Book: You Did Nothing Wrong by Cg Drews
Reviewed by Weird | weird.reads.books
Rating: 3.5/5
I was so excited to get the opportunity to listen to a C.G. Drews book. This is my first book from C.G., and I’ve heard great things about her other two books, Hazelthorn and Don’t Let the Forest In . This is her first adult horror book, and it was heavy.
Some horror novels struggle to establish atmosphere, but this one wastes no time. From the very beginning, a deep sense of dread settled in my stomach and stayed there for the entirety of the audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job capturing Elodie’s anxiety and unraveling mental state. She’s a young mother who has just married and moved to another country, already carrying so much emotional weight.
Much of the tension centers around her son, June, who is ASD-coded and struggles to communicate his needs at a young age. Elodie is also a teen mother whose emotional codependency on her child creates an incredibly volatile dynamic. The stress, isolation, and mounting paranoia build into something deeply unsettling.
There were twists I anticipated and others that genuinely surprised me. The prose is beautifully written, lyrical in a way that enhances the psychological horror and makes the descent feel intimate and suffocating.
What held me back was the intensity of the child abuse depicted. There are multiple content warnings, and I would strongly encourage readers to go in prepared. The story explores motherhood, postpartum depression, obsession, paranoia, and emotional incest in ways that are raw and unflinching. I don’t want to elaborate too much to avoid spoilers, but the subject matter is extremely heavy and undeniably contributes to the horror.
There were moments that unsettled me enough to make me hesitant about picking up more from the author, though that may simply mean this particular story wasn’t for me. I can absolutely see how other readers might feel seen in its portrayal of overwhelmed parenthood or deeply appreciate the writing itself. For me, however, this isn’t one I would revisit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All opinions are my own.