I have been a C. G. Drews fan since Don’t Let the Forest In came across my desk (read review here). I absolutely had to request Hazelthorn on NetGalley and the stars aligned to get me a copy of the audiobook. The audiobook added the extra atmospheric doom and gloom to the book that I absolutely needed and rounded off the whole experience.

This botanical YA horror is set in a crumbling manor, Hazelthorn. As Evander inherits the house, a murder mystery and a set of vicious relatives come with it. Evander, locked up in the house for years, needs Lawrence’s help to solve the mystery and take his rightful place.

Lawrence and Evander have a violent history, the details of which are hazy.

The narrative is in Evander’s point of view, so this keeps the readers just as confused and muddled as he is as he struggles to figure out his origins, reasons why he is kept at Hazelthorn and his equation with Lawrence. The narrative style makes this an absolutely riveting read to the point that I do not want to give away more details.

Beyond the Gothic YA queer romance that Drews writes so well, this book also keeps up a commentary on power and its cost, wealth and the sacrifices for it, and the sinister cost of greed. It is gory and surprising in its twists and turns to the extent that the ending completely took me by surprise in a very satisfying way.

It wouldn’t be a C. G. Drews book if the garden isn’t trying to invade the house. So the lush garden curated outside Hazelthorn is sure trying to invade the lives of the inhabitants of the house. Figuring out the how of it was a really memorable experience at 3AM.

There’s child abuse at the hands of completely intolerable adults. The interactions with the adults were written so well to embody all that frustration without coming across as juvenile that you get one step closer to empathising with the protagonists. Drews’ lyrical prose added to the atmosphere of the novel and intensified the mystery surrounding the events.

The setting of Hazelthorn itself, with its labyrinthine corridors and maze of gardens, invokes a sense of losing your way in the story but Drews keeps a firm hand on the narrative to keep it just whimsical enough to tickle your imagination but the tension taut enough to keep you grounded.

As the grandfather, Byron’s, sister, Oleander, takes up Evander’s guardianship, the dynamics between Laurie and Evander begin to change. United against a common enemy and for a cause, they start looking for the truth.

I felt the beginning of the book was completely misleading by design as the Eldritch horrors came to life mid way through the plot. After all, when a bloodthirsty garden comes to life demanding more sacrifice, how much is enough?

This was a sensational read for me and I am waiting to forget enough details of the plot to go back into it again.

---

You can pick up your copy here.

Have you read any of C. G. Drews’ works? What are your thoughts on botanical horror?

Feel free to connect with me across social media to talk books. I would love to hear from you.