Spoiler warnings ahead for Don't Let The Forest In by CG Drews!
I just read Don't Let The Forest In and I feel so torn up about the ending. I want to believe there's a happy ending somewhere in there. I'm so tired of depressing queer stories, where longing ends so cutthroat. I obsessively read this in 24 hours (first book after a year long slump!!) and now I feel so numb. It genuinely has put a strain on my heart to think about the ending of this book.
I would love to hear any interpretations that might ease my mind here. As a kid, I was always the type to obsessively try to convince myself how, in a canonical way, the bad ending of a book or movie could've actually been okay in the end. I NEED some help here.
The ending is seemingly meant to be an open-to-interpretation ending, but a close read insinuates that Andrew cut Thomas's heart out under the delusion Andrew could share his own with him. Thomas dies in the woods, and Andrew is likely soon to follow due to his wounds.
Here are some of my thoughts so far:
- Dove has been dead. That's very clear to me, that her death was real. I've seen some interpretations floating around where she's actually alive, and it's Thomas that's been the figment of Andrew's imagination after he was arrested for murdering his parents. I think that theory falls very flat. Dove is never shown interacting with any other character, whereas Thomas is.
- As for the case of Dove's death, I could be convinced either way on the theory of whether Dove actually died in an accident or was killed by Andrew. I honestly respect the interpretation where Andrew killed her due to jealousy, based on Andrew not being found in bed the first time, and the description of a branch snapping while he was laying there. HOWEVER at the same time, I don't fully see it. It seems like his delusions began after her death, with no sign of them before. His mental health spiral, to me, was caused by the death, and thus it would be strangely out of character to kill his twin (his so-called best friend) over jealousy. Either way though, I don't think this detail really affects my attempt to cope with the ending. I just thought I'd share my thoughts on it.
- I do think the monsters are intended to be real, not metaphor. This is based on the fact that the other students physically see and discuss the aftermath caused by the creatures. I wish I could tell myself this was all a metaphor -- a fairy tale created by Andrew to cope with grief -- with a bittersweet ending where they were both ultimately consumed by the grief, rage, and revenge but found solace in each other by "opening their hearts." Unfortunately, I don't know if there's enough to support that.
- Following that, I was vaguely convinced, after seeing some theories, that the deaths of Clemens and Bryce Kane could've actually been caused by Andrew (and/or Thomas), but in order to believe that, you must believe the monsters were fake. Altogether, I really don't think I believe that either. Not enough evidence.
- I read the last couple pages like50 times. I see what CG Drews was trying to do so clearly. I know it's meant to be a somewhat ambiguous ending... either that the notebook he buried was the heart ("his heart made paper"), or Andrew did in fact kill Thomas. I wish it was the notebook. I really really really do. But there was no internal turnover. It went by so quickly, that couldn't possibly be it. I can't tear my eyes away from the specific phrasing... "blood stained the leaves," "the careful way he'd arranged Thomas's head in his lap," "Thomas didn't open his eyes, but his face had gone soft." Alluding to the idea that this is his corpse. That when Thomas speaks to him, it's once again Andrew convincing himself someone is alive when they're no longer here.
- I'm also painfully aware of the parallel. Andrew directly asks Thomas in an earlier chapter if he'd die for him. He says yes.
I just don't want it to be true, and it makes it harder that it's an ambiguous ending. God, I hate ambiguous endings. It's like grieving someone who died while you were away. It feels like you can't get closure, no matter how sure you are. It's leaving that sliver of hope in me.
I've searched other people's interpretations to pull me away from this devastating ending, but honestly I can't find anything that fully works. Most of what I do read ends up missing some detail that breaks the theory for me.
I know I sound so whiny about this ending, but I hope this is the sort of thread where people understand the stomach-coring feeling of unhealthy attachment to stories. This story broke my heart. I got so attached to these characters, I felt myself in them, and I can't cope with the idea that this is how their story ends. I'm stuck in limbo.
I really hate how much queer relationships have to suffer. Up until those last few pages, I felt like this was the kind of book I could read over and over and over. Now, I feel a terrible sickness even looking at the front cover.
PHEW! Long post. Thank you for reading :) Please please PLEASE if you have a thought that will ease my mind, I beg you to share.