REVIEW: Hazelthorn by CG Drews

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Hachette Children's Group

Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Gothic

Release Date: October 28th 2025

TW: gore, abuse, eating disorders, ableism, murder

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, Byron Lennox-Hall, when he was a child. For his safety, Evander has been given three ironclad rules to follow:

He can never leave the estate. He can never go into the gardens. And most importantly, he can never again be left alone with Byron's charming, underachieving grandson, Laurie.

That last rule has been in place ever since Laurie tried to kill Evander seven years ago, and yet somehow Evander is still obsessed with him.

But when Byron suddenly dies, Evander inherits Hazelthorn’s immense gothic mansion and acres of sprawling grounds, along with the entirety of the Lennox-Hall family's vast wealth. There’s just one caveat: He must choose a new guardian from amongst Laurie's scheming, backstabbing relatives to help manage the estate until he turns eighteen.

Except Evander's sure his guardian was murdered, and Laurie may be the only one who can help him find the killer before they come for Evander next. Perhaps even more concerning is how the overgrown garden is refusing to stay behind its walls, slipping its vines and spores deeper into the house with each passing day. As the family’s dark secrets unravel alongside the growing horror of their terribly alive, bloodthirsty garden, Evander needs to find out what he’s really inheriting before the garden demands to be fed once more.

After finishing Don’t Let The Forest In over Halloween, I knew I had to get my hands on Drews’ newest novel, so the release day couldn’t have worked out better. This was an absolutely delicious story, and perfect for this time of year. The setting drew me in immediately because there’s nothing I find more enticing than a crumbly old house with mysterious residents. Not to mention an even more mysterious garden. Whilst slow to start with as we get to know our main character and his situation, the story is fittingly paced, with more and more clues unfolding as time moves on.

 

Evander, my sweet boy. I fell completely in love with him. Most of the book leads up to discovering the truth about who Evander is and how he came to be under the care of the unhinged family who owned the house. It was fun to try and makes guesses about him and end up being completely wrong. Though it’s not written on page, we can see from the author acknowledgements that Evander is an autistic-coded character, so I very much related to his struggles of acting a certain way and not understanding it.

 

The complicated and evolving relationship between Evander and Laurie, the boy he’s grown up hating, is a core part of this story. I was living for their interactions, which managed to be tense, funny, and emotional all in one. Finding out the truth about the childhood friendship was such a treat.

• Gothic vibes. The setting for this book is everything and it gives such an intense overall atmosphere.

• Characters to love AND hate. Whilst Evander and Laurie warmed my cold heart, the rest of the characters in this story are a NIGHTMARE. In the best possible way.

• Magical yet bloodthirsty garden. Need I say more?

 

Finishing Halzelthorn had me craving more books with similar vibes so I’m eagerly awaiting whatever C. G. Drews has planned next. This was easily one of the most fascinating stories I’ve been able to read this year.   

Royal Rating:

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Halloween Wrap Up 2025

Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates! 🎃 And if not, I hope you’re having a cozy Autumn evening. I only set myself a small reading goal for spooky season because life has been crazy, but I managed to finish them all so let’s discuss…

Sad Girl Hours by Anna Zoe Quirke

Saffron struggles with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and is dreading autumn and winter. She took time off in her first year at university and can’t afford to do the same this year if she’s going to achieve her dream of being an astrophysicist. She’s managed to keep it a secret from her friends – fearing that they won’t want to spend time with her if they see her at her lowest – but it’s getting harder. Especially when she meets Nell. 

Nell – wannabe poet, autistic and proud, and lover of autumn and winter – is determined to show Saffron everything these seasons have to offer. The two grow close, and when Saffron confides in Nell, romance blooms. But with Saffron struggling to keep a lid on her mental health and Nell figuring out her own sexual identity, things soon spiral out of control. 

A dual-perspective sapphic rom-com perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alice Oseman.

This was the perfect autumn read, really. I read this as part of Sapphic September and it was full of queer joy, whilst also dealing with some complex issues. I’d never read a story that focused on Seasonal Affective Disorder before, so I appreciated that this book gently fed me more information about the condition that Saffron struggles with each year.

Then there was Nell, who I absolutely ADORED. Since my autism diagnosis at the start of this year, I’ve been on a mission to discover more books with autistic main characters, so that’s what initially drew me to this story. It was super refreshing to see that autism wasn’t the focus of Nell’s plot because we need more casual neurodiverse representation. I was also pleasantly surprised by the acespec rep!

Royal Rating:

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

When Paul and Julian meet as university freshmen in early 1970s Pittsburgh, they are immediately drawn to one another. A talented artist, Paul is sensitive and agonizingly insecure, incomprehensible to his working-class family, and desolate with grief over his father's recent death. Paul sees his wealthy, effortlessly charming Julian as his sole intellectual equal - an ally against the conventional world he finds so suffocating. He idolizes his friend for his magnetic confidence. But as charismatic as he can choose to be, Julian also is volatile and capriciously cruel. An admiration isn't the same as trust. 

As their friendship spirals into an all-consuming intimacy, Paul is desperate to protect their precarious bond, even as it becomes clear that pressures from the outside world are nothing compared with the brutality they are capable of inflicting on one another. Separation is out of the question. But as their orbit compresses and their grip on one another tightens, they are drawn to an act of irrevocable violence that will force the young men to confront a shattering truth at the core of their relationship. 

Exquisitely plotted, unfolding with propulsive ferocity, These Violent Delights is a novel of escalating dread and an excavation of the unsettling depths of human desire.

Maybe one day I will finally except the fact that dark academia is a genre I prefer to enjoy the aesthetics of rather than read. I love watching dark academia movies and the overall vibes of the genre, but whenever I delve into a book, it never ends well for me. After having an exceptionally complicated relationship with The Secret History and If We Were Villains (and don’t get me STARTED on A Little Life) I really should have been more cautious before picking this one up. But in typical me fashion, I blinded trusted my bookstagram mutuals’ praise of this one and thought that maybe, just maybe, the dark academia would hit different this time.

It didn’t.

I will say I enjoyed it more than 90% of the others I’ve tried, but I still wanted to bash my head against the wall multiple times whilst reading it. The growing tension throughout the story was perfect though and it did keep me hooked in the second half. But I’m still not fully sold.

Royal Rating:

Don’t Let The Forest In by C. G. Drews

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more. 

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories. 

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...

Okay, so I know I’ve literally just said I don’t mix well with dark academia, but this is an exception. This was actually the highlight of my Halloween reading. It’s dark academia mixed with fantasy, so it’s a much better combo for me.

I adored the characters, the mystery, the gory monsters, not to mention the illustrations. AND there was a fantastic plot twist that left me reeling. The only reason this book juuuuust missed out on five stars for me is because the characters stuttered a little too much, to the point that it grated on me after a while. And when I say stutter, I don’t mean they have a speech impairment because I would absolutely understand that. It was just them being too terrified or anxious to talk and it seemed to be happening on every other page. But that simply comes down to personal preference.

I’ve just picked up the author’s next book, Hazelthorn, and I’m diving into it immediately because I’m eager to see what they come up with next.

Royal Rating:

So these were my Halloween reads for 2025! Not as many as I wanted to get through because I’ve had some personal issues going on throughout October that have left me with less time to read, but I’m happy with my little pile.

What have you been reading during spooky season?

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DESKTOP WALLPAPERS: October 2025

It's officially spooky month! 🎃 I love this time of year - the colours, the crunchy leaves, the crisp air, the cosy hot drinks, it's perfect for my sensory-seeking brain. I'm always outside with my camera during the autumn months, making the most of things before the weather turns too cold for me to be snapping pics without gloves making things difficult. So, please enjoy some of the photos I've picked out for October's wallpapers!

October Trees Wallpaper

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With Calendar / Without

Trees look so much more beautiful during golden hour at this time of year. And since the sun sets earlier, I can take golden hour pictures AND be back at home with a cup of tea by 8pm. Heaven. 

October Crunchy Leaves Wallpaper

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With Calendar / Without

It's a tradition for me to snap pics of my feet walking through crunchy leaves every autumn. I just can't help myself.

October Red Leaf Wallpaper

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With Calendar / Without

LEAVES!! COLOURFUL LEAF SEASON!!!! I love making the most of the wide array of leaves strewn all over the floor in October. 

October Mushrooms Wallpaper

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With Calendar / Without

Nothing beats spotting some mushrooms on an autumn walk. It's all fun and games until I get my jeans covered in mud because I'm on the floor trying to photograph them. 

October Spooky Books Wallpaper

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Here's the bookish entry for this month, courtesy of my mum's horror shelf. She a huge lover of all things creepy when it comes to books, so I often snap a pic of her well-loved copies for Halloween. 

October Autumn Pattern Wallpaper

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Of course I had to draw up a little autumnal illustration for you all! I've been having fun learning how to make patterns on Procreate and here's the result. This ended up being my personal wallpaper for the month because I love it so much.

I hope one of these wallpapers meets your desktop needs this October! Do you have any plans for spooky season? What books are you planning to read? Let me know in the comments. I'll see you in November for some chillier wallpapers...

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