peachy_reads's reviews
161 reviews

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Did not finish book. Stopped at 29%.

Super boring. 29% in and you’re telling me the MMC’s evil plan to I’m pregnant women has been a MONTH of infiltrating her dreams? Pass.

Also the writing was not good. There were a lot of sentences that just didn’t make sense. And I HATE reading about every little action everyone takes. I don’t need to know the FMC went to the laundry mat, filled 3 machines, came back to her apartment, cleaned her cat’s litter in the main bathroom, and then sat on the couch for one hour reading before downloading a dating app. SO MUCH OF THAT WAS UNNECESSARY ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH A WORD COUNT??

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

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5.0

Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillian for letting me read this early!

HOLY SHIT I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! The writing was so beautiful and dark and haunting, I’m glad I waited until October cause the vibes were immaculate. At the same time, I’m devastated I waited so long to read this BECAUSE I LOVED IT SO MUCH MY GOD.

The creepy forest/fungal/nature horror was so well done. The perfect amount of body horror and surreal imagery. The constant creeping fear of the forest getting in, infecting them, corrupting them with its dark magic was to die for!

Andrew and Thomas were each such deeply complicated and tragic boys. I felt so much for Andrew’s struggles with asexuality and anxiety, even if it felt a little close to home. Thoma’s sharp edges and his fear of being alone while pushing everyone away broke my heart, oh god.

I also really really adored how VICIOUSLY Andrew and Thomas loved each other. It was so dark and codependent. They were so twisted into each other. There’s a line at the end about loving someone so much it ruins them and then yourself, and oh boy is that exactly the kind of love I adore reading about.

That said,,, that ending,,, oh boy. I do love the sense of urgency hurtling over a cliff as we approached it, and in that sense the last few chapters felt like a sudden stop after a short drop. But it was sudden. And the unreality of all of it kind of left me with some question marks, especially with Andrew’s unreliability as a narrator having just been put out front and center. I’m not sure what happened at the end but I don’t honk it matters to Andrew. He’ll always have his own litter world.

AND THE TWIST? Ok I will admit i am usually SO GOOD at guessing twists, they do not get past me. I only guessed this twist like two chapters before it was revealed. I thought something COMPLETELY different had happened, so that first sneaking suspicion of the twist hit my like a ton of bricks. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD. I tried to think back on those elements but (much like the boys) I was so caught up in the horror of the forest, in their warped little love story, that I hadn’t even been paying that much attention to That Stuff EVEN THOUGH ALL THE CLUES WERE THERE. This will def be a fun book to reread with the twist in mind ☺️

Fully 5 star read, I cried so much and it was so good 🥲

Content Warnings