Wishlist Wednesday- Hazelthorn

Hazelthorn

Release date: 28th October 2025

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Genres: YA fantasy ⊹ ⋆ Gothic ⊹ ⋆ YA Horror ⊹ ⋆ YA LGBTQ+ ⊹ ⋆

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Synopsis:

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.

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Why is this on my Wishlist?:

I have a bit of a craving at the moment for deliciously descriptive and haunting gothic horror novels. In recent years, C.G. Drews seems to have pivoted to writing gothic/dark academia/forestcore type books, and I am definitely here for it. Having enjoyed A Thousand Perfect Notes, I am looking forward to picking up more of this author’s work. I also seem to have read a lot of LGBTQ+ gothic horror type novels recently with f/f relationships, so I think it will be interesting to pick up a book with a m/m romance as the main focus and I will be interested to see how that leads to the author exploring different themes and tropes, as f/f horror tends to focus on female rage and agency.

Are you also eagerly anticipating this book? Feel free to leave a comment below, or connect via social media <3

Until next time, happy reading!

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