I really enjoyed this book! My only tiny problem was the four main characters all having names that start with H. At times my mind would just get confused, and I would have to stop and remind myself the oldest siblings have HA names, and I would sort myself out for awhile.

But don’t let this stop you from reading Hazel and Holly, and hopefully enjoying it as much as I did.

This fantasy, which I can see becoming a series, has all the essentials to make it epic. A witch with an impossible mission, learning more about herself and being tempted into great evil. Throw in an entourage of friends, each with unique abilities and insights, and you get a fast paced, very entertaining story.

Sara Snider does a fantastic job with the world building. There are numerous books and movies that I’m sure people will compare this story to, but for me, I kept thinking of the movie Labyrinth. I think my mind equated searching for a baby brother, with Hazel looking for their father, and Hoggle reminded me of their cellar gnome, Tum.

Snider also does a wonderful job with the character’s development. Even the secondary characters are well rounded, and not just used in the story for filler. The four main characters continue to grow throughout the book, and I hope she continues this into a series, because I would love to continue getting to know them.

A fabulous fantasy, that I highly recommend.

I think that Hazel and Holly is going to be one of those hit or miss reads for people. Review are all over the map, which honestly kept me from picking this one up earlier. But since I'm continuously drawn to it, and it's a long read, I decided that my Christmas Vacation would be the perfect time to dive in.

First up, this is not a Christmas book as one might think - with the name and the cover, it is rightfully confusing.

This story about witches and warlocks, 2 sisters and 2 brothers, who live in The Grove and practice natural magic, has some really interesting qualities:

- the characters were so funny. This random group becomes friends and their banter throughout the story was wonderful and made me giggle from time to time. I loved some of these characters more than others but each was uniquely crafted and well represented on the page. It would be easy to see this as a movie with all of the dialogue between the characters keeping everyone entertained.

- the adventure storylines were fun. This is not a slow-moving book. Always something happening, which helps to work through the large amount of pages at a pretty good clip.

- lots of humor. Probably my favorite part of any adventure book. There was a lot here to appreciate.

There were some challenges though.

- as mentioned, this was a long one and really could have used some editing.

- some parts of the adventure I did not enjoy. The whole 'Witness' section was just weird and I couldn't figure out why it was in this story. It didn't center around magic but instead around a small town's oddities. This could have been replaced with cool magical centered stops on the adventure from town to town. Huge missed opportunity here.

- the magic that this book is supposedly centered on was very sparse in the actual storyline. A lot of talking about magic and tracking down of magical persons but surprisingly little actual magic being done.

I feel like the author has a really good grasp on character writing and conversational style writing. Really A+ from me on that. But the actual storyline just fell flat for me and by the time we got to the end, I was happy it was done. I didn't like where the story led, but I loved the characters. How weird of a review is that?!

Anyway, if you're up for an adventure, definitely give this one a try and let me know what you think!

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read.

This book was probably a little too long, a little too childish and yet dark, a little too free of depth to care much

Started so well and feel short for me .
I loved the witchy vibes and characters but felt it dragging with suspense in certain areas and lacking in some .
I enjoyed the characters , but felt they acted younger than stated .

DNF at 25%

I read some reviews going in and have to say I agree with them all. I still wanted to give the book a chance since I had an arc of it, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me for the same reasons as other reviewers stated.

1. There wasn't a good balance of dialogue vs. description. While sometimes more dialogue is good, this book suffered for it. The story seems to move solely through dialogue, which means we barely get any descriptions to aid our understanding the world and we don't spend a lot of time just with the main characters, understanding them and their motivations. It created an odd distance between the reader and the character they were reading through. Additionally, a lot of dialogue felt unnecessary, meaning the book lost me at moments as well.

2. Hazel and Holly were rather annoying, and their flaws outweighed any redeeming traits. They both seemed extremely petty and annoying, playing mean tricks on each other under the disguise of teasing, and constantly tossing around harmful words (yes I know siblings banter, I have them, but this wasn't that). They also both felt inconstant, Hazel especially, as within 25%, she suddenly wanted Holly to grow up/involve her in things, when at the start of the book she wanted to hide Holly away and protect her. Change happens in books, but there was nothing to warrant the change.

3. The writing style feels very young, and in connection, so do the main characters. The brothers are introduced as 30s+, and Hazel and Holly are 24 and 17 respectively yet Holly reads like she's 13-15, Hazel a bit younger, and the brothers as if they're just barely adults. It just made the book odd to read at moments when they would do adult things, since it felt like kids playing at being adults.

4. I wasn't compelled by the plot. They want to find their father and save their mother but in the few moments we saw the mother, she seemed rude and standoffish, and it doesn't really excite the reader/make them also want to save her.

However, I found the magic system to be cool, from what I knew of it, and wish we had more descriptive language to teach us about it and the world it's set in.

This started out so well! I really liked how different Hazel and Holly were and how well they played off each other. Some of the scenes and interactions were really fun because of just how different they were.

But then it started to get slow and boring and I ended up purchasing the audiobook so I could play on my phone while listening because my attention kept wandering while I was trying to actually read. The audiobook made it go a bit faster but it actually highlighted some major issues I had with the book with the repetitive dialogue. You don't need to say Hazel said, Holly said, Hemlock said whenever anyone speaks when they're in the middle of a conversation. It just gets annoying.

Snider did do a good job of making Hazel and Holly's father a person who just raises your hackles and I needed to finish it to make sure the sisters got out of the book safely and that their father got what he deserved for being a manipulative jerk.

Overall, I was disappointed in this book. It started out so promising.

Unfortunately I no longer wish to review this book as the first few chapters did not reel me in. Thank you for the opportunity.

This book was a miss for me. It was difficult to finish, and by the end I didn’t even care enough about what happened to enjoy the twist. Not recommended.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my review.

This was the perfect witchy read, it was atmospheric and cute. It follows two sister witches, Hazel and Holly as they learn about the secrets of their world.

This was a super atmospheric read and I would definitely recommend this to YA readers that want to dive in to the fantasy genre. The perfect fall read.

3 out of 5 stars

To be honest, I didn't finished this book. I was super excited to get into it tho, but after 30 pages everything felt down. The humor was a bit weird, and made me uncomfortable, the dialogues were too much, felt unreal and forced, the way they were put together too. The book is pretty big aswell so too much dialogues were giving the impression that the story was just not advancing which is quite sad for a fantasy novel.
The vilains of the book were bland and I think they could have been worked on more. The humor was also a bit childish so I am wondering if the problem might be my age, maybe I just can't laugh like that anymore? It is not a bad book but the audience should' be for younger kids, I think it would be indeed a great book for them!
However I really liked the first chapters that were really awesome, and the relation of the sisters was well worked on so it was really refreshing to be able to read such a book where sibling bonds are really well developped.

This was such a disappointment for me! Sadly I found it difficult to care about this story.

The two sisters are very annoying and very cliche. I really really dislike the stereotype of one cautious sister and one careless. You can't summerise people in one description. But sadly, every time I come across fictional siblings something like this happens.

Also, the story is filled with filler. There were many parts that didn't add anything to the story and could just easily be deleted. I feel like this book could use a good editor. Because in all honesty it needed heavy editing it could be turned to something enjoyable.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

Thank you, Netgalley and Double Beast Publishing, for Sara Snider’s fantastical Hazel and Holly! As a side note, I learned recently that Double Beast is actually Sara Snider’s own publishing house that she created after writing this book. I thought that was super cool! As a reviewer, it makes you feel like your words matter more, as though you are more directly communicating with the author. Rock on, Ms. Snider.

Description from the desk:

Nestled within an enchanted forest is the Grove, a community where witches and warlocks practice elemental magic, brew mystical potions, and lock their cellars against beer thieving gnomes. Life is quiet and uneventful. Well, except when Hazel’s long-lost father uses necromancy to trap her dead mother’s soul.
That simply won’t do. Necromancy is forbidden in the Grove, and for good reason too. Nobody wants filthy corpses shambling around, mussing up one’s garden. Hazel is determined to find her father and undo his treachery.

But despite Hazel’s plans of becoming a one-woman army, she can’t do everything alone. It’s not until wild sister Holly convinces her to leave the house for once and go to a party that Hazel finds a pair of unlikely allies in two bickering warlock brothers.

Together, the four of them go on a journey that takes them out of the Grove and into a world where necromancy reigns and the dead won’t respectfully stay in the grave. Hazel will do whatever it takes to stop her father and save her mother’s soul. Even if it means turning to necromancy. Even if it means losing her friends. Because they would never help a necromancer. Would they?

My Take:

Here is a YA SSF that follows some tropes and breaks others. Sisters Hazel and Holly are unique characters with their own arcs, but occasionally fall into roles that we have seen before. Their epic journey is reminiscent of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings, with a bit more family drama. The magical system is the most interesting part of the book by far, and definitely most unique. The characters, however, fall into some dangerous tropes that are not necessarily healthy for younger readers, and the book can be tedious at times, with naming conventions that can be confusing. The first part of the book, where the world is laid out and the characters initially introduced, felt much stronger than the rest of the book.

Bottom Line:

I would not discourage young readers from reading this; however, I would ask the parents to read it with their kids, and judge based on their own experiences. Holly and Hazel are interesting characters and their sisterly bond is incredible, but sometimes seem to have an unhealthy attachment to Hawthorne and Hemlock that I would want to talk to my (potential, long off future) daughters about. The names are hard to keep track of sometimes, so that may present an issue. Also, Hazel and Holly are in their 20s, and the story does not present that fact well. I would recommend a parent making a decision about what age their kids should read this after reading it themselves.

Three out of five stars.

The first thing I have to tackle about this book is that I was expecting it to be a middle grade read, I don't honestly know why because the character's age is not specified anywhere but it turns out most of the characters are well over 20. This is important because this book totally reads like a middle grade in the way is written, in the characters' behaviour, everything has a childish tone to it. I didn't have a problem with it because it was what I was expecting - kind of at least - but I know that if I had known it was an adult book before getting into it, I probably wouldn't have been able to like it.

Moreover, the plot was really strong at the beginning of the book and it slowly lost impact as the story went on. The main problem stopped being engaging enough for me so at the end of the book I didn't honestly care how everything was going to be resolved.

I think the issues for me started when the villain's redemption arc started to take part in the book. I honestly hate the villain in this story and the horrible things he did to get his way so when the story started to try and show him on a "good light", I didn't buy it. We didn't get explanations with the depth that the situation deserved therefore my lack of empathy towards that character.

On the other hand, I really liked the relationship between the sisters. They weren't perfect but the love they had and how they'd do anything to protect each other was evident all throughout this book. Plus, the magic system was quite interesting with different deities, elements and history - we did get a bit of an info dump at the end on that matter but it wasn't the biggest issue -.

I wasn't a fan of this and dnfd at just over halfway. The plot was all over the place which made this hard to follow but the magic system was interesting. Wasn't interesting enough for me to finish the book though

Hazel & Holly is a cute story. It has that cuteness that comes from characters that are likeable and fun to read. Who care for each other even when they are awkward and goofy, and this is probably what I liked to most about this novel.

The story is after all quite straightforward. In spite of taking some twists and turns, the story starts with Hazen and Holly going after their father, and that's what they do from beginning to end.
The world where they travel is diverse and strange enough to be always interesting, though I'll admit that the part I liked the most is the Grove, the place where the story begins, because I love the way magic works there. It's not a very new concept (it's environmental magic, basically), but I really like the way this concept was used.

The tone of the story leans toward the humorous side, and that's part of the cuteness fo the story, though I wouldn't say this makes it light-hearted, at least not all the time. There are some quite dark episodes in here, especially toward the end.

The only thing that bothered me was the pace. Even if things are always happening, the story evolved very slowly. Personally, I would have liked for the focus to be a little less on the episodes and a bit more on the overall arc, because sometimes, concentrating on the episode made me lose sight of the main point. This made me struggle through a few episodes, especially in the middle of the novel.

But overall, it was a nice read.

I was not a fan of this one. The magic system was interesting but I felt like the plot was all over the place. I just couldn't enjoy it.

Starting with the positives, the cover drew me into this book and the magical premise sounded wonderful. Unfortunately, I found that this book left me rather wanting - the plot didn't grab me, and I found that it dragged with little momentum which left me disengaged and rather willing the story to progress. There were strong elements, and parts of the writing were beautiful - it's a shame as I think the world and characters have a lot of potential. This just wasn't for me.

My thoughts




Narrative and Plot

Hazel and Holly has a light tone in the narrative despite the topic of dark magic that it deals with. It gives an easy vibe and a humorous tone for the most of the part. The book is about the adventurous journey they set out in order to free their mother.

The plot however wasn't as imaginative as the narrative. In the beginning the mysterious magical atmosphere was intriguing but as the story progressed, it felt more descriptive. It could have used some depth with the plot. A lot of the things were hazy till the end. Since this is a series one can hope it will dwell deeper in the future books.

Characters and Conflicts

This book definitely has its share of colourful characters. Tum being the most enjoyable one. It definitely had some great character sketches with vast potential, However, the course of the character development wasn't much evident. By the end, yes- most of the characters have found some change. However, they felt abrupt instead of the gradual path of developing one's personality.

Had the book spent more time on characters rather than the descriptive ways of the magical world and it's working, it would have given them more depth. Even the protagonists Hazel and Holly, were touched only on the surface as people. It's not that they don't have depth, but it was never evident.

The conflict of the book is focused solely on one goal. Though the book in the end explains itself, the whole adventure lacked a solid plan or path for that matter. You can catch one lucky break on an adventure trip but you can't make every single breakthrough based on chance or luck. By the time, the story catches up with this, providing an explanation, you're far too deep in it and could not care any less.



Conclusion


Hazel and Holly has its fun moments for sure. But it is a solid one time read for me. I wouldn't go seeking out the sequel but just in case, if I had enough time, I wouldn't mind picking it up either (only if I have that kind of time to kill). So, you get the gist here I suppose.