I can not get this book out of my head. The beautifully down twist surprised me and kept me reading well into the night. I look forward to reading the sequel. The character development was so well done. Very dark take on fairy tales while delightfully full of hope.

A highly inventive and creepy metafictional take on fairy tales. Melissa Albert's debut excels in both writing and mood but falls a bit short in characterization. I read this one straight through and anticipate the sequel.

The first half worked for me much better than the second half. Depending on the kind of reader you are, that could be swapped. Once the plot really gets going, things got a bit too weird for me personally, and I wasn't invested enough in the characters yet to really connect.

Synopsis:
Alice has never met her grandmother, infamous fairy-tale writer Althea Prosperine.  Althea earned her fame decades ago by penning a single collection of fairy tales about a strange place called the Hinterland.  Afterwards, she isolated herself in her enormous estate, the Hazel Wood, cutting herself off from the rest of the world.  Alice has spent her seventeen years of life on the road; her mother moves them from place to place as mysterious bad luck seems to follow them wherever they go.  But when Althea dies, Alice’s mother is happy. Ecstatic, even. She says they can finally settle down and place roots in New York. But this decision might have been a tad too hasty.  Alice’s mother is kidnapped by someone who claims to be from the Hinterland.  Now Alice must team up with a fellow classmate--Ellery Finch--who just so happens to be an expert on the stories that her grandmother wrote. Together they will go to the Hazel Wood and uncover the truth about the Hinterland...

Plot 
The Hazel Wood reads like a fairy tale, but set in a gritty, modern world with iPhones, baristas, and high school classes.  Melissa Albert writes with a beautiful, lyrical style that is quite unique. Because of this, I was able to get into the head of the protagonist, Alice, quite quickly. I found myself understanding her and her predicament almost immediately.   

The plot and pacing of this book is phenomenal.  Albert lays out clues like bread bread crumbs, but I still didn’t know where they were leading until the twist smacked me in the face. That twist. Omg. Now I know why people were raving about this book last year. I’m doubly embarrassed for not reading this sooner. But how are you supposed to know what books are ‘must-reads’ until after they’ve already been out for a bit? 

Characters
Alice isn’t like your typical protagonist. She’s sarcastic with anger issues and she isn’t against dropping the occasional F-bomb.  She isn’t what you’d expect the main character of this type of book to be like. She’s been raised on the run--from the “curse” that seems to follow her and her mother--and her relationship with her mother is an interesting one. She loves her, while at the same time she resents her for keeping her away from her infamous grandmother and her legacy.  

Ellery Finch is a perfect love interest.  Their romance isn’t in-your-face, like you usually get in fairy tales. Ellery and Alice spend a lot of time getting to know each other, particularly while on the road trip to rescue her mother, and Albert provides so much intricate detail that it felt like I was in the car with them. As I mentioned in the Plot section, Albert has a way with words, and this is especially evidence in how she gets us invested in these characters within mere pages of their introduction.



I recommend this book to anyone looking for a modern-day fairy tale that’s like the original Grimm, not at all like the sweet and disarming Disney adaptations.  While there’s some romance, the focus is on the mysterious Hazel Wood, the Hinterland, and the ethereal fairy tales that may or may not be fiction...

Review will be posted to platforms on Tuesday, July 9, 2019.

A compelling read that leaves the reader ripping through the pages to find out what happens next! Interesting characters and nice pace to the plot.

Alice's mother has been stolen. Her grandmother, Althea Prosperpine, reclusive author of the hard to get book of fairy tales, has died alone at The Hazel Wood, an estate that she has left to Alice and her mother. Alice begins the hunt to find her mother, aided by her classmate, Ellery Finch, who is a super fan of Althea's book of fairy tales, Tales from the Hinterland. As Alice and Ellery begin their search characters from Althea's stories begin to appear on the streets of New York. And these are not your typical fairy tales; they include Twice-Killed Katherine and Alice-Three-Times, terrifying tales that chill you to the bone. Will Alice and Ellery find her mother? And if they do, will they survive the story?

The Hazel Wood feels like two different stories. There is the first half where they are figuring out what happened and looking for the Hinterland and there is the second half where they find the Hinterland and discover what lies there. The two halves don't feel incredibly cohesive. The writing is very lyrical, but the characters and plot lose some of the development. There are excerpts from Tales from the Hinterland that are incredibly creepy and interesting. Recommended fro fans of lyrical writing and Alice and Wonderland.

I wasn’t able to really get into this, unfortunately. I tried multiple times and ended up having to put it down each time. It just felt a little slow to me, which was sad because I love fairy tales and dark fantasy worlds, so by all accounts this should’ve been right up my alley. That said, I would probably give the author another try, though.

All sorts of weirdness going on in this book. Alice and her mom have bad luck following them. When he mom is taken, Alice goes on a search for the Hazel Wood where her grandmother lived to try to find her.

I was not thrilled by this book as I expected to be. In fact, I found the first half of the book downright boring. The second half had a bit more action and more of the fairytale elements I was looking for.

Alice was pretty whiny throughout the whole story, and kind of had a tragic teen vibe the entire time. I didn't find her an appealing character, and the people that she seemed to run into played a little too heavily into the fanatic trope. Her mother was strange and seemed not to have a lot of her own stuff going on, although perhaps that was due to the faulty narration through Alice's eyes.

The setting, while initially intriguing, was not overall eerie or enchanting in the ways I was expecting. All in all I was disappointed by this story.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Deliciously creepy! The fairytale elements were great, really hearkened back to classic fairytale themes. The child in me who used to read fairytales and myths exclusively was in heaven.

Would recommend to anyone who likes a strong female character, plot that moves steadily and keeps you on your toes.

Although THE HAZEL WOOD promised to be a dark, enchanting fairytale, I found myself less than enthralled with the storyline. The first half was very slow, and I found it hard to remain engaged. It does improve, but wasn't enough to save the story for me, unfortunately.

I may try and reread it in the future and see if my opinion changes.

The Hazel Wood is a compellingly fresh spin on fractured fairy tales. The story is equal parts intriguing, terrifying, and heartbreaking.

I had to take a break from this dark twisty fantasy because my heart was going to explode! But I’m glad I went back! Alice and her mother have always lived a pretty transient life but they have always been together and that’s what matters. When the shadows seem to creep a bit close Alice and her mom pack their bags and hit the road, the only place they always seem to avoid is The Hazel Wood, Alice’s grandmother’s estate. Alice’s grandmother is the elusive cult favorite author of the Hinterland tales, dark fairytales that seem larger than life. When Alice’s grandmother finally dies Alice's mother breathes a sigh of relief they are finally free to settle down somewhere, but are they? Seriously thrilling, I was haunted by it for weeks after I finished.

I really liked the fairytales inside this book. But as a whole, it didn't keep my interest throughout my read. It started off fairly promising and the voice of the main character is really strong. But there was a lot of meandering plot wise and I found myself putting it down again and again. I do think it's a matter of "it's not the book, it's me", and would still recommend it to someone who would like a interesting modern take on Alice in Wonderland.

Creepy, tense, slow-moving but intensely atmospheric. These are the kind of fairy tales that I grew up with, not the sanitized Disney versions. More please!

I don't often dnf a book but this one was the exception to the rule. I just couldn't get into the story. I understand the reason for the whole backstory and the buildup of their current lives but waiting to find out why her mom didn't want to go to Hazel Wood or why they continued tjis constant moving around coupled with the main characters personality was just blah. It didn't keep my attention.

I just could not get in to this book. Gave it 25% and then stopped trying. Sorry :( The premise sounds cool, but it just didn't do it for me.

There are a good number of negative reviews out there for this, but I liked it. I thought it would be similar to The Book of Lost Things (one of my favorite books), with its protagonist descending into a fairytale world more Grimm than Disney. It definitely had a lot of those same creepy vibes, but this was more Alice in Wonderland than Coraline. Regardless I was very much along for the ride.

Some of the language was a bit flowery, but as someone who tends to gets really annoyed by that, I actually didn't think it was that bad. It wasn't the best writing I've ever read, but it certainly didn't reach The Star-Touched Queen levels of purple prose.

Alice was unlikable at first, but not all female heroines need to be likable. And her personality is part of the overall mystery, which had some twists I wasn't expecting. I also enjoyed Finch's character, but wish the rest of the gang had more distinct personality traits. We barely scratch the surface on the other Hinterland characters!

The best parts by far were the interstitial fairytale stories. I would 100% read a copy of Tales from the Hinterland.

This was a good one. Ella and Alice are constantly on the run, trying to escape the fairy tales that are pursuing them. These are not nice fairy tales. It's sort of creepy and dangerous and I thought it was really well done. The tales seem to be unique (or at least I had never heard any of them) which is also pretty impressive. Fairy tale themes tend to get recycled and to encounter new ones was refreshing. I also quite enjoy dark and twisty, so it's getting extra props for that. If you like fairy tales, definitely give this a go.

This dark and intense story gives a fairytale feel, more like Grimm’s than Disney movies. The darkness and mood of the story are it’s dexond bigger appeal, with the world the story takes place in being a big draw.

The Hazel Wood is a dark urban fantasy following Alice Crewe, a somewhat bitchy and self-centered teenager who has traveled all over the country with her mom, Ella, trying to escape the evils that follow. Some will describe this as a delicious, dark and cold burning fantasy and I have to say I don't agree.

The book wasn't poorly written but it didn't hold my attention throughout. The story seemed like it was being turned in every which direction and it was hard for me to understand where it was exactly going, especially towards the end. It was too much in such a short time span. Too much time leading up to The Hinterland and so little time actually being there.

I appreciated the point of Alice not having a secure home life, constantly moving from place to place, seeing as how most teenagers in YA do have a secure home life. It was a good change for me to read. On topic of Alice, she is one of the hardest characters to relate to that I've ever read. There were so many points in the book where I thought I was about to show her empathy but then Alice decides to ruin it by being rude to someone. I understand there are reasons for this behavior (no spoilers, I promise) but it was still hard for me to like her. 

Overall, I understand this is a unpopular opinion but this book wasn't my favorite. I can see why people do love it so I do recommend it for those who love dark fantasies...just go in with low expectations.