The Forest Demands Its Due [Paperback]

A Lesson in Vengeance meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this page-turning dark academia novel about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all. AUSA Todaybestseller!

Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious.  

Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent's king-making; he’s just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers him having ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper's son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than three hundred years in the making—or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness.

And for the first time in his life, Douglas might have a chance to grasp the one thing he’s always felt was missing: power. But if he’s not careful, he will find out that power has a tendency to corrupt absolutely everything.

A high-octane mystery of murder andmagic for fans of Ace of Spades, House of Hollow, andGet Out!

Jackson digs deep to weave together an exploration of generational trauma, moral corruption, and the power that comes from letting go of the past. A fantastical, queer, grotesque, messy story that fans of dark academia and horror will love. -Booklist (starred review)

“The creepy forest atmosphere that permeates this book is on point. The folk-horror aesthetic…works here to excellent effect.” -NPR

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