beeatabb

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2 new books. Possible Kevin POV.

Kevin is the number 2.

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I need John's voice as my navigation the same way he commands Arthur around

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I just finished "Don't let the forest in" by CG Drews after 2 days of non stop obsessing over the story till i got through it -

SPOILERS AHEAD

First 50/60 pages were hard to swallow imo but the moment the boys had their first duel in the forest the plot picked UP.

Ending left me wondering though; the monsters have to be a portrayal of Andrew's and Thomas's grief, right? It's all a metaphor.

Thomas is convinced that a monster attacked his parents, 'Dove' appears to Andrew in the end, but only as a shapeshift monster that he knows isn't the real her, and both boys battle it out against the creatures every night in the same place they lost Dove.

Since they both had their individual passions as a safe space for them to tap into whenever overwhelmed (Andrew's writing and Thomas's art), it's natural that they would come back to it once faced with such trauma. They just... took it to the next level.

As the story progresses, Andrew's inner turmoil concerning Dove grows, his need to keep close to her and resolve her feud with Thomas, and so does the 'forest' inside of him, to the point that he can barely function. Once he comes to terms with last years accident, all his suppressed grief literally breaks out of him in the form of roses and vines. And we KNOW he refused to acknowledge Dove's death at first because of the ending of the flashback scene – he casually adds how he needs to tell Dove of all the chaos caused, when she's already gone.

So, it's hard, as a reader, to take Andrew's word for it when his perception is a skewed view of Dove's death, and of his self image. The moment the news is broken to him, Andrew shatters the mirror and justifies it by saying he saw a monster in it, his own reflection. And he's been battling monsters since.

Only when he's understood Dove's death, he buries his heart (his notebook with his escapes, his monsters) once and for all, he's grown past the visions, past the need to deflect, he's accepted it.

It happens slowly, as the monsters tell Andrew from early on what they want from him, his heart, meaning Andrew has had an understanding of the situation for a while, but he only acts on it at the end.

This doesn't only apply to his sister though, as Andrew's tormentors, Bryce and Mr. Clemens, fall to the hands of the monsters as well. I'd interpret it as Andrew using his stories as an escape for everything that troubles him, including these to characters which make his stay at school unnecessarily harder. He's been writing these entrancing yet macabre stories for years, signaling to his need for an escape with the effort he puts into his creations, when he can't fight back, which has been going on for longer than he let's on. Thus, he uses the monsters as an outlet for their bullying also. Question is, how do they end up dead?

My best guess would be Thomas.

Thomas consistently repeats his devotion to Andrew, no matter the cost. He fights for Andrew against otherworldly creatures. It wouldn't come as a surprise if he stepped up against Andrew's bullying, like he did when they were younger, but all the more violent, ESPECIALLY if he knew Bryce's motive was Dove. Not to mention that during the encounter with the Antler King, the boys speak, act and flee all bloody as if they were actually guilty, even though Thomas just slashed one of the monsters. What they do every night, and they just saved everyone... hm.

Thomas feels no remorse, sadness or any particular negative emotion towards his parents death (except for the stress he feels when all eyes are directed on him), maybe even thinking it's justified..? So his reason for seeing the monsters wouldn't necessarily be his parents, as it doesn't lay in his grief for them.

The common denominator should be Dove then. Thomas is clearly torn apart by the happening, and we can see how Andrew pushes Thomas further away from him during the flashback (keeps telling him to shut up), and, as desperate Thomas is to hold onto someone, he falls in deeper into the rabbit hole of their nightly fights in the forest. He may have just started fighting the monsters earlier than Andrew because he's already certain of Dove's death and the role he played in it.

Anyway writing was impeccable, descriptions and setting were so beautiful, Andrew's anxiety was radiating everywhere which was perfect

This was just my first read through and i have so much more to ramble about. They'll be all I think abt for the next month at least

[beeatabb]

YOU GET IT YESS

Aftg series adaptation idea:

Every episode starts with a brief flashback to Neil's life on the run/ his childhood, and at the end of it, the scene cuts to a contradicting thing he does in the present (which would be the plot of that ep).

Like, for example, "i have been running for 9 years, always hiding, staying out of sight, (bla bla u get the picture)" and then BOOM it cuts to Neil dressed up on live TV. Like ??? Yknow, and then it proceeds with the story leading up to that moment.

Or or or

Smth about how he got his scars, some dramatic montage of Neil and Mary fleeing, shots fired in the background, her prying off Neil's kevlar vest to reveal an ugly wound, and then the scene abruptly cuts to that same wound, but healed. Camera pans out, and its Neil showing Abby his scars.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN??

Like there are so many options:

Playing at Evermore as a kid/ ...playing at Evermore

Neil getting struck by an iron/ showing his scars to Andrew (again. Or smth else).

Lola teaching Neil how to cut things/ kidnapping scene

Nathaniel Wesninski/ Neil Josten

Etc.

Like, this way we get bits and pieces to Neil's past like how we do in the books; we're not getting totally info-dumped, but we get insight throughout the books as to who he actually is.

It also works with how strongly Neil holds onto Mary's rules, how sick/ sorry he feels whenever he breaks them, because we can actually see why she was so hell-bent on laying low; she doesn't only come off as some paranoid freak, she had reasons- (This is getting off track, Mary ily).

And then we get to experience pure whiplash as to how crazy Neil's life acctually is without him suppressing/compartmentalizing it.

Ah, a girl can dream...

[beeatabb]

Aftg series adaptation idea:

Every episode starts with a brief flashback to Neil's life on the run/ his childhood, and at the end of it, the scene cuts to a contradicting thing he does in the present (which would be the plot of that ep).

Like, for example, "i have been running for 9 years, always hiding, staying out of sight, (bla bla u get the picture)" and then BOOM it cuts to Neil dressed up on live TV. Like ??? Yknow, and then it proceeds with the story leading up to that moment.

Or or or

Smth about how he got his scars, some dramatic montage of Neil and Mary fleeing, shots fired in the background, her prying off Neil's kevlar vest to reveal an ugly wound, and then the scene abruptly cuts to that same wound, but healed. Camera pans out, and its Neil showing Abby his scars.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN??

Like there are so many options:

Playing at Evermore as a kid/ ...playing at Evermore

Neil getting struck by an iron/ showing his scars to Andrew (again. Or smth else).

Lola teaching Neil how to cut things/ kidnapping scene

Nathaniel Wesninski/ Neil Josten

Etc.

Like, this way we get bits and pieces to Neil's past like how we do in the books; we're not getting totally info-dumped, but we get insight throughout the books as to who he actually is.

It also works with how strongly Neil holds onto Mary's rules, how sick/ sorry he feels whenever he breaks them, because we can actually see why she was so hell-bent on laying low; she doesn't only come off as some paranoid freak, she had reasons- (This is getting off track, Mary ily).

And then we get to experience pure whiplash as to how crazy Neil's life acctually is without him suppressing/compartmentalizing it.

Ah, a girl can dream...

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So we've all noticed Andrew's pop culture references in the books, right?

"Oh captain my captain."

I've JUST picked up on this now??

I haven't seen any posts about it, (fat chance there are), but it felt like some little discovery 😭

Anyway I am now convinced Andrew is a Dead Poets Society fan.

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Wymack is a Swiftie confirmed

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"Is your learning curve a horizontal line?"

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Smokescreen

You're like a dream;

always on my mind,

but never to be seen.

You might rob me of my peace.

I see you in bits and pieces,

stolen glances and seeming pleases,

temporary masterpieces

only to be slashed by distance.

I can almost hear you,

your voice as soft as smoke,

'cause through the barrier of that choke hold,

the feeling we call despair,

you whisper "beware".

You're the one I listen to,

you're the one I follow,

even when everything warns me

I might end up hollow.

The smoke clears up

and I can see what I’m left with;

a reminder of your presence,

a simulation of compresence.

Only it happens in my head,

the you and me, momentarily,

because nothing can

bleak my senses then.

- BeeataBB