A review by booktribe
The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

The Forest Demands Its Due is a dark academia horror-fantasy about a queer Black boy, Douglas, who attends a boarding school that has murderous monsters and a curse on the town that makes everyone forget the kids who have been killed by those monsters. Except, Douglas doesn’t forget, and he may be the key to breaking the curse.

This book is just perfection! From the first page I knew this was going to be an amazing read. The writing sucked me in and never let me go. I loved so many things about it. It was incredibly creepy & mysterious, had so many twists & turns, there were so many layers to the story, and had the most lovable characters. Douglas was everything. I just wanted to protect him from the world🥺 And in a very shocking turn of events, I actually enjoyed the romantic subplot. I’m not usually a person who enjoys romance outside of the romance genre, but this was needed. The love interest, Everett, was so sweet. Douglas really needed a soft place to land during this story and that’s what Everett was to him. The ending was a tiny bit too long in my opinion, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment. I really loved this book! I think it’s my favorite book of the year so far!🥰

I’d recommend this story to anyone who’s in the mood for a mysterious, fast paced, horror-fantasy with lovable characters and a plot that will keep you guessing! This is a book that will make you stay up all night reading because there’s never a good time to stop! Definitely pick this up when it comes out in October because it is the perfect Halloween/Autumn read!

(Also, have you seen this cover??? Perfection!)

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books/Quill Tree Books and Netgalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: homophobia, homophobic slur, racism, death of a parent, sexual assault briefly mentioned 
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