The Hazel Wood is one of the most highly anticipated young adult books of 2018. It is a dark and twisted fairy tale that features a magical fantasy realm full of fairy tale characters. I ended up giving this book 4/5 stars. I noticed on Goodreads that it’s title says The Hazel Wood #1, so hopefully there will be a sequel to this urban fantasy!

What I liked
This cover is incredible. I love the style and the colors really set the dark theme of the story. The images featured in the title all have meaning and fit in as important aspects of the plot. It’s like a tapestry of the events that unfold. The writing was also gorgeous! Albert’s writing style is unique and vivd and reads almost like poetry.

Every moment that passed without word from Ella made the chasm beneath my feet yawn wider.

They mystery of the story was very exciting. The reader was just as much in the dark as Alice and eager to get to the bottom of what was happening. I really enjoyed the dark tone of The Hazel Wood. It had fairy tales brought to life, only they weren’t happy Disney fairy tales. They were much more Grimm Brothers, only darker.



The countless references throughout the book were also enjoyable. The author referred to fandoms, books, movies, and music. Pop culture references drive some people crazy in books, but I thought they helped with the setting and to portray Alice and Finch as just normal teenagers living in our world.

The concept of books merging with reality is always exciting to bookworms! That was an aspect of this story that I absolutely loved. It was reminded me a bit of The Book Jumper with a twist. I think every reader tries to imagine what it would be like if they could enter their own book. This story showed the downside of that fantasy!

What I didn’t like
I found the characters to be very unlikeable. They weren’t supposed to be likable, and I understand why they were that way. It’s just difficult for me to really get sucked into a book when I don’t particularly like the characters. The only character that I really started to like was Finch, but I don’t think his character was explored as much as it could have been. The dialogue hinted at a hidden dark side of his personality a couple times, but never went more into it. I also thought his fortune was a bit too convenient. It almost seemed like when authors kill off parents so they don’t have to explain why they aren’t concerned about the protagonist’s activities. Finch seemed to be loaded so they didn’t have to go searching for money and distract from the main plot.

I thought the pacing was a bit wonky at parts as well. It’s over halfway through the book before the real action starts to happen. I really wish they had focused more on the events of the second half and less of the searching! It was so much more exciting and immersive. I also struggled to follow a couple of times when action was happening so quickly I got a bit lost.

Why you should read it
Despite my complaints, this book really was amazing. The setting was unique, the tone wasn’t fluffy, and I can’t get past how incredible the writing was. I really hope Melissa Albert writes more! If you like dark stories, twists, and/or fairy tales you will like this book. Not to mention there is so much hype surrounding The Hazel Wood, you will definitely have people to discuss it with. It also addresses the trauma that the characters have to face after the story is over, which I don’t think is done enough!

"And while they're being told, stories create the energy
that makes this world go. They keep our stars in place.
They make our grass grow."

This is one of those titles that I have so much to say, but I don't want to include spoilers for unexpected readers... That being said, I am including a section at the bottom of this review for those who have read the title already and want to hear my thoughts (or those who do not mind minor spoilers--I promise not to give away anything that, in my opinion, would 'ruin' the story line for you).



Alice and her mother Ella have been in a constant cat-and-mouse chase with bad luck for as long as Alice can remember. They have moved more times than she can count and spent much of her life on the road, trying to outrun the strange shadow of misfortune that seems to incessantly follow them. Ella is fierce and protective, and their constant need to stick together and soldier on has made them into a tightly bonded mother-daughter pair.

Alice's grandmother, Althea Proserpine, is the author of a rare book called Tales from the Hinterland, an anthology of sorts, full of dark, sinister, and eerie fairy tales that take place in a mythical world called the Hinterland. With a small but loyal fan base, along with Althea's strange reclusive retreat into her estate called Hazel Wood, Althea and her book have become a 'cult classic' of sorts. A cloud of mystery seems to loom around everything to do with Althea and her work.

When Ella receives notification that Althea has passed away, the is filled with relief. To her, this is the sign that all of their misfortunes are over. They don't have to run anymore. They don't have to hide anymore. Things going to change for her and Alice and they are never looking back.

However, when Alice starts noticing strange things happening around her and strange people following her, a sense of paranoia is the least of her worries. She soon arrives home to find the place ransacked, her mother missing, and a strange message-of-sorts from an unknown sender. Aided by Ellery Finch, a schoolmate, friend, and Althea Proserpine fanatic, Alice sets out on a mission to track down her mother. But when even stranger occurrences cross into their paths and the Hinterland starts to seem all too real-- Alice and Ellery have to use their limited resources to find their way to the Hazel Wood and face dark dangers.



After I read this book, I knew that it was going to take some time to process. Because there were a few sections of the book that were a little hard for me to press onward, I wasn't sure how in the world I was going to be able to effectively apply a rating to this novel. I hung out with my younger sister that evening-- a fellow literary soul that I love to discuss books with -- and, no joke, gave her the longest oral summary of the book I have ever given. Talking through the events of the book and, in a way, experiencing them again, really helped me find some cohesiveness to my thoughts and appreciate the things that I loved about this novel.

There were a couple of small sections in the book that went a little too far into the depths of strange and bizarre at an almost overwhelming rate. In those areas of the book I was just really trying to power through and get to the next scene change because I was dying to see what would happen. In the moment, yes that was annoying to me, but overall.. in the grand scheme of things.. I don't feel like it has really effected how I feel about the novel as a whole at all.

Melissa Albert has a very talented way of weaving words together to formulate these powerful and poetic sentences, sprinkled over with a touch of whimsical and then topped off with a large dollop of strange. She is a wordsmith of the dark and eerie and I did so much highlighting (digital copy) during my reading. The impressive way that she intertwined the layout of the characters and the events that unfold, along with multiple backstories and mini-stories squeezed into the tight spaces between the plot happenings made this a fun story to sit around and discuss after my reading was complete.

Like many other readers and reviewers have stated, the short stories in this novel were so entertaining. I loved them and I was entirely too giddy when I saw on Goodreads that the author has all intentions of gracing us with an entire installment of Tales from the Hinterland. You best bet that I will be one of the first people in line (metaphorically speaking... lets be real, Amazon is my BFF) for this title. The short stories were dark, eerie, suspenseful, and so very engaging. I wanted MORE, and thankfully, Melissa Albert is going to come through on this need!!!

As you can probably figure out on your own (or have heard), this novel gives a nice nod to Alice in Wonderland, but other than a few small and strange scenes, I never really thought about that while I was reading. When I finished the novel, I looked back and was thinking "ohhh... I can really see it now!!", which was really neat. I don't consider this a retelling or a spin-off... It just seems to give a polite hat-tip to the classic and then go about its merry way, paving its own way into a unique story line.

I am always looking for interesting themes and discussion points that could be further analyzed and discussed with others when I a read a novel. One of the more interesting aspects of this novel was some of the thin threads of 'time' and 'free will' themes that were integrated into the story line. I don't think that Melissa Albert chose Finch's tattoo without reason--"Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt."--a famous quote by Kurt Vonnegut, pulled from the classic Slaughterhouse-Five. The concepts of time repeating it self over and over again, stories that exist within a loop of their own existence-- are both concepts that The Hazel Wood and Slaughterhouse-Five embrace. Time travel, memories, and the coexistence of past, present, and future-- the parallels that exist between these novel's at their very core is such an interesting conversation piece and I give Melissa a true standing ovation for her provision of some literary substance for me to ponder on.

One common complaint/con that I have seen reviewers discuss about The Hazel Wood is a lack of depth to characters and/or the inability to connect to (or even like) the main character, Alice. While I do agree that she is not a particularly lovable character---hang on... soldier on.. I promise that when you get to the end of the novel and you look back and think about the whys of this story.. you will see that this characteristic was very important to Alice's character and the story line as a whole.

There is a second installment to this series that appears to be in the works, but this novel would really be a great standalone. There were no loose ends, no big cliffhanger, and I felt very satisfied at the close of the novel. However, there are several characters that I had a lingering desire to know more about and I would love to see their own stories and adventures unfold on the pages of a novel. I can't wait to see what Melissa does with the second novel in this series. I am sure that it will not disappoint.

All in all--I highly recommend this title if this is a genre you enjoy. It made me think.. which I love. It is dark and twisty and strange and beautiful and I could see myself picking it up for a second read in the future.





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HERE IS THE SECTION I WARNED YOU ABOUT!!!!!
For those who have already read this novel or who do not mind spoilers.

I REPEAT... May contain minor spoilers!



Okay... there is one scene that I really loved and I think could spark some engaging conversations. During the last portion of the novel, Alice has the following words with another character:

"'You broke your story. It's not worth being told now.'
'It was never my story,' I said. 'It was yours.'"

This was so powerful to me!! As someone who loves teaching and discussing novels with young adults (even though I couldn't teach this title.. because, language), I can really appreciate the hidden meanings and depth of these words. I have taught so many children that have come from abusive situations, lived through unspeakable events, and frankly, just had the 'odds' of society stacked against them. Young adults who were in self-contained educational settings due to the interference that their emotional behavioral disabilities had on their day to day lives (and of course I thought of these students when I read through Alice's struggles with anger and anxiety). When people are being told what they cannot accomplish, places they cannot go, milestones they will not reach, careers they cannot achieve, events they cannot overcome--- how POWERFUL it is to hear an individual say that they are going to rise above and write their own story. You are the writer in your story and this novel can so embrace that beautiful theme.

There is also a fantastic theme of family in this novel that you cannot fully appreciate without knowing the full family dynamics of Alice and Ella's situation and seeing their bond on the pages of The Hazel Wood. This sense of family being what you make it, instead of being just what you were born into, is so powerful. My grandmother is a foster parent and I have watched as so many children have come into her home to be loved, healed, and held--eventually finding their place with a family that shows the same love and devotion that you see between Ella and Alice. This really touched my heart and I think it could broach some important conversations with young adults.





**Thank you to the author, Flatiron Books, and NetGalley for providing me with a advanced DRC in exchange for an honest review. This provision in no way effects my opinions or rating. 

**Amazon review to follow release.

For all of Alice’s seventeen years, she and her mother have been moving from one place to another. Her childhood is a blur of long car rides, the novels she read in different places, and the love of her mother. When Alice tries to ask about people like her grandmother, a reclusive author of a book of fairy tales that has a strong cult following, her mother won’t answer. So when they get news of her grandmother’s death in her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice longs to go. When her mother disappears, Alice and her classmate Finch set out to rescue her from the Hinterland, the setting of her grandmother’s book. Can Alice and Finch survive the dangers of a fairy tale world made real?

As a longtime fan of fairy tales, I loved this book. I particularly appreciated the fanged and bloody approach to these stories, ones that have echoes of traditional tales but are also entirely unique. Albert bridges Alice’s grandmother’s book into the novel cleverly, offering glimpses of the stories but never giving them all to the reader or to Alice. They are tantalizing peeks at the stories that are warnings mixed with welcomes. The entire novel is like this, beckoning readers in but also offering cruelty as a reward.

Alice is an equally fascinating figure who is deliciously flawed, filled with an anger that hovers just under her skin. She sees her mother as the one person she has in life, thanks in large part to their nomad lifestyle, as they flee the dangers that suddenly appear. The writing throughout the book is incredibly beautiful, angry and fiery. Albert weavers new metaphors with an ease that is deceptive, creating magic in the real world before moving on to do it in a fairy tale as well.

A great read, this blend of fairy tale and horror is completely intoxicating. Appropriate for ages 13-17.

I think it’s fair to say there has been some mild hype surrounded The Hazel Wood. I mean, that gorgeous cover and the synopsis are kind of hard to resist so it makes sense. BUT, is the book worth it? This is a slightly complex question to answer because I ~know~ this book won’t be for everyone. To be honest, I also kind of avoided reminding myself what the book was about before I read it because I dreaded the hype getting the better of me and my tastes. I came out pleasantly surprised.

The Hazel Wood is part urban fantasy, part fairy tale and part a book about stories. If someone had told me that before I read the book, I would be intrigued but also nervous because that seems like too much for a book to be BUT Albert manages to pull it off.

Last year, I read Vassa in the Night, which was a gorgeously written book but flew right over my head. I literally had NO idea what was going on half the time. And maybe you think my use of literally is obnoxious but I literally could not give a fuck. The Hazel Wood kind of gives me the same whimsical, lyrical vibe but it is much more easier to follow.

The Hazel Wood is a fairy tale about fairy tales. It is a dark novel about dark things but its rooted in its humanity and the humanity of its characters. Part of me just wants to read this novel as an exploration of the human psyche. Yeah I went there. I am sorry. I am really not that kind of reviewer but something about this book really made me wish it was.

Alice is on the run from something? Bad luck? She has grown up on the run but when they (and we don’t really find out who they are for quite some time) take her mother, she has to go out and figure out the secrets from her past that her mother is hiding. Obviously, there is a great character arc and Alice really comes into herself as a character.

There is not a romance in this novel in the traditional sense but I do really think that the ‘romance’ of this book is the love between a mother and daughter. Alice, is not alone though while she is hunting for her mother, she makes new friends (even though she didn’t really start out wanting to) and learns more about where she comes from.

So clearly, I adored this book so why not the 5 stars? Because I hate giving books 5 stars. But also. I think that because the book’s hyperfocus on Alice was occasionally a hinderance. The book was so much about Alice that it couldn’t really be about anything else? Does that even make sense?

I am glad that there will be sequels because there is so much more to be had of this world and I WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT IT. Overall, this book won’t be for everyone, that much is clear, but I really did enjoy it and read it in one sitting. Fantasies are HARD to read in one sitting so that should say it all.

I feel just as befuddled as poor Alice after reading this book. At times I found it slow moving, but also oddly compelling and hard to put down. It also kept pulling me back to it, when I should have been doing important things. It is a dark and twisty tale that leaves you wanting more.

Poor Alice is not a particularly likable character, but she is compelling and you want things to work out for her. She has had a hard life, always on the run with her mother, so her social skills are not the best. She has a hard time accepting help from anyone and understanding that people might want to be her friend. As we get to know Alice and her full story, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. I almost want to say that this is coming of age story, in that Alice spends most of the story trying to figure out who exactly she is, in more ways than just the usual sense.

Ellery Finch was also not a very likable character, but I understood him and his motives better than Alice’s. I don’t think he fully understood what he was getting himself into when he agreed to help Alice, but at least he thought he was doing a good deed. I was not entirely happy with Ellery’s storyline, and I found it a bit confusing toward the end, but I think he was happy with how things worked out for him.

The plot is a little slow to start, and there were many times that I felt just as confused as the characters. It is a dark story, especially when Alice gets to the Hazel Wood and to the Hinterland. There is some graphic violence and horror in the stories and the characters she encounters there. There are some disturbing scenes as well. It reminded me of the original Grimm’s fairy tales, which are quite violent and disturbing. I did like that even though the two main characters were a boy and a girl, there really wasn’t any romance between them. There were a few ‘moments’ between them but there was no swooning kisses or breathless moments. It was kind of nice, even though I was hoping something would develop between them, in the end I was glad that it didn’t.

A dark and twisty plot with creepy characters and no romance. This book will certainly not be for everyone, but there will be those readers who will finding it compelling and will fall in love with it.

Interesting new book set in the world of seraphina and dragon scale. Tess is initially very unlikable, but i thought that made her character development even more noteworthy. I definitely hope there’s a follow-up.

Fairy tales are a huge trend in YA literature right now, and this certainly falls into that category. I enjoyed this story very much, but I worry that the YA market is becoming too saturated with fairy tale centered books.

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert had a lot going on. I enjoy reading books with dark takes on well known stories but that's not what this turned out to be. It is a completely new set of tales that are very dark and complicated. Sometimes they flowed. Sometimes they read a little forced. Without chapter headings in the electronic version, it was difficult to tell when you were hearing a tale or when you were in the real world. Maybe that was by design? There is a lot of build up before the reveal and the book reads longer than it is. The characters are complicated and unlikeable in many ways but since it's about dark tales, that made sense. I really liked the sections of the book that focused on the fairytales themselves when it was clear you were hearing a story. The writing in those sections was vivid and the imagery on point. Maybe not liking the lead character clouded my feelings on the book but I did feel like it resolved cleanly and left me feeling fullfilled at the end. I really enjoyed the last third. So, while it wasn't what I thought it would be, I think that it is a good read for those that favor this genre over others.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Many Thanks to Net-Galley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy. This did not affect my rating

*4.25/5*

Woah nelly. That was an upside down, crazy world of a book. I was immediately was engrossed with this world. The writing is a mix of fairytale and modern, which I thought Melissa Albert did a really good job with.

Alice and her mother Ella spent Alice’s life constantly moving around from place to place because bad luck followed them everywhere. Alice has never met her grandmother, Althea Proserpine, who is the author of a book of dark fairy tales named Tales from the Hinterland. Alice is secretly obsessed with all things Althea, and desperately wants to know whatever she can about her grandmother, and the book itself. However, finding a copy of the book is near impossible.

Their circumstances become worse when Ella is kidnapped; only leaving behind the message “stay away from The Hazel Wood.” So Alice teams up with her only “friend”, Ellery Finch, who happens to be a total fanboy of Althea Prosperpine and the book. What happens next is a wild ride to find Ella. Through a lot of strange happenings, they have come to the conclusion that The Hinterland is the one behind the kidnapping. To save her, Alice must venture to The Hazel Wood. Things just never look up, Alice and Finch hit road block after road block.

Peppered throughout The Hazel Wood, are snippets of some of the fairy tales, which are dark and twisted and I loved them. They never took me out of the main story, but elevated it.

The book was almost a 5 star read for me.. almost.. but Alice was a mean character.. which was explained.. but I couldn’t excuse how she treated people.. especially Finch and all he was doing to help her.

It has been announced that there will be a 2nd book, and.. AND Melissa Albert is going to write Tales from the Hinterland! I need it now.

I have, and will continue to recommend this book to people. Especially for those fans of Once Upon A Time.

"Because in this story, I was the monster"

The Hazel Wood is a dark and twisty fairytale that was too good to put down! I have not loved the super hero YA that is out there right now and was super excited to read this book. It did not disappoint!

Alice and her mother Ella have been running all of Alice's life. They can't stay in one place for very long because tragedy follows them everywhere they go. Alice has been brought up crashing from one friends house to another and has become an expert at transferring schools. When they receive a letter saying that Alice's grandmother has passed away and left them her estate she presumes their luck will change. Alice couldn't be more wrong.

"We didn't have the luxury of being nostalgic. We didn't have a chance to stand still. Until the year I turned seventeen, and Althea died in the Hazel Wood. When my mother, Ella, got the letter, a violent shudder ran through her. That was before she opened it. The envelope was creamy green, printed with her name and the address of the place we were staying. We'd arrive the night before, and I wondered how it found us."

Alice's grandmother was the famous author of a book of dark fairytales. The books were very hard to come by and had acquired a cult like following. Alice had a copy for a very short time and had only begun reading one tale before her mother took it from her. With the warning that Alice must always stay away from the Hazel Wood and her grandmother's fairytales.

This works for Alice until her mother, Ella, is kidnapped and Alice must trust her friend Ellery Finch to help her find her. Alice has always been warned to never trust one of Althea's fans, but with no knowledge of the fairytales or her grandmother Alice has no choice.

"My skin felt keyed up and nervy. And there was something else: the pressure-shift feeling of bad luck on the move, as familiar to me as the smell of Ella's skin. Think of a hand running over the hairs on your arm, setting all of them to rising. Think of every room you walk into being filled with the sense of someone having just left it."

Soon, Alice and Ellery are running from characters in Althea's fairytales and trying to find their way to Hazel Wood. With no map to follow and a story from a reporter Alice isn't sure she should trust they make their way north. Soon, Alice can feel the Hazel Wood calling to her and finds herself face to face with characters she can hardly believe are real. Alice must make her way through this fairyland full of obstacles to get Ella back or risk losing her forever.

If you are a fan of fairytales I highly recommend this book. The Hazel Wood is an even darker version of Alice in Wonderland. I don't think there is a mistake that the main character in The Hazel Wood is also Alice! I look forward to see what fairytale character comes next in book two.

Alice, a 17-year-old girl, and her mother Ella have been on the move her entire life. They have been trying to outrun the 'bad luck' which always seems to find them. Ella eventually decides the 'bad luck' is finished after she receives a letter about her mother's death. Everything seems to be going well until Alice sees the man who abducted her years ago and now Ella has been abducted by a group called the Hinterland. Alice and her friend Finch go on a journey to rescue her mother.

The story is edgy, dark, creepy and full of equally dark fairytales. I enjoyed the story even though the first half was slow. I thought the fairytales, that were scattered throughout, were more engaging than the main story; however, I plan to read any follow-up novels.

3 Stars

Back in mid-2017 I saw first saw DRCs of The Hazel Wood go up and was intrigued. Then I saw and received a paper ARC and shared the photo on the blog's Facebook page because it was impossibly lush. I frankly don't know when I've seen such work go into a cover in a genre fiction ARC. And the cover was designed by someone who read enough of the book to capture so many elements of the story. Clearly, the publisher felt it was special. Reviews began to pour in and it was a love it or hate it affair. When my own blogging buddy, Alex (Alex Can Read), a professed lover of Alice in Wonderland stories, didn't find much to enjoy, I actually got worried about reading this book. And all the while I was puzzled. It looked like so much effort went into The Hazel Wood. Well, some of the effort was put in the wrong places, is my take. I think much of the criticism this book is taking in harsher reviews is about things that could have been improved by better editorial direction.

Some of what follows might be considered spoilery. Read at your peril or skip to the end!

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First, let me say that Melissa Albert is a writer with a great deal of promise. Her writing is easy to read. In fact, you easily keep reading, on and on, waiting for the real action to begin. And therein lies one of my first problems with this book- the pacing of the story. By the conclusion, I felt like I was reading in German, where all the verbs in a clause end up at the end of a sentence. Here the prelude to the Hinterland section seems to drag on and on, punctuated by the occasional weird and twisty invasion of Story. At the end of the book, the action is so fast that in the last 30 pages if you blink you miss something. This odd pacing made me feel as if I was either reading a story that should have been edited to novella length or should have been patiently built out to a fuller novel. And that leads me to some other observations.

One of the things that makes me confidently say that Melissa Albert is a good writer is that she has taken a sub-genre that has been popular- fairy tale retellings, of a sort- and which has been done quite well (especially relevant would be Story incursions such as those in Seanan McGuire's Indexing series) and still has managed to make her own mark. This is no small feat in the crowded arena of fairy tale-based stories. Much in the way that Seanan McGuire or (her alternate writer persona) Mira Grant have created their own fairy tale or nursery rhymes and woven them like fine-spun steel into a broader story (hence, stories within a story) Albert gives us her own dark Tales of the Hinterland with story titles and two detailed retellings, as recalled by Alice's friend Ellery Finch. But here's the problem with the execution of that idea. Occasionally, we see some characters who are noted to be from the Hinterland stories but they are often thin to the point of being two dimensional, and are all good or all bad or trying very hard to be edgy. (As Alex says, this whole book tries to be edgy.) And this is what I mean about patiently building out a fuller novel. I never felt the majority of the fairy tale characters were real characters, and precisely because of that fact, some of the twists of the novel became less real and therefore far more easily anticipated by the reader.

In reading this book, I wanted to understand why and how Twice-Killed Katherine was killed twice and where her bird came from. I wanted more especially from the Alice-Three-Times storyline, for obvious reasons. We briefly meet but know nothing about Hansa. Who and where is Ilsa? And I wanted much, much more from the Story Spinner, her relationship with Althea Prosperpine, and how the interweaving of their stories created this story. I felt keenly that the Tales of the Hinterland that are the complete underpinning of The Hazel Wood were not yet written, or at the very least, they had not been written and polished into a fine and hallowed anthology of dark fairy tales that would inform every corner of this book.

Alice, as the central character, was well-written for the purpose of the story. That her harsh coldness had a reason came as no surprise to any reader of Andersen's tales. Her relationship with Ella, her mother, and Audrey, her half-sister, were nicely drawn and written. The complete lack of discussion of who Alice's real father was an early tip-off to me that something was "wrong" in Alice's situation. I was bothered by the character development of Ellery Finch, who felt in some ways like a token, albeit conveniently wealthy, person of color. I even felt as if some scenes may have had to be rewritten in recognition of what the writer and editor got themselves into there. At times, much as I liked Finch, I felt there was a vein of inauthenticity about the character. It felt like there were awkward moments when his POC status was highlighted, instead of building out the character throughout the story. I wanted more from and about him. I wanted more realistic diversity in their NYC circle and in the Hinterland itself. Finch's relative abandonment by his neglectful and disinterested parents, which mirrored a series of abandonments of parental care that we see in The Hinterland was interesting and yet remained unexplored as one of the connection points between the two lead characters.


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All in all, I found things to enjoy in The Hazel Wood. I am looking forward to seeing what Melissa Albert does next, either in the sequel or in a novel set in a fresh world.

When I read the title of this book, I had to read it. The Hazel Wood is the mysterious estate of Alice, the heroine of the story, and the name of the street I live on. This book has a touch of Harry Potter, and several other YA novels that slip my mind at the moment. It starts out in a normal world, but gradually the underlying creepiness and otherworldliness creeps in. I had to stop reading it at night because my imagination took over and I thought, “I am on Hazel Wood. What if this is THE Hazel Wood?”

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

I honestly am not sure how I feel about this book yet. I did really enjoy it and thought the whole story was extremely interesting. It definitely grabbed my attention and I couldn't put it down. This is a dark and strange read but in an intriguing way where you just want to know whats happening and what will happen next. If you like weird, fantasy, fairy tales, and mystery I definitely think you should pick this up. Just beware that this isn't the happily ever after fairy tales you might be used to but in the best way.

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have been haunted by bad luck as long as Alice can remember. Not run-of-the-mill bad luck, either, but strange things happening in even stranger circumstances. And Alice’s mom won’t allow her to speak of her grandmother, a reclusive author who lives on a mysterious estate called the Hazel Wood. It’s the two of them against the world.

When Alice’s grandmother dies, Alice’s mom is stolen away by mysterious creatures from the Hinterland—where Alice’s grandmother’s creepy tales are set. The only lead Alice has is her mom’s message, “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

But Alice will stop at nothing to save her mom. The only person she can turn to is Finch, a Hinterland superfan…and Alice is sure he’s hiding something. To save her mom, first they must find the Hazel Wood. Then Alice must venture deep into the woods, where she just might find out what’s wrong with her own story.

The Hazel Wood is absolutely magic! Dark magic, to be sure, but magic all the same. Alice is such a fascinating character, filled with rage but yearning for the light. The Hinterland and the Hazel Wood are places of magic…terrifying magic. I was enthralled with the story from the very first page, and that continued through to the very last page. Loved this book!

(Galley provided by Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.)

The Hazel Wood is the kind of book that you won't put down until you're through. Wholly satisfying and well-written.

Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood is not your average story about fairytales. Instead, it’s an edgy, dark, creepy, tale that at times, reads like a horror story. That said, it was also one of my most anticipated reads of 2018 because it sounded like such a unique storyline. While I don’t think The Hazel Wood will ultimately end up on my Best Reads of 2018 list, it was still a pretty solidly entertaining read for me.

The Hazel Wood follows the story of seventeen-year old Alice and her mother, Ella. They have spent most of Alice’s life moving from place to place, never staying in one spot for too long. Why? Because everywhere they go, bad luck seems to follow. Ella and Alice are also a close-knit pair. For as long as Alice can remember, it has just been the two of them, even though Alice knows she has a grandmother. Alice’s grandmother, who lives as a recluse at her estate, The Hazel Wood, wrote a book of dark fairy tales called Tales from the Hinterland that became a cult classic. The book is now nearly impossible to find but it still has a loyal fan following. When Alice’s grandmother dies, Alice and Ella’s luck goes from bad to worse, and Tales from the Hinterland seems to somehow be at the center of their troubles. Ella is kidnapped by someone who claims to have come to them from the Hinterland, the supernatural setting of Alice’s grandmother’s book, and the only clue Ella leaves for Alice is “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has no idea what to do, but when she realizes that one of her classmates, Ellery Finch, is a Hinterland fanboy, she turns to him for help. He knows more about the Hinterland than anyone she knows and because he’s so obsessed with Tales from the Hinterland, he is more than willing to offer up any assistance he can provide. When creepy, inexplicable things start to happen all around them, all signs point to the Hinterland and Alice and Ellery quickly realize that the only possible way of saving Ella is to travel to the one place Alice has been told to stay away from, the Hazel Wood. Since it’s not exactly located on any map, will Alice and Ellery be able to even find their way to the Hinterland? And if so, will they be able to find and save Ella?

My absolute favorite part about The Hazel Wood were the actual fairytales from Tales of the Hinterland. Because the book is so rare, Alice has never had the opportunity to read the tales her grandmother wrote. Because Finch is such a fanboy and has read them many times, he can basically recite them from memory and so he shares them with Alice whenever she asks. And the tales are fabulous. From Twice Killed Katherine to The Door That Wasn’t There, they’re dark, creepy, and just so delightfully twisted. I think Tales from the Hinterland by itself would have been a 5-star read for me!

Another quality I loved about The Hazel Wood was how atmospheric and suspenseful it was. The author drops us into a creepy version of New York with Alice where almost every time she turns around, it seems like someone is following her. She keeps seeing a red-haired man that she remembers from her childhood, as well as a taxi driver who seems to mysteriously turn up where she is repeatedly. Are these people really following her or is it a coincidence? Then once she starts hanging around with Finch, he adds to the suspense and paranoid creepy factor as he thinks he recognizes some of the characters who keep turning up as actual characters from Tales from the Hinterland. Talk about ratcheting up the WHOA factor!

Another interesting aspect of the story for me was that while I didn’t find the main character Alice an especially likeable character, I still felt myself drawn to her story and like her or not, I was determined to follow her as she unraveled the mystery of the Hinterland, her mother, and her grandmother. Usually not liking a main character is enough to make me give up on reading a book, so I was intrigued that, in this case, it didn’t really deter me. The Hinterland and its occupants were just that fascinating!

I think my biggest issue with The Hazel Wood was that the main characters felt a little flat and under-developed. I’ve already mentioned that I didn’t especially like Alice, but I also didn’t feel like I really got to delve much into her character. She clearly has some anger issues that she is dealing with, and while it gives her a little of that flawed, complex, realistic feel that I usually love in characters, I just didn’t really feel the love for Alice. I shared in her desire to figure out what the heck was going on and to find her mother, who has mysteriously disappeared, but otherwise, I didn’t feel like I connected with her much. I found Ellery Finch a much more likeable character, probably because his fanboyish love of Tales from the Hinterland was so adorable, but I still don’t really feel like I ever got to know much else about him. I guess the book was meant to be more plot driven than character driven, but I still just like to get to know the characters even if that’s the case.

One other issue, and this may just be me misreading the synopsis, but I went into the book with the idea that the entire book was going to basically be a giant twisted fairy tale, pure fantasy. I was a little thrown when I started reading and it sounded like an ordinary contemporary novel set in New York. Even once we started getting glimpses of Hinterland characters, it still felt like magical realism rather than full-on fantasy until about the halfway point of the book. I still enjoyed the read overall but was a little confused starting out since the story wasn’t what I was expecting and what had initially drawn me to the story.

The Hazel Wood would make a great read for anyone who likes the idea of dark, twisted fairytales with a supernatural twist. Some of them are a bit violent and bloody, so I’d probably also recommend this to more mature readers. It’s a dark and creepy ride that will keep you up late reading, and looking over your shoulder every time something goes bump in the night!

RATING: 3.5 STARS

❝ My mother was raised on fairy tales, but I was raised on highways. My first memory is the smell of hot pavement and the sky through the sunroof, whipping by in a river of blue. My mom tells me that’s impossible–our car doesn’t have a sunroof. But I can still close my eyes and see it, so I’m holding on to it.❞

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book!

The Hazel Wood was the perfect creepy read for a nice winter night. I read this book in one day because as soon as I snuggled up under my blanket and picked it up I couldn’t put it down. I found it eerie in the way you would watching an episode of The Twilight Zone or X-Files. It was just utterly perfect and had you guessing at every turn.

The story basically revolved around Alice, her grandmother, and her grandmother’s book. Which is ironic because Alice’s grandmother, Althea, and her book (Tales from the Hinterland) aren’t really physically around for most of the book. Alice has never met her grandmother or really had a chance to read the book. You can hardly find any information about either online and copies are Hinterland are so rare that they’re almost non-existent. There’s just so much mystery surrounding them off the bat that you start off with so many questions and get pulled in right away because you’re just waiting for those little hints so you can start putting together some answers.

Something I really enjoyed about the Hinterland was that we actually got the chance to read a couple of the stories within the book! One of the characters/fans of Althea, Finch, retells two of the stories from back when he owned a copy of Tales from the Hinterland. I really enjoyed both and it left me wishing I could read the rest of the creepy tales! (Which–judging from what I saw on goodreads–we might actually get to~!). I think it added a nice touch to the story and it allowed Albert to show off her writing skills a little more.

❝ On a cold day in a distant kingdom, a daughter was born to a queen and king. Her eyes were shiny and black all over, and the midwife laid her in the queen’s arms and fled. The queen looked into the girl’s eyes, shiny-dark as beetle shells, and despised her on sight.❞

I liked the plot of the story and the direction it took. I liked that we got to explore the other settings (won’t spoil) and what happened with The Hazel Wood. It was an interesting concept and I liked the mystery behind it all.

To get into the characters a little bit, I thought Alice was pretty interesting. She and her mother had a unique relationship that was not at all traditional. She remembers once when she was little how she was hit by a car while on her bike and how her mother rode her bike and chased the guy down. Alice mentions how her mother know her well enough to know she preferred revenge over comfort. I think that tells you a lot on its own. She was kind of impulsive and reserved. She’d lived her whole life moving from place to place so she had trouble forming connections to people. She was also really dependent on her mother in the sense that Ella was the one constant in her life.

Finch was really passionate about the Hinterland. He was a fan, after all, but I think it was kind of sad and cute how he connected to the stories so much. I thought he was a very kind and loyal friend (especially to Alice early on). I liked him for that and for how brave he was to continue the journey to help Alice.

Overall, I think the plot was really solid. I enjoyed the writing style and the creepy feel of the story. I think this is perfect if you like dark fairy tale/retelling type stories or horror because it does have some of those elements to it.

The Hazel Wood will be released next week on January 30th so keep an eye out for it! ❤