C.G. Drews’ return to young adult fiction is a gloriously gothic exploration of fairytales, isolation and obsessive friendship, set in an elite boarding school and a dark, untouched forest.

Andrew feels too fragile to exist properly in the world, thanks to the intense anxiety that either paralyses him or sends him spiralling. But between his polished and high‑achieving twin sister Dove, and his bold and fearless best friend Thomas, he’s able to keep himself mostly together.

But now, after a long summer apart, something is different. The close trio of friends is fractured but Andrew can’t work out why. And there’s something lurking in the dense forest that surrounds their secluded boarding school – something that’s following Andrew. Is it related to the bloody disappearance of Thomas’s parents? Or the twisted, macabre fairytale monsters that Andrew and Thomas have concocted together? And what price will they have to pay to keep the forest at bay?

This is a dark and emotional fantasy thriller, and a must-read for fans of dark-academia books like Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House or M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains. It’s spooky and evocative, and C.G. Drews perfectly balances the style with richly nuanced characters that provide plenty of substance. It’s also full of heart-rending pining, so I heartily recommend it for fans of romance – especially any readers who are keen to see romance for an asexual character. For readers 14+.