Hazelthorn

De: CG Drews

Narrado por: Michael Crouch

CG Drews, instant New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In, returns with another deeply unsettling and yet hauntingly beautiful tale of murder and botanical body horror, perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White, Annihilation, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

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.

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. But 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.

"Genuinely creepy … Lush, angsty, queer horror."—Kirkus Reviews

©2025 CG Drews (P)2025 Recorded Books

another stunning book from CG Drews

I loved absolutely everything about this. I'm feral for it. I want to get a physical book, tear out the pages, and devour them as I listen to the audiobook again. The narrator is fantastic as always, and the story - ugh, absolute horrible perfection.

Amazing & satisfying read!

In love with this story, and the narrator fits absolutely perfectly. It is breathtakingly beautiful and haunting, with a mix of murder mystery, body horror, and tender lgbt romance that I have come to adore from this author.

Only issue I had is after the end, the very last hour and twenty minutes are a repeat of previous chapters. This is just an issue for the audible audiobook.

Another banger from CG Drews

I absolutely love this narrator for this sort of character. He has such a perfect voice for an adolescent, gentle-spirited main character. He interprets the tone very well.
CG Drews is so talented with poetic imagery and really creating the gothic horror vibe. Love love love anything they write,

Let it rip you apart

So visceral. This book was captivating from start to finish. She rips you apart in the best way possible.

So GOOD!!!

Dark, and lush. A rotting fever dream of discovery and acceptance. A questioning of self and reality. Equal parts horrifying and endearing. Full of the yearning, angst, and twisting prose that I have come to love CG Drews for. I forced my self to savor the story of Evander and Laurie because I simply did not want it to end. The ending was excruciatingly perfect. I could not have enjoyed this more and will definitely be revisiting it again soon! A garden I would feed myself too without hesitation.
Michael Crouch did a beyond phenomenal job of bringing these two characters to life. The emotion in the dialogue, the distress, the yearning. All of the side characters were distinct and memorable as well!

another one of CG Drews' books destroying me

good Lord, this book had me surprised all the way through. I will never get over how disgustingly descriptive their books are (in the best way). I'm so sad it's over, but so so excited for the next one

Oh, my heart...

If you're on the fence about getting this book, do it. This story will gut you and rebuild you from the roots up.

Also, the way Michael Crouch says kisses...

Also, book ends at Chapter 33, then restarts at Chapter 28, not sure why it's glitchy like that, but at least it's glitchy on the side of the whole book being there.

Haunting and stunning

Obsessed. The narration perfectly suits the writing style and gave me chills. I loved it

I couldn’t have predicted that.

The story went a completely different way than I expected. I was thrown off that the last several chapters repeated at the end. Love the narrator.

DNF! Endless overwrought descriptions of nothing

After 3 hours, only one thing had happened. The rest were flowery descriptions that went on and on but were boring. No plot that I could find. Characters uninteresting. I'll be returning this one. And weird audio narrator with an east coast accent who certainly did not suit the vibe.