries—rooted deeply in his true nature—makes his inner monologue an embodiment of eeriness. Yet, it is precisely that unsettling quality of his that really immerses readers deeper into this narrative.
Laurie, on the other hand, is a smug teenager that feigns nonchalance and indifference towards those around him. Yet, buried deep within him is a raw, visceral pain and despair that he can confide in only himself. However, he doesn’t let his anguish consume him completely—his silent resilience plays a pivotal role in the narrative, transforming both his and Evander’s lives.
Hazelthorn is suspenseful, harrowing, and eerie all at once. Each chapter pulled me deeper into the story—from the steady pace and character development to the unveiling of secrets and turning points, all of these are woven into a narrative that is both compelling and thought-provoking. Furthermore, the dynamics between the characters are complex yet admirable; their bond is rooted in their childhood and strengthened by the mysteries that pervade the book.
This narrative also does more than terrify—it interrogates the complexity of human desires, showing how human nature can often lead people astray into a cloud of judgment, obsession, and an unceasing hunger for power. Hazelthorn delves into themes of familial legacy, abuse, and the cycles of violence, questioning whether individuals are inherently monstrous or merely products of their traumatic circumstances. Yet human desires and experiences are defined by both virtue and vice; all it takes is the effort to resist unethical impulses, break these cycles of abuse, and act with reason. The core message suggests that true agency comes from recognizing and confronting one's own darkness to find a path to survival and justice.
On top of that, C.G. Drews is incredibly talented when it comes to crafting a vivid and suspenseful narrative. Throughout the book, I was completely drawn to the striking, vivid imagery that is present in this story; the ability to capture both the harrowing themes and quiet intimacy between the characters is incredible to say the least.
Ultimately, while I enjoyed the eeriness and the thrill that rise with the escalating suspense, I also appreciate how Hazelthorn highlights how the differences in a person can lead them to be seen as monstrous or wrong. The narrative may have an incredibly gripping plot, but its undercurrent—showing how the characters transform affliction into a form of hope that hints at a future for both monsters and humans—is profoundly moving.
4.7 stars
Seven years ago, Evander was buried—alive—by his childhood friend, Laurie. Now, hidden away in the grand yet suffocating mansion of Hazelthorn, he lives confined to a single room. He is never allowed to leave, and his only company comes from his watchful guardian, Byron, and the dutiful butler, Carrington. One day, he finds his bedroom door unlocked. For the first time, he steps out into the looming darkness of the halls—and from that moment on, things take a dark turn as he begins to unravel the cruel secrets hidden within it.
Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews is an incredibly well-crafted piece of horror fiction. From the first page, we are introduced to the distorted cycle of solitary confinement that Evander experiences. Evander is a whirlwind of confusion, desperation, and raw emotion. ‘Pain has become a thing he wears,’ as the book says. He’s a character of extreme complexity; and the moral ambiguity he carries—rooted deeply in his true nature—makes his inner monologue an embodiment of eeriness. Yet, it is precisely that unsettling quality of his that really immerses readers deeper into this narrative.
Laurie, on the other hand, is a smug teenager that feigns nonchalance and indifference towards those around him. Yet, buried deep within him is a raw, visceral pain and despair that he can confide in only himself. However, he doesn’t let his anguish consume him completely—his silent resilience plays a pivotal role in the narrative, transforming both his and Evander’s lives.
Hazelthorn is suspenseful, harrowing, and eerie all at once. Each chapter pulled me deeper into the story—from the steady pace and character development to the unveiling of secrets and turning points, all of these are woven into a narrative that is both compelling and thought-provoking. Furthermore, the dynamics between the characters are complex yet admirable; their bond is rooted in their childhood and strengthened by the mysteries that pervade the book.
This narrative also does more than terrify—it interrogates the complexity of human desires, showing how human nature can often lead people astray into a cloud of judgment, obsession, and an unceasing hunger for power. Hazelthorn delves into themes of familial legacy, abuse, and the cycles of violence, questioning whether individuals are inherently monstrous or merely products of their traumatic circumstances. Yet human desires and experiences are defined by both virtue and vice; all it takes is the effort to resist unethical impulses, break these cycles of abuse, and act with reason. The core message suggests that true agency comes from recognizing and confronting one's own darkness to find a path to survival and justice.
On top of that, C.G. Drews is incredibly talented when it comes to crafting a vivid and suspenseful narrative. Throughout the book, I was completely drawn to the striking, vivid imagery that is present in this story; the ability to capture both the harrowing themes and quiet intimacy between the characters is incredible to say the least.
Ultimately, while I enjoyed the eeriness and the thrill that rise with the escalating suspense, I also appreciate how Hazelthorn highlights how the differences in a person can lead them to be seen as monstrous or wrong. The narrative may have an incredibly gripping plot, but its undercurrent—showing how the characters transform affliction into a form of hope that hints at a future for both monsters and humans—is profoundly moving.
4.7 stars
November 4, 2025
A garden with a huge magical secret. It was weird, the plot took a while to be revealed, with the first half being a dramatic mess. I did actually enjoy the last part with all it's revelations.
December 2, 2025
Our mind can be a prison. It can be a tangled mess of vines, slowly yet invasively wrapping and coiling our thoughts like a suffocating blanket. Hazelthorn is a story about that very same prison where the monsters lurk inside the mind of a 17 year old autistic boy held in isolation in a gothic estate for many years. He’s trapped in a personal nightmare that is hauntingly creepy as much as it is beautifully terrifying.
I am no novice to gothic fantasy and horror but I am new to this author. C.G. Drews took the idea of rot, botany and quiet desperation and turned it into a sensory-rich experience full of vivid imagery, gentleness and hunger.
Full RTF!
I am no novice to gothic fantasy and horror but I am new to this author. C.G. Drews took the idea of rot, botany and quiet desperation and turned it into a sensory-rich experience full of vivid imagery, gentleness and hunger.
Full RTF!
October 28, 2025
Happy release day to this little eldritch horror baby
But maybe the thing he truly wants to understand is how he, too, can hate this boy and yet long to use his own bones to build a shelter around Laurie's raw bleeding heart. It is unfathomable to feel that way. Yet he can't make himself stop.
I don’t know if I will ever get to the end of a C.G Drews book and not just be left sitting in a shell shocked state wondering “What the fuck was that?….”
Evander is a young boy suffering from a mysterious illness, who has been confined to his room in the sprawling Lennox-Hall estate for years by his guardian, Byron Lennox-Hall. When his guardian dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances, Evander finds himself free from the confines of his room. However, new dangers surround him on all sides, most significantly in the form of Laurie Lennox-Hall, Byron Lennox-Halls grandson, who Evander has been forbidden from having contact with after Laurie tried to murder him 7 years prior…but Laurie may be the only person who can help Evander unravel the mystery of the Lennox-Hall estate and its mysterious gardens.
You can tell that spiritually, this is clearly cut from a similar cloth as Drews debut ‘Don’t Let the Forest In’, and features a similar atmosphere of cloyingly oppressive botanical horror and unreliable narrator. However, the body horror element in this one was dialled up to 11 and there were some truly nauseating passages (trypophobics beware). It’s an impressive testament to Drew’s writing skill though, that whilst reading some rather disgusting scenes, what I found myself struck by was the haunting beauty of the language.
The way that Drews speaks about desire and longing as this unrestrained and visceral creature that wants to sink its teeth into flesh and just bite and claw and tear resonates with me in such an intimate and indescribable way and I just cant get enough. I will sit at Drews table with my knife and fork and glut myself on whatever messy, toxic queer romance they want to serve me up everytime.
I found that the first half of this was a slower start and took a while to grab my attention completely and build some momentum but the second half of this was a ‘blink and you miss it’ rollercoaster of high tension suspense where I could barely take a breath. This was a solid 4/4.5 stars until the end but I loved the way this story came together in its conclusion.
That was a beautiful and gothic decent into a madness of botanical horrors.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review this story. Expected release date 28 October
It's an insult, of course, that he should eat Laurie's scraps. He thinks he'll throw it at the back of Laurie's head.
But he doesn't. When Laurie is far enough ahead, Evander fits his mouth over the place Laurie's was and bites down like a secondhand kiss. Juice splits free of the sun-hot skin and runs in a bloody line down his chin. He eats the whole thing. He craves more. Though he isn't sure it's the fruit his mouth waters for.
But maybe the thing he truly wants to understand is how he, too, can hate this boy and yet long to use his own bones to build a shelter around Laurie's raw bleeding heart. It is unfathomable to feel that way. Yet he can't make himself stop.
I don’t know if I will ever get to the end of a C.G Drews book and not just be left sitting in a shell shocked state wondering “What the fuck was that?….”
Evander is a young boy suffering from a mysterious illness, who has been confined to his room in the sprawling Lennox-Hall estate for years by his guardian, Byron Lennox-Hall. When his guardian dies suddenly in suspicious circumstances, Evander finds himself free from the confines of his room. However, new dangers surround him on all sides, most significantly in the form of Laurie Lennox-Hall, Byron Lennox-Halls grandson, who Evander has been forbidden from having contact with after Laurie tried to murder him 7 years prior…but Laurie may be the only person who can help Evander unravel the mystery of the Lennox-Hall estate and its mysterious gardens.
You can tell that spiritually, this is clearly cut from a similar cloth as Drews debut ‘Don’t Let the Forest In’, and features a similar atmosphere of cloyingly oppressive botanical horror and unreliable narrator. However, the body horror element in this one was dialled up to 11 and there were some truly nauseating passages (trypophobics beware). It’s an impressive testament to Drew’s writing skill though, that whilst reading some rather disgusting scenes, what I found myself struck by was the haunting beauty of the language.
The way that Drews speaks about desire and longing as this unrestrained and visceral creature that wants to sink its teeth into flesh and just bite and claw and tear resonates with me in such an intimate and indescribable way and I just cant get enough. I will sit at Drews table with my knife and fork and glut myself on whatever messy, toxic queer romance they want to serve me up everytime.
I found that the first half of this was a slower start and took a while to grab my attention completely and build some momentum but the second half of this was a ‘blink and you miss it’ rollercoaster of high tension suspense where I could barely take a breath. This was a solid 4/4.5 stars until the end but I loved the way this story came together in its conclusion.
That was a beautiful and gothic decent into a madness of botanical horrors.
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC and the opportunity to read and review this story. Expected release date 28 October
It's an insult, of course, that he should eat Laurie's scraps. He thinks he'll throw it at the back of Laurie's head.
But he doesn't. When Laurie is far enough ahead, Evander fits his mouth over the place Laurie's was and bites down like a secondhand kiss. Juice splits free of the sun-hot skin and runs in a bloody line down his chin. He eats the whole thing. He craves more. Though he isn't sure it's the fruit his mouth waters for.
April 15, 2025
3.5 stars
This was my first book by C.G. Drews, and it was a weird, gothic ride that I really enjoyed. The prose is stunning, structured and lyrical, yet bizarre and haunting. Drews has such a unique writing style that perfectly builds this eerie, gothic atmosphere.
I loved our main characters, Evander and Laurie. Their bond was intriguing and complex. I just wish we had gotten more detail about their shared past. It felt like there was so much emotional weight there, but it wasn’t explored as deeply as I hoped. I wanted to feel more of their history and connection as the story unfolded. I also wanted to understand why things happened the way they did between them.
There were so many “Hah??” moments that kept me on my toes, many eerie reveals that made the story exciting, especially in the beginning. But honestly, some parts, in my opinion, just didn’t hit like I hoped. Still, I genuinely enjoyed the journey.
Note : Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me this arc
“Their greed slips down their chins like saliva, and their eyes are black pools of lustful want”
This was my first book by C.G. Drews, and it was a weird, gothic ride that I really enjoyed. The prose is stunning, structured and lyrical, yet bizarre and haunting. Drews has such a unique writing style that perfectly builds this eerie, gothic atmosphere.
I loved our main characters, Evander and Laurie. Their bond was intriguing and complex. I just wish we had gotten more detail about their shared past. It felt like there was so much emotional weight there, but it wasn’t explored as deeply as I hoped. I wanted to feel more of their history and connection as the story unfolded. I also wanted to understand why things happened the way they did between them.
There were so many “Hah??” moments that kept me on my toes, many eerie reveals that made the story exciting, especially in the beginning. But honestly, some parts, in my opinion, just didn’t hit like I hoped. Still, I genuinely enjoyed the journey.
Note : Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for giving me this arc
December 29, 2025
I can never again read botanical horror without a friend reading it first to forewarn me if I will become too afeared. Cause this scared the shit out of me. Will it scare you? No, probably not. But me? Horrified.
Great book otherwise. Other than the repetition of verbage between this and Don't Let the Forest In, which I enjoyed more personally.
Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/vPEm9HbI8x8
Great book otherwise. Other than the repetition of verbage between this and Don't Let the Forest In, which I enjoyed more personally.
Reading Vlog: https://youtu.be/vPEm9HbI8x8
October 11, 2025
4.5 ★
🥀“He is gasoline poured into Evander’s open mouth of flame, and the worst part is how he likes the taste.”
i have never been more enamored with an authors ability to set such hauntingly beautiful tones, with romances between two people who would literally crawl inside the others body if they could.. just to feel closer to them. it’s something that continues to draws me in every single time. this is my favorite kind of horror.
🥀“There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but I wanted to.” His voice unravels, massacred in yearning. “Let me ruin myself on you.”🥀
Laurie and Evander both have their own secrets, some they rather keep buried. there’s so much animosity underneath their utter obsession with one another. Laurie is the outcast of his wealthy family, while Evander is the recluse kept isolated in the manor. i loved the setting, the descriptions of the area and this manor that’s foliage had a brutal mind of it’s own. the murder mystery of who killed Laurie’s grandfather and the rich family drama kept things moving, i was just so curious to learn why Evander had no memories and why everyone kept acting so strangely. the ending of this book couldn’t have been more fitting for these two boys, and maybe that’s the irony.. and the beauty of it.
🥀Laurie murmurs something that sounds like “I told you, right from the start, I wanted Hazelthorn.”🥀
➻ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Macmillan Publishing for the arc, all opinions are my own.
🥀“He is gasoline poured into Evander’s open mouth of flame, and the worst part is how he likes the taste.”
i have never been more enamored with an authors ability to set such hauntingly beautiful tones, with romances between two people who would literally crawl inside the others body if they could.. just to feel closer to them. it’s something that continues to draws me in every single time. this is my favorite kind of horror.
🥀“There is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces I’ve carved out for you. I knew I’d cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but I wanted to.” His voice unravels, massacred in yearning. “Let me ruin myself on you.”🥀
Laurie and Evander both have their own secrets, some they rather keep buried. there’s so much animosity underneath their utter obsession with one another. Laurie is the outcast of his wealthy family, while Evander is the recluse kept isolated in the manor. i loved the setting, the descriptions of the area and this manor that’s foliage had a brutal mind of it’s own. the murder mystery of who killed Laurie’s grandfather and the rich family drama kept things moving, i was just so curious to learn why Evander had no memories and why everyone kept acting so strangely. the ending of this book couldn’t have been more fitting for these two boys, and maybe that’s the irony.. and the beauty of it.
🥀Laurie murmurs something that sounds like “I told you, right from the start, I wanted Hazelthorn.”🥀
➻ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Macmillan Publishing for the arc, all opinions are my own.
August 17, 2025
♡arc review♡
"what is love if not devouring"
🪴autism rep
☠️dislike to lovers
🪴 fantasy + ya botanical horror
☠️gothic eerie mansion
🪴overgrown abandoned garden
☠️ murder-mystery similar to knives out (my favorite movie)
I loved this so much. cg drews has cemented herself as my favorite ya horror novel author. her books just stick with me and i find myself thinking about them days, weeks and months after reading. hazelthorn is so unique and it would make a really good movie//tv show.
"I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat, I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth against yours."
hazelthorn was INCREDIBLE. the murder mystery, the twists and turns, the botanical horror, the creepy vibes, the romance... sooooo good.
"two boys forever trying to sink their teeth into the other’s throat."
as always cg drews prose is beautiful and scary as fuck. i had to stop reading at night during one scene, i was sooo freaked out. hazelthorn played like a movie in my head. the vibes were immaculate!!!
evander was such a loveable mc. i was rooting for his happiness and growth. i see so much of myself in him. as an autistic girly, the rep is phenomenal!!!! the lack of autonomy, shame, rage and grief had me gripped by the throat. i highlighted so many things that evander said and felt about himself.
the romance, the YEARNING, the tension.. omg. it is so well written. they like each other and want to be close but they know they shouldn't feel this way!!!! ahhh, laurie×evander had me screeching like a pterodactyl.
i have guessed the plot twist for both hazelthorn and don't let the forest in. while i don't typically love that.... I think it attests to cg drews writing. if you're paying close attention, she gives amazing foreshadowing. there are always so many little details that will go over your head if you're not looking for them.
i highly recommend!!! hazelthorn is one of my favorite horror fantasy novels ever.
quotes i like:
╰┈❥Seven years ago, Laurence Lennox-Hall tried to kill him in the garden, down amongst the roses. But somehow, Evander is still obsessed with him.
╰┈❥When he fractures, it is in a place so deep inside himself that he cannot begin to collect the shattered pieces.
╰┈❥Take me apart if you want, find where I keep all my secrets.
╰┈❥If he could dig fingernails into the sides of Laurie’s face and peel back the mask, he would. He would core him like a pear and throw away the soft, rotted skin until he saw him as he really is: horrible and beautiful and real.
╰┈❥Words don’t make sense in the space between them, when Laurie’s heat is a molten promise against Evander’s bones.
╰┈❥He is held together in this boy’s arms.
╰┈❥If you put my name in your mouth, I will always listen.
╰┈❥He wants their twined fingers to grow together like soft green vines across a rose trellis.
╰┈❥He really needs to pull apart the wicker cage of his ribs and see if he can find the reason he’s so obsessed with that boy hidden amidst the rot. He craves him. He thinks about him all the time
╰┈❥Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn’t know how to scream. Fuck making your agony silent to avoid disturbing others. Maybe they should be disturbed.
╰┈❥He wishes his brain moved in one direction, not a dozen all at the same time, and that he didn’t pull apart in a panic if even one thing goes wrong.
╰┈❥He doesn’t want to be touched. He never wants to be touched
╰┈❥The more anxious he gets, the more things become unbearable— like clothes and lights and shrill voices. Sometimes he just wants to crawl out of his own skin and peg it on a washing line to air out for a bit while he takes a long nap somewhere cool and dark. But those are not the sorts of things he can explain out loud.
♡thank you so much netgalley, cg drews and macmillan children's publishing group for an arc♡
⋆⭒˚.⋆pre~read⋆.˚⭒⋆
yayy! i got approved for the arc from netgalley!
"what is love if not devouring"
🪴autism rep
☠️dislike to lovers
🪴 fantasy + ya botanical horror
☠️gothic eerie mansion
🪴overgrown abandoned garden
☠️ murder-mystery similar to knives out (my favorite movie)
I loved this so much. cg drews has cemented herself as my favorite ya horror novel author. her books just stick with me and i find myself thinking about them days, weeks and months after reading. hazelthorn is so unique and it would make a really good movie//tv show.
"I’d split my bones, I’d open my throat, I’d do anything to be near you and have even one second with my mouth against yours."
hazelthorn was INCREDIBLE. the murder mystery, the twists and turns, the botanical horror, the creepy vibes, the romance... sooooo good.
"two boys forever trying to sink their teeth into the other’s throat."
as always cg drews prose is beautiful and scary as fuck. i had to stop reading at night during one scene, i was sooo freaked out. hazelthorn played like a movie in my head. the vibes were immaculate!!!
evander was such a loveable mc. i was rooting for his happiness and growth. i see so much of myself in him. as an autistic girly, the rep is phenomenal!!!! the lack of autonomy, shame, rage and grief had me gripped by the throat. i highlighted so many things that evander said and felt about himself.
the romance, the YEARNING, the tension.. omg. it is so well written. they like each other and want to be close but they know they shouldn't feel this way!!!! ahhh, laurie×evander had me screeching like a pterodactyl.
i have guessed the plot twist for both hazelthorn and don't let the forest in. while i don't typically love that.... I think it attests to cg drews writing. if you're paying close attention, she gives amazing foreshadowing. there are always so many little details that will go over your head if you're not looking for them.
i highly recommend!!! hazelthorn is one of my favorite horror fantasy novels ever.
quotes i like:
╰┈❥Seven years ago, Laurence Lennox-Hall tried to kill him in the garden, down amongst the roses. But somehow, Evander is still obsessed with him.
╰┈❥When he fractures, it is in a place so deep inside himself that he cannot begin to collect the shattered pieces.
╰┈❥Take me apart if you want, find where I keep all my secrets.
╰┈❥If he could dig fingernails into the sides of Laurie’s face and peel back the mask, he would. He would core him like a pear and throw away the soft, rotted skin until he saw him as he really is: horrible and beautiful and real.
╰┈❥Words don’t make sense in the space between them, when Laurie’s heat is a molten promise against Evander’s bones.
╰┈❥He is held together in this boy’s arms.
╰┈❥If you put my name in your mouth, I will always listen.
╰┈❥He wants their twined fingers to grow together like soft green vines across a rose trellis.
╰┈❥He really needs to pull apart the wicker cage of his ribs and see if he can find the reason he’s so obsessed with that boy hidden amidst the rot. He craves him. He thinks about him all the time
╰┈❥Pain is meant to take up space or else we wouldn’t know how to scream. Fuck making your agony silent to avoid disturbing others. Maybe they should be disturbed.
╰┈❥He wishes his brain moved in one direction, not a dozen all at the same time, and that he didn’t pull apart in a panic if even one thing goes wrong.
╰┈❥He doesn’t want to be touched. He never wants to be touched
╰┈❥The more anxious he gets, the more things become unbearable— like clothes and lights and shrill voices. Sometimes he just wants to crawl out of his own skin and peg it on a washing line to air out for a bit while he takes a long nap somewhere cool and dark. But those are not the sorts of things he can explain out loud.
♡thank you so much netgalley, cg drews and macmillan children's publishing group for an arc♡
⋆⭒˚.⋆pre~read⋆.˚⭒⋆
yayy! i got approved for the arc from netgalley!
April 2, 2026
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Hazelthorn is a YA Gothic Horror story from C.G. Drews. I read from Drews for the first time last year when I read their popular novel, Don't Let the Forest In.
I was immediately impressed by the style of their prose, the relationships developed within the story and the vivid imagery evoked. I'm happy to report, all of these top-shelf qualities are again on display within the pages of Hazelthorn.
This story follows Evander, who has lived like a ghost within the walls of Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in as a small child by Byron Lennox-Hall, the reclusive billionaire owner of the estate.
Evander has very specific rules that he is made to abide by, such as he can never leave the estate, he isn't to go into the gardens, and he shouldn't ever be left alone with Laurie, Byron's mischievous grandson.
The last rule was actually established for good reason, when 7-years ago, Laurie tried to kill Evander, a situation which he barely survived. In spite of this though, Evander does have a bit of an unhealthy attraction to Laurie. Honestly, he's hard to resist.
When Byron unexpectedly dies, and it's announced the entire estate is being left to Evander, he suddenly has threats coming from all sides. As you can imagine, other family members aren't exactly pleased with this turn of events.
Despite his sudden windfall, Evander's not happy. He's suspicious about the way the way Byron died. He believes he was killed, but why? And how can he prove it?
Suddenly, Laurie becomes Evander's best ally for getting to the bottom of what really happened to Byron, and figuring out the true that lies at the heart of Hazelthorn.
This was great. It's dark and engaging and I was intrigued by Hazelthorn and everything going on there. Actually the more I think about it, perhaps I underrated this one a bit. It's probably closer to a full 4-star rating for me.
I just think in comparison to Don't Let the Forest In, I didn't find this one as easy to track, and I also didn't feel as emotionally invested, although there was still so much to love about this story.
In some ways, this story did remind me of a few other things I've read before, for example, These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall. What did stand out was the level of botanical horror that Drews included. That I really, really enjoyed.
This did have some interesting twists and some dangerous family drama, which I also thought was a lot of fun. I actually wouldn't mind reading this again someday, maybe getting a hard copy and annotating could help bring more of the nuances of the story to the forefront for me.
At the end of the day, this is another fantastic story from Drews, delivering on their signature writing style and lush, gothic atmosphere.
Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. C.G. Drews is such a talent, and I cannot wait to continue to follow their career. I know we're going to have a long and beautiful friendship!
Hazelthorn is a YA Gothic Horror story from C.G. Drews. I read from Drews for the first time last year when I read their popular novel, Don't Let the Forest In.
I was immediately impressed by the style of their prose, the relationships developed within the story and the vivid imagery evoked. I'm happy to report, all of these top-shelf qualities are again on display within the pages of Hazelthorn.
This story follows Evander, who has lived like a ghost within the walls of Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in as a small child by Byron Lennox-Hall, the reclusive billionaire owner of the estate.
Evander has very specific rules that he is made to abide by, such as he can never leave the estate, he isn't to go into the gardens, and he shouldn't ever be left alone with Laurie, Byron's mischievous grandson.
The last rule was actually established for good reason, when 7-years ago, Laurie tried to kill Evander, a situation which he barely survived. In spite of this though, Evander does have a bit of an unhealthy attraction to Laurie. Honestly, he's hard to resist.
When Byron unexpectedly dies, and it's announced the entire estate is being left to Evander, he suddenly has threats coming from all sides. As you can imagine, other family members aren't exactly pleased with this turn of events.
Despite his sudden windfall, Evander's not happy. He's suspicious about the way the way Byron died. He believes he was killed, but why? And how can he prove it?
Suddenly, Laurie becomes Evander's best ally for getting to the bottom of what really happened to Byron, and figuring out the true that lies at the heart of Hazelthorn.
This was great. It's dark and engaging and I was intrigued by Hazelthorn and everything going on there. Actually the more I think about it, perhaps I underrated this one a bit. It's probably closer to a full 4-star rating for me.
I just think in comparison to Don't Let the Forest In, I didn't find this one as easy to track, and I also didn't feel as emotionally invested, although there was still so much to love about this story.
In some ways, this story did remind me of a few other things I've read before, for example, These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall. What did stand out was the level of botanical horror that Drews included. That I really, really enjoyed.
This did have some interesting twists and some dangerous family drama, which I also thought was a lot of fun. I actually wouldn't mind reading this again someday, maybe getting a hard copy and annotating could help bring more of the nuances of the story to the forefront for me.
At the end of the day, this is another fantastic story from Drews, delivering on their signature writing style and lush, gothic atmosphere.
Thank you to the publisher, Recorded Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. C.G. Drews is such a talent, and I cannot wait to continue to follow their career. I know we're going to have a long and beautiful friendship!
August 11, 2025
"I'm only a monster because they made me monstrous."
i'm so sorry but shut up...this...right here...was so beautiful, atmospheric & everything i hoped it would be.
after all the hype surrounding C.G. Drews and Don't Let The Forest In, i had pretty high expectations for this & it did not disappoint. this was my first experience with C.G Drews & i am blown away. Speechless, because I have nothing to say other than this is perfection. The characters were written so perfectly, Evander stole a chunk of my heart & no, i do not want it back. The writing is so beautiful & immersive, it literally captivated me from the very first sentence & did not let me go until the last page.
the botanical body horror, gothic/eerie atmosphere, & the romance was so gooood!!! if i could crawl inside this book, curl into a ball & just live in peace within these pages i would. that's how much i loved it. 😭
queer horror is really knocking it out of the park this year. I cannot wait to read Don't Let The Forest In during spooky season & their newest book You Did Nothing Wrong.
5/5 ✨
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
i'm so sorry but shut up...this...right here...was so beautiful, atmospheric & everything i hoped it would be.
after all the hype surrounding C.G. Drews and Don't Let The Forest In, i had pretty high expectations for this & it did not disappoint. this was my first experience with C.G Drews & i am blown away. Speechless, because I have nothing to say other than this is perfection. The characters were written so perfectly, Evander stole a chunk of my heart & no, i do not want it back. The writing is so beautiful & immersive, it literally captivated me from the very first sentence & did not let me go until the last page.
the botanical body horror, gothic/eerie atmosphere, & the romance was so gooood!!! if i could crawl inside this book, curl into a ball & just live in peace within these pages i would. that's how much i loved it. 😭
queer horror is really knocking it out of the park this year. I cannot wait to read Don't Let The Forest In during spooky season & their newest book You Did Nothing Wrong.
5/5 ✨
Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review
August 17, 2025
thank you netgalley for the arc!
this was such a unique and fun read. unfortunately, i am still struggling with a slump and am not able to fully appreciate everything. this book has some nice prose and is objectively well written. there is also a lot of detail, imagery, and description which got a little redundant at times. the ending was actually my favorite part and had me zooming through, however, the beginning did drag a little bit for me, hence the 3 stars.
please send some immersive recs. help a struggling girl out here.
this book is out on october 28th!
— i will write a better review when i am not flopping. 😭
this was such a unique and fun read. unfortunately, i am still struggling with a slump and am not able to fully appreciate everything. this book has some nice prose and is objectively well written. there is also a lot of detail, imagery, and description which got a little redundant at times. the ending was actually my favorite part and had me zooming through, however, the beginning did drag a little bit for me, hence the 3 stars.
please send some immersive recs. help a struggling girl out here.
this book is out on october 28th!
— i will write a better review when i am not flopping. 😭
May 19, 2025
I received this as an arc from NetGalley.
I was super intrigued by this author and this story, but unfortunately it was not the book for me. I wish I had read Don't Let the Forest In before requesting this, as that way I would have known that this author's writing style was very much not my taste. I think if you enjoy their flowery, poetic prose, you have a good shot of enjoying this book!
Writing Style
I need to be mean for a second to get it out of my system: the writing in this was so pretentious and obnoxious and it totally impeded my ability to connect to the story and it's characters. I had to take breaks while reading because I would just need a chance to breathe, and it was always jarring to try and get back into it. I would have skimmed through most of this book just to finish it, but that was an impossible task with this writing, so I had to just plod my way through. I also don't think it was as clever as it was intended to be.
...but as I mentioned, this is very much a "me" problem, as I prefer more straightforward prose in my novels. None of the lines in this were impactful to me, because every line was so extravagantly crafted. (Also, the author needed to kill more of their darlings, because they just didn't fit.) This kind of writing demands perfection; any time a word didn't fit in perfectly (in my opinion, I suppose), it would interrupt the flow of the narrative. Or sometimes the writing would end up just being inaccurate, e.g. "dead silence" immediately followed with the sound of someone's shoes on the floor.
This writing style also made the dialogue sound weird. Either it would be more accurate to how people actually talk, which juxtaposed oddly with the descriptions, or it would match the rest of the writing style but not sound like something people would actually say. (And sometimes the dialogue just wasn't good, like it was clearly put it just to further the plot.)
I also noticed a lot of repeated words and phrases, and I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but I didn't like it (again, my preference!!)—Evander's hair was almost always "his curls," and lots of things "curved like" other things.
Plot/Structure
I'm sure this is tied into the writing style, but I found there to be a lack of overarching plot to this book; I had a hard time discerning where things were going, and which events and characters were important. There was a very forced ~murder mystery~ element, which was so not compelling—you could tell that was never supposed to be the main plot, but it stayed around a bit too long. I guess it was circled back to at the very end, but not in a way that I found satisfying. Also, Evander was NOT a good detective! He was like "I'll just draw upon detective stories I've read, easy peasy!" and then would make fuckass deductions (I don't think we were supposed to find his deductions stupid, but I certainly did).
I found much of this story to be "and then this, and then this, and then..." There was one part in the middle that had some action and I actually enjoyed it, but then things fizzled out again. There were a couple of ~big~ reveals, but I found them both to be rather anticlimactic. I have notes about other minor things, but I'll just let those go.
Characters and Relationships
Not to make everything a problem with the writing style, but I could not connect with these characters. Right away Evander keeps being like "wow I keep being assertive and aggressive, nothing at all like the quiet gentleman Mr. Lennox-Hall raised me to be!" but we as an audience never get to SEE the gentleman version of Evander, so it doesn't mean anything. I never really got a handle on who he was and how we were supposed to view him—well ok I suppose we're supposed to be sympathetic, but I didn't care enough. I also never got a handle on Laurie and why he never just came clean with things he knew about. The other characters were all just cartoonishly villainous, not at all threatening (which I assume they were supposed to be).
I'm mixed on Evander's autistic traits. For most of this, I actually thought they were well done and naturally incorporated into the larger story, yay! But the big reveal at the end kind of soured me a bit.
Also, I was annoyed by the romance between Evander and Laurie. By the end it made sense, but during the majority of the novel I just didn't get it. If there had been more of a platonic bond as well I might have bought into it, but it was just this weird attraction that felt out of place.
Final Thoughts
Even if the writing style had been more palatable for me, I'm still not sure I would have enjoyed this book that much. I don't think it's horrible and irredeemable, but it certainly has an intended audience that I am not a part of.
I was super intrigued by this author and this story, but unfortunately it was not the book for me. I wish I had read Don't Let the Forest In before requesting this, as that way I would have known that this author's writing style was very much not my taste. I think if you enjoy their flowery, poetic prose, you have a good shot of enjoying this book!
Writing Style
I need to be mean for a second to get it out of my system: the writing in this was so pretentious and obnoxious and it totally impeded my ability to connect to the story and it's characters. I had to take breaks while reading because I would just need a chance to breathe, and it was always jarring to try and get back into it. I would have skimmed through most of this book just to finish it, but that was an impossible task with this writing, so I had to just plod my way through. I also don't think it was as clever as it was intended to be.
...but as I mentioned, this is very much a "me" problem, as I prefer more straightforward prose in my novels. None of the lines in this were impactful to me, because every line was so extravagantly crafted. (Also, the author needed to kill more of their darlings, because they just didn't fit.) This kind of writing demands perfection; any time a word didn't fit in perfectly (in my opinion, I suppose), it would interrupt the flow of the narrative. Or sometimes the writing would end up just being inaccurate, e.g. "dead silence" immediately followed with the sound of someone's shoes on the floor.
This writing style also made the dialogue sound weird. Either it would be more accurate to how people actually talk, which juxtaposed oddly with the descriptions, or it would match the rest of the writing style but not sound like something people would actually say. (And sometimes the dialogue just wasn't good, like it was clearly put it just to further the plot.)
I also noticed a lot of repeated words and phrases, and I'm not sure if that was intentional or not, but I didn't like it (again, my preference!!)—Evander's hair was almost always "his curls," and lots of things "curved like" other things.
Plot/Structure
I'm sure this is tied into the writing style, but I found there to be a lack of overarching plot to this book; I had a hard time discerning where things were going, and which events and characters were important. There was a very forced ~murder mystery~ element, which was so not compelling—you could tell that was never supposed to be the main plot, but it stayed around a bit too long. I guess it was circled back to at the very end, but not in a way that I found satisfying. Also, Evander was NOT a good detective! He was like "I'll just draw upon detective stories I've read, easy peasy!" and then would make fuckass deductions (I don't think we were supposed to find his deductions stupid, but I certainly did).
I found much of this story to be "and then this, and then this, and then..." There was one part in the middle that had some action and I actually enjoyed it, but then things fizzled out again. There were a couple of ~big~ reveals, but I found them both to be rather anticlimactic. I have notes about other minor things, but I'll just let those go.
Characters and Relationships
Not to make everything a problem with the writing style, but I could not connect with these characters. Right away Evander keeps being like "wow I keep being assertive and aggressive, nothing at all like the quiet gentleman Mr. Lennox-Hall raised me to be!" but we as an audience never get to SEE the gentleman version of Evander, so it doesn't mean anything. I never really got a handle on who he was and how we were supposed to view him—well ok I suppose we're supposed to be sympathetic, but I didn't care enough. I also never got a handle on Laurie and why he never just came clean with things he knew about. The other characters were all just cartoonishly villainous, not at all threatening (which I assume they were supposed to be).
I'm mixed on Evander's autistic traits. For most of this, I actually thought they were well done and naturally incorporated into the larger story, yay! But the big reveal at the end kind of soured me a bit.
Also, I was annoyed by the romance between Evander and Laurie. By the end it made sense, but during the majority of the novel I just didn't get it. If there had been more of a platonic bond as well I might have bought into it, but it was just this weird attraction that felt out of place.
Final Thoughts
Even if the writing style had been more palatable for me, I'm still not sure I would have enjoyed this book that much. I don't think it's horrible and irredeemable, but it certainly has an intended audience that I am not a part of.
January 17, 2026
post read ｡𖦹°‧⭑.ᐟ
chills. literal chills.
4 stars <3 ; rtc(?)
────୨ৎ────
preread -📨 ｡𖦹°‧
im so exciteddd i heard so many good things <3
buddy reading with my twin vee 🍓 (can't believe this is our second buddy readd ; here's to many more i adore u sm )
chills. literal chills.
4 stars <3 ; rtc(?)
────୨ৎ────
preread -📨 ｡𖦹°‧
im so exciteddd i heard so many good things <3
buddy reading with my twin vee 🍓 (can't believe this is our second buddy readd ; here's to many more i adore u sm )
February 10, 2026
A delightful and visceral botanical horror story, as only C.G. Drews can write 🖤
The beginning is gripping and mysterious, it feels like a dark version of "The Secret Garden" at first, with the recluse sickly boy that never leaves his room and never goes into the garden.
I loved how the story unfolds bit by bit and we’re kept in the dark a long time until the secrets begin to come to light. It’s a slow book, but the pacing is excellent and the suspense is delicious.
The prose is beautiful, both evocative and raw. Having read Don't Let the Forest In before, this one feels less angsty but equally unsettling. I can definitely see the author's growth between both works.
Gothic horror, botanical horror, body horror, this book has all of the horrors 🤣
I guessed the ending somewhat early but it didn’t prevent me to enjoy the story.
I listened to the audio version and narrator was incredible! truly an excellent choice of voice actor.
Thanks to Recorded Books via NetGalley for providing an ALC
The beginning is gripping and mysterious, it feels like a dark version of "The Secret Garden" at first, with the recluse sickly boy that never leaves his room and never goes into the garden.
I loved how the story unfolds bit by bit and we’re kept in the dark a long time until the secrets begin to come to light. It’s a slow book, but the pacing is excellent and the suspense is delicious.
The prose is beautiful, both evocative and raw. Having read Don't Let the Forest In before, this one feels less angsty but equally unsettling. I can definitely see the author's growth between both works.
Gothic horror, botanical horror, body horror, this book has all of the horrors 🤣
I guessed the ending somewhat early but it didn’t prevent me to enjoy the story.
I listened to the audio version and narrator was incredible! truly an excellent choice of voice actor.
Thanks to Recorded Books via NetGalley for providing an ALC
April 19, 2026
i am unwell.
i am undone.
i need to sleep and figure out wtf im gonna do with myself after reading this.
alright guys. i woke up. turns out i didn't even sleep a lot because THIS BOOK. MY GOD.
hazelthorn has singlehandedly taken me out of what would've been the beginning of a reading slump.
my god, how do i even begin?
i feel like this book was written for me, even though i'm not a horror girly, a gothic romance enjoyer, or a botany nerd. but i embraced all those elements fully and completely, because everything was just written so well.
the writing was beautiful. in some cases of literature, a flowery writing style is just too much. in this novel, oh my god it was perfect. the little world of hazelthorn comes to life, in vivid detail that's both alluring and horrifying. i was so absorbed with the beautiful descriptions of everything, and genuinely i could not stop internally praising c.g. drews's writing prowess.
i literally could not stop reading. i couldn't even focus on my webtoons, or my discord notifications (yall should add me btw). i kept whipping out my nook and turning it on and reading. once i was in, i couldn't get out, which is how i ended up devouring this masterpiece in a 6-hour reading stupor. i bookmarked so many pages because they made me laugh, cry, or just hit me so deep emotionally i forget to breathe. when i woke up this morning, i read through my bookmarked pages, and well, my day was already off to a gorgeous start.
for context, it usually takes me over a week to complete a book around this same length, way longer if it's as deep and full of content like this.
a small side-note, i think a lot of people (including me) going in, expected this to be set in a gothic, victorian-era world. but no, it takes place modern-day, which i actually enjoyed way more, because it saves the chore of striving for historical accuracy.
i had to take a break to do my nighttime routine and get ready for bed, which is how i winded up reading this horror novel in the dark, late into the night.
this book is marketed as a horror novel, which i definitely see why. but if anything, hazelthorn made me giggle and kick my feet because omlll the way laurie riles up my darling evanderrr aaaaaaaa
for context, i get scared extremely easily. you play a minor scale on the right instrument and i'll hide under my bedcovers and shake violently. but this book just lifted my spirits so much, which i guess could be all the action that happened between...
...evander and laurie!!! omg this is the type of romance that i crave: satisfying, a perfect balance of physical and emotional attraction, shrouded in backstory. hazelthorn redefined my standards for so many things, and from now on, if anyone inquires about dark romance, i will tell them, i'll only read it if it's written like this.
dark romance is indeed twisted and dark, but nowadays it's just become glorifying abuse, which never happens in hazelthorn. the gory and disgusting things that happen within the estate's walls aren't sugarcoated, it explicitly says that byron and the other lennox-halls tortured both evander and laurie, etc. etc. before doing a LOT of things, laurie asks for evander's consent, and vice versa. their relationship did not stem from lust or happiness, but obsession, but it blooms into--dare i say--love?
this is how dark romance ought to be.
and forget about those 6'11" shadow daddies with 8-packs and a penis the length of a baseball bat fucking a barely-legal girl. give me someone like laurie. god this man deserves all the love and affection that evander will offer him. they're both tortured, flawed, traumatized, and they complement each so, so well. they're now my second favorite queer pairing, right after chase and buddy from cinderella boy!!
also, the things laurie say to evander as so, so sweet!! i literally died so many times over, and while i'm not the type to give quotes i adored in books, i have to this time.
the only small complaint. let me emphasize small. is the repetition of words like "coolly," "strides," and "mincemeat." for a book with such brilliant vocabulary, it is sad that some words were overused.
the real biggest problem this book had was that it fucking ended. like WHAT I COULD READ ABOUT THESE TWO DARLINGS FOREVERRRUHH
overall, i live, breathe, and worship this book. it has cured my stage 1 reading slump. it has given me a new book boyfriend. it has raised my standards. i will adore it until my dying breaths.
alright that was a long review it took like two full hours to write (mostly because i was in deep emotional turmoil but also because i NEEDED to do it justice)
--
3rd reread:
i got my discord mother to read this and now im gonna start a laurie cult
--
all reviews of c.g. drews books
hazelthorn
don't let the forest in
a thousand perfect notes
the boy who steals houses
the kings of nowhere
--
currently reading:
oh good it is yaoi i love yaoi
laurie and evander are both so darling i adore them
--
want to read/pre-read:
for anyone whos read don't come after me for shelving this as yaoi let me have the cold realization myself when i read (idk when that is)
i am undone.
i need to sleep and figure out wtf im gonna do with myself after reading this.
alright guys. i woke up. turns out i didn't even sleep a lot because THIS BOOK. MY GOD.
hazelthorn has singlehandedly taken me out of what would've been the beginning of a reading slump.
my god, how do i even begin?
i feel like this book was written for me, even though i'm not a horror girly, a gothic romance enjoyer, or a botany nerd. but i embraced all those elements fully and completely, because everything was just written so well.
the writing was beautiful. in some cases of literature, a flowery writing style is just too much. in this novel, oh my god it was perfect. the little world of hazelthorn comes to life, in vivid detail that's both alluring and horrifying. i was so absorbed with the beautiful descriptions of everything, and genuinely i could not stop internally praising c.g. drews's writing prowess.
i literally could not stop reading. i couldn't even focus on my webtoons, or my discord notifications (yall should add me btw). i kept whipping out my nook and turning it on and reading. once i was in, i couldn't get out, which is how i ended up devouring this masterpiece in a 6-hour reading stupor. i bookmarked so many pages because they made me laugh, cry, or just hit me so deep emotionally i forget to breathe. when i woke up this morning, i read through my bookmarked pages, and well, my day was already off to a gorgeous start.
for context, it usually takes me over a week to complete a book around this same length, way longer if it's as deep and full of content like this.
a small side-note, i think a lot of people (including me) going in, expected this to be set in a gothic, victorian-era world. but no, it takes place modern-day, which i actually enjoyed way more, because it saves the chore of striving for historical accuracy.
i had to take a break to do my nighttime routine and get ready for bed, which is how i winded up reading this horror novel in the dark, late into the night.
this book is marketed as a horror novel, which i definitely see why. but if anything, hazelthorn made me giggle and kick my feet because omlll the way laurie riles up my darling evanderrr aaaaaaaa
for context, i get scared extremely easily. you play a minor scale on the right instrument and i'll hide under my bedcovers and shake violently. but this book just lifted my spirits so much, which i guess could be all the action that happened between...
...evander and laurie!!! omg this is the type of romance that i crave: satisfying, a perfect balance of physical and emotional attraction, shrouded in backstory. hazelthorn redefined my standards for so many things, and from now on, if anyone inquires about dark romance, i will tell them, i'll only read it if it's written like this.
dark romance is indeed twisted and dark, but nowadays it's just become glorifying abuse, which never happens in hazelthorn. the gory and disgusting things that happen within the estate's walls aren't sugarcoated, it explicitly says that byron and the other lennox-halls tortured both evander and laurie, etc. etc. before doing a LOT of things, laurie asks for evander's consent, and vice versa. their relationship did not stem from lust or happiness, but obsession, but it blooms into--dare i say--love?
this is how dark romance ought to be.
and forget about those 6'11" shadow daddies with 8-packs and a penis the length of a baseball bat fucking a barely-legal girl. give me someone like laurie. god this man deserves all the love and affection that evander will offer him. they're both tortured, flawed, traumatized, and they complement each so, so well. they're now my second favorite queer pairing, right after chase and buddy from cinderella boy!!
also, the things laurie say to evander as so, so sweet!! i literally died so many times over, and while i'm not the type to give quotes i adored in books, i have to this time.
laurie clambers through, everything about him rabid and lean and hungry as he looks at evander. only evander. "hi, rapunzel." this is breathless, his eyes the bright, crystallized blue of the entire summer sky. "they're going to kill me for this."
"i'm not leaving hazelthorn because i'm not leaving you."
"if i help you to the bathroom, i'd need to touch you. is that okay?" the fact that he asks brings such brilliant and violent relief that evander can't hold back the choked sob.
"this is not," he mutters, "what i wanted to be doing with your mouth."
"you should've called for me. if you put my name in your mouth, i will always listen."
"there is nothing else to me but the hollow spaces i've carved out for you. i knew i'd cut myself to pieces on you if we ever had the chance to touch, but i wanted to." his voice unravels, massacred on yearning. "let me ruin myself on you."
all he says, his voice soft and reverent and broken all the way through, is, "god was stronger than me when he made adam and didn't fall in love with him."
the only small complaint. let me emphasize small. is the repetition of words like "coolly," "strides," and "mincemeat." for a book with such brilliant vocabulary, it is sad that some words were overused.
the real biggest problem this book had was that it fucking ended. like WHAT I COULD READ ABOUT THESE TWO DARLINGS FOREVERRRUHH
overall, i live, breathe, and worship this book. it has cured my stage 1 reading slump. it has given me a new book boyfriend. it has raised my standards. i will adore it until my dying breaths.
alright that was a long review it took like two full hours to write (mostly because i was in deep emotional turmoil but also because i NEEDED to do it justice)
--
3rd reread:
i got my discord mother to read this and now im gonna start a laurie cult
--
all reviews of c.g. drews books
hazelthorn
don't let the forest in
a thousand perfect notes
the boy who steals houses
the kings of nowhere
--
currently reading:
oh good it is yaoi i love yaoi
laurie and evander are both so darling i adore them
--
want to read/pre-read:
for anyone whos read don't come after me for shelving this as yaoi let me have the cold realization myself when i read (idk when that is)
April 22, 2025
Don't Let The Forest In was one of my favourite books of last year, so my expectations for Hazelthorn were HIGH, and somehow it surpassed them. Much like C.G. Drews’ previous book this is atmospheric, filled with body horror and grips you and doesn't let you go until the end.
Hazelthorn is releasing in October, and i think this is perfect because it's a book meant to be read in autumn. I’m in the southern hemisphere so I got to read it at the perfect time. I was cuddling a blanket with a coffee cup and a cold breeze entering through the open window. The vibe was perfect.
The language, the word choices, is so peculiar and it transported me to another place, I truly cannot explain how much of a unique experience this book is.
We follow a boy that was adopted by a billionaire and what happens when said billionaire dies and leaves his fortune, and creepy mansion with even creepier garden, to him. Also, the guy's actual grandson is present, but our main character doesn't like him for very valid reasons.
Read Hazelthorn if you like horror, books that transport you to a completely different place, great writing and a little bit of queer romance.
I loved every second of this book, and the end left me in tears. I couldn't recommend it enough.
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan for the ARC!
Hazelthorn is releasing in October, and i think this is perfect because it's a book meant to be read in autumn. I’m in the southern hemisphere so I got to read it at the perfect time. I was cuddling a blanket with a coffee cup and a cold breeze entering through the open window. The vibe was perfect.
The language, the word choices, is so peculiar and it transported me to another place, I truly cannot explain how much of a unique experience this book is.
We follow a boy that was adopted by a billionaire and what happens when said billionaire dies and leaves his fortune, and creepy mansion with even creepier garden, to him. Also, the guy's actual grandson is present, but our main character doesn't like him for very valid reasons.
Read Hazelthorn if you like horror, books that transport you to a completely different place, great writing and a little bit of queer romance.
I loved every second of this book, and the end left me in tears. I couldn't recommend it enough.
Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan for the ARC!
November 7, 2025
God can C.G. Drews write ANGST!!! I feel like teenage me would have been exactly the target audience for their books and honestly I still love them. This is angsty, queer YA horror and it's perfect. Disturbing and disorienting, it follows a boy missing memories who has spent years locked in a room in an estate owned by his guardian. Then the boy from his childhood comes back from boarding school, the guardian is murdered, and things begin to devolve...
This does include body horror and plant horror (if you couldn't tell from the cover!) and the most angsty/emo of obsessive gay romances. It's dark but it will make you feel things. Thematically it's also exploring the impact of abuse and trauma, and the ways that wealthy people are able to cover up their dark secrets. I loved it. The audio narration is excellent and perfectly captures the vibe of the book and characters. I received and audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
This does include body horror and plant horror (if you couldn't tell from the cover!) and the most angsty/emo of obsessive gay romances. It's dark but it will make you feel things. Thematically it's also exploring the impact of abuse and trauma, and the ways that wealthy people are able to cover up their dark secrets. I loved it. The audio narration is excellent and perfectly captures the vibe of the book and characters. I received and audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
November 13, 2025
⋆˙⟡ hazelthorn by c.g. drews .ᐟ
⋮ ⤿ 4.25 stars
୭ ˚ ˗ˏˋ started 06.11.25
finished 12.11.25 ˎˊ˗
⊹ ࣪ ˖ ໒🦌 𓂃⊹ ❝thank you for coming to eat,❞ evander says. ❝and be eaten. long may you rot.❞
⋮ ⤿ 4.25 stars
୭ ˚ ˗ˏˋ started 06.11.25
finished 12.11.25 ˎˊ˗
⊹ ࣪ ˖ ໒🦌 𓂃⊹ ❝thank you for coming to eat,❞ evander says. ❝and be eaten. long may you rot.❞
November 9, 2025
This book is magnificent. Just truly, disgustingly well-written. I loved it. I also had to have lemon balm tea near the end because I was so stressed 🙃
THE PREMISE: a boy is keep locked up in his room away from the wild, hungry garden - and the boy he can’t stop watching from his window.
TROPES & VIBES:
- YA MM gothic horror
- “I hate you” sounds like “I’m obsessed with you”
- ‘Touch him and die’
- Some of the best writing I’ve ever read. I’m in love with CG’s style of prose
- Murder mystery with a horrible side-cast of family members, like Knives Out
- Monster in the House
READ IF YOU LIKE: The Locked Tomb series (it has the same mix of banter, vivid descriptions, beautiful writing, mystery, and gore)
THE PREMISE: a boy is keep locked up in his room away from the wild, hungry garden - and the boy he can’t stop watching from his window.
TROPES & VIBES:
- YA MM gothic horror
- “I hate you” sounds like “I’m obsessed with you”
- ‘Touch him and die’
- Some of the best writing I’ve ever read. I’m in love with CG’s style of prose
- Murder mystery with a horrible side-cast of family members, like Knives Out
- Monster in the House
READ IF YOU LIKE: The Locked Tomb series (it has the same mix of banter, vivid descriptions, beautiful writing, mystery, and gore)
October 28, 2025
very few people write romantic obsession the way CG Drews does. I loved the writing all throughout this book, but sadly for me it was very much just vibes & I didn't really care much about the plot other than when there were intense body horror scenes mixed with botanical descriptions. it felt a little convoluted towards the end, and although the romantic elements felt passionate, I couldn't feel much for the characters themselves, & therefore also their intimate moments.
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