The Hazel Wood Comes to Life at Night
I had ironically just finished updating my TBR queue based on a list of hotly anticipated books for 2018, when our Queen Bee offered me the chance to read the one I was most excited about early. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert had been near the top of several lists I had perused online, and the synopsis alone was chill-inducing, oozing with dark promise. And it delivered ten fold, this is by far the Image result for dark enchanted book gifcreepiest, most captivating fairy tale-esque book I have ever read; it is a book that will make my fellow readers view the idea of the land of make-believe in a far more sinister light.

“So, why not five stars?” you may be asking yourself. My only criticism of this book lies in its last 15%, with an ending that seems both anticlimactic, and empty. There is a great deal of buildup to the point when Alice learns the secrets of the Hazel Wood and the Hinterland, only to offer a quick resolution to the situation, that seemed far too easy. Additionally, I’m a proud member of the happily-ever-after crowd, and that is not what you get with this book. I found myself aching more for Alice at the end of the book than I had throughout her entire period of tribulation detailed in the rest of the story. However, things seemed to be left open-ended enough to allow for a future second installment to Alice’s tale…in which case I may end up having to eat these words!

Now that I have the negatives out of the way, let mImage result for creepy dark woods gif
e take some time to rave about this book! The writing is flawless, with descriptions that paint vivid pictures in the mind’s eye, and evoke stirring emotions…I could almost feel Alice’s uncontrollable rage and urge to be cruel, along with her crushing sense of loneliness and separateness. The breadcrumb trail of clues to Alice’s true identity allows readers to figure it out just ahead of the major revelation, but adeptly hides some of the more sinister plot twists, resulting in a thrill ride of epic proportions. The Hazel Wood will be available tomorrow, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fairy tales, or anyone who has ever wondered what would happen if fairy tales came to life and broke out of their story lines. Yes, even my fellow lovers of the happily-ever-after story, because this is a book that truly should not to be missed!

Hazel Wood is a creepy YA fantasy that was dark and mysterious while also managing to be fun. I can't wait to see what this author does next!

I had to sit and think on this one for a bit.
I had a good time reading this story. The voice of Alice is one that felt authentic, and her character is a wonderful departure from the familiar personalities we all see so much of... I don't mind that she's bitchy and elitist.
Her and her mother had me feeling all kinds of gooey happy things. Total goals, minus all the mystical weirdness of course.
Because that's the other cool part of this story- the supernatural elements are bizarre and mostly wonderful. I think the atmosphere perfectly captures the vibe of mystery and suspense, and that whimsy that is just a breath away from being dangerous. Or in this case mostly danger that is kind of whimsical? It's so creepy and scary, I loved it! Oh, those stories were amazing! The best part were the Hinterland tales. They were incredible!
Honestly, the only thing that kept me from immediately gushing is just that there were some things that didn't go how I thought they would, and some pacing concerns. I didn't care so much for the second half, I never felt grounded in the reality there. I always felt like I was missing something. Honestly I feel like there was a bit of a disconnect overall, I could have really used an anchor in all that weirdness. I'll be looking forward to reading other people's thoughts on it for sure!
Definitely pick it up if you like that amazing cover, it's a good one... and I need to read your review :)

It took me forever to get through this book for a few reasons: I didn't want to read it at night because it's kind of scary and I scare very easily, and the middle of the book drags for a while. If I hadn't gotten a push of energy at the end, I don't know how long it would've taken me to read it. However, I still really liked to story. It's intricate and interesting and takes you places you might not expect (though it's certainly not a crazy mystery that you can't see coming) and the Hinterland is this beautifully drawn world that comes alive so vividly. I'm sure that the next book in this series will resolve some of the character issues, especially the unsatisfying place that both Alice and Finch are in, but I almost would've preferred that those resolutions could have happened in this book. The story feels unfinished, though I recognize that this is probably intentional.

A sharp, dangerous debut with a delightfully academic bent. Albert creates brand new fairytales for her novel with the deftness of a master, haunting and eerie and just whimsical enough to be bitingly memorable.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This should have been a winner for me, Hazel wood sounding like a re-imagined Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The idea itself could have made for enchanting and dangerous tale, but for me it fell short. . This story had so much more to give! Instead the progress was snail slow, the characters were flat, and any real action didn't happen until towards the end of the books. The exchanges between characters were odd and unrealistic. Alice, the MC, was selfish and generally unlikable and Finch, while I appreciated he stayed true to his character in the end, he just wasn't that interesting. There were a few glimpses in the beginning of the Hinterland characters that were interesting and creepy, but overall, I didn't find this story scary or dark. Once the story line took place in the Hazel Wood, I wish the author would have explored the stories and characters of Hinterland, as that was the best part of this story for me.

This book was an engaging and unexpected adventure. If you are looking for a satisfying and alternative fairy tale look no farther!

I ended up reading MOST of this book, and I do plan on continuing as this book frustrated me greatly - but in a good way.

What I expected from this book was a simple fairytale, but instead what I got was a Brother’s Grimm level kind of fairytale and I was pleasantly surprised.

It’s brutal, dark, mysterious with beautiful and brilliant descriptions of everything.
I loved the characters, the tone of the story. Everything about this book is what you want in a dark fairytale.
I was very much engaged from the start of this book, to where I stopped between 60-70%. At that marker something had happened that made me need to stop reading and process, and then I never picked it back up again because I literally was so worried about what was going to happen.

I will be returning to this story once I get the chance but as of right now I highly recommend and love this story!

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert is a dark fantasy suspense for young adults.

Alice and her mother are unlucky in life and move frequently. When her mother disappears, Alice must immerse herself in the dark world of her recently dead grandmother’s supernatural world. Filled with strong and sometimes abrasive female characters and lots of twists, Alice along with her acquaintance Ellery must visit the creepy Hazel Wood estate in search of answers.

Librarians will find a following for this book among teens who enjoy fairy tale fantasy, contemporary mysteries, and dark thrillers. Fans of Alice in Wonderful and teens who enjoy literature will enjoy discussing the many literary connections.

Published by Flatiron, an imprint of Macmillan on January 30, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

LOVED this title! It was weird and strange and absolutely amazing. The twists kept me guessing all the way through.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is amazing. This story hooked me right away. I heard a lot of mixed early reviews and wasn't sure what to think, so I needed to check it out myself and I am so glad that I did. I found myself wanting to know more about the mystery that is going on.

Alice is a bit different. She doesn't come across as your typical main character. Sometimes I liked her but most of the time I didn't like her. Mainly because she wasn't friendly. She kept people at arm's length which kept other characters at bay. It would be a lot nicer to get to know more characters but this didn't stop me from loving this book.

Albert's writing is beautiful and quite enjoyable. I found myself wanting to know more about the Hinterland and what is going on. I know this story was compared to a lot of different fairy tales but I didn't see anything that jumped out at me right away. I feel like this book is pretty unique. I really enjoyed the ending and I am looking forward to seeing what Albert has in store for us next.

This was an incredible start to the series that I am so excited to continue on with. The characters were interesting and were such a joy to explore and I really found myself engrossed with the overall world. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Hazel Wood was an eccentric and engaging read. I couldn’t put the book down. There was so much amazing description and wordbuilding. The characters were super dynamic

I loooove fairy tale retelling and this book also had an amazing cover which is one of the things that drew me to it.

Dark books are my favorite, I read lighthearted books all the time so it's nice to be surprised by something dark and creepy.

Thsi book was really good, I loved the pacing and the characters.

I really enjoyed this dark novel. Seventeen year old Alice and her mother have been on the run her whole life, running from “bad luck” and avoiding her quirky grandmother, author of a strange book of alternative fairy tales. Soon, things get even weirder and darker as Alice struggles to make sense of her past and to decide her own future.

This was definitely my type of book. Ever since I first saw the cover back at ALA-Chicago last summer (unfortunately I was unable to snag an ARC back then--I was so sad!) I knew I HAD to read The Hazel Wood!! I loved the dark side of the 'fairy tales' and the hunt the main characters followed to find Alice's mother. I have to mention again how beautiful and captivating the cover is, and how much the details really give in to the story. The story itself leaves so many bread crumbs as we go on the journey through the book it is just so captivating and darkly delicious. What a beautiful read!

The Hazel Wood was a solid two star read. While it was alright, it definitely wasn't what I expected it to be. I really thought it was going to be a high fantasy book (which is what the description gave the impression of) but most of it was set in modern day? Also, the main character Alice was...well, terrible. I just couldn't get behind the way she acted throughout most of this book and I never found myself interested in learning more about her past what was on the page. So all in all, this book was just okay for me.

Absolutely gorgeous writing and an extremely unique plot. I was immediately drawn to this book after seeing that awesome cover, and it definitely didn't disappoint.

Although it did take me about until halfway through to connect with the main heroine, I eventually found her decently likable and enjoyed following her journey.

Great read!

I think The Hazel Wood is a book that works for me in pieces, but not as a whole. There are about three parts to this novel. The first, which I found quite gripping, was a combination of Alice's backstory with her mysterious fairy-tale bestseller grandma and mysterious happenings to her, culminating in the disappearance of her mother to the "Hinterland," the place from the fairy tales. Then she goes to Ellery Finch, a rich boy from her school who knows about her grandmother and even managed to read a copy of the book once, and they try to track down the Hinterland while avoiding supernatural forces stopping them. This section dragged more for me. And finally, as you might expect, they reach this fantasy world.

I won't spoil, but something did happen in between the second and third sections described above that made me lose investment in the story because it came across as negating a lot of what the novel had put time and effort into, making a good chunk of the book inessential for a cheap plot twist. Of course, it's not all as it seems, but I'm not sure I found the conclusion is all that satisfying, either.

Otherwise, the fairy-tale world section was enchanting, disturbing, and definitely the most interesting, and even though it seems to come in at a bizarre place in the novel, it's definitely the resolution. Of course, that means there's a lot of exposition to swallow. That said, there were some good twists, great descriptions, and really interesting metafictional aspects that made me like the concept (the mysterious book of fairy-tales) even more than I did at the beginning.

Albert's overall writing style was great: there were plenty of great turns-of-phrases, figurative language, creepy sequences, and pop-culture references. Like others, I found Alice frustrating, but the plot ended up explaining some of this so I can't really complain, I suppose, though I really wish I got to see her develop more relationships. I rather liked the ending...I understand there is going to be a sequel now (perhaps a trilogy?), but it's written as a stand-alone and I think it can be read that way because it wraps up neatly. I frankly don't think this is a series I'm interested in reading more of (which is no surprise if you know my lack of interest in series).

Review is in the March 2018 issue of SFRevu. You can read it here: <http://sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=17785>