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Don't Let The Forest In by Cg Drews

As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews' debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods. Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him. High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more. But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions...

Animorphs Book 16: The Warning by K. A. Applegate

The Warning shows Jake's increasing sense of internalized pressure as a leader. He's in charge and increasingly isolated. When he almost dies in an insect morph the text takes the time to dwell on his fear and helplessness in a pretty brutal way.

There's some fun stuff with 90's computer tech and chat rooms, but this is not a light book. There's a sense of helplessness, and the crushing reality that no matter how many people they can save, someone is still getting hurt.

Cassie is starting to be more of a lieutenant and confidant to Jake in terms of decision making and ethics. She has been the ethical voice of the team for a while, but this book codifies some parts of their dynamic in a way that feel natural.

These review are spoiler-free, but my stance is that "almost dies in an XXX morph" really isn't a spoiler for this series, since that's a constant in almost every book. You know it's "almost" because there are more books with him on the cover, and morphing is often dangerous. It's mostly used for combat/infiltration, which is dangerous. Even the act of morphing is dangerous due to the possibility of being trapped in morph.

A boy (Jake) turns into a rhinoceros

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