Tales From the Hinterland is a wonderful collection of dark, immersive, and intriguing fairy tales for anyone who likes a little edge to their fantasy worlds. I honestly don't know how to pick a favorite story. They are all so wonderful and captivating from the very first sentence, and I really love that they all pack so much into the short story format. This was a perfect book to pick up and read a story when I had just enough time and wanted something that just immaculately hit those creepy and atmospheric notes. I would love specifically more short stories from Melissa Albert, but also anything and everything she wants to write. Her style is definitely right up my alley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this DRC.

Dark fairy tales and a nice companion the The Hazel Wood.

#TalesFromtheHinterland #NetGalley

"Fans of The Hazel Wood are going to love diving deeper into the Hinterland with this installment!"

I will update when the post goes live.

Thanks so much for this arc!

I love the idea of collection of fairy tales, but so many of them didn't grip me and felt repetive. Also the same stories of oppressed females got tiresome.

I loved Hazelwood but this wasn't for me.

An enjoyable collection for fans of The Hazel Wood—though nothing in that universe has gripped me as much as Albert's initial outing.

I loved reading this book! This is the book that Althea wrote, the one with Alice's story, as well as the others in the Hinterland. It was such a great collection of dark tales, and I enjoyed spending this time in the world!

If this was a in real life anthology, the theme would be girls who are oppressed, mainly by guys, and the weird ways their lives go as they try for better lives, to mixed to negative results. But it's a collection of tales from this world, and that's just what this world is like.

Some of these tales of, we were told, at least the gist of, like Alice's story, and Sophia. But others were completely new. I couldn't wait to see what different stories took up the Storyteller's head! Especially knowing her past!

I do think that Alice's story was my favourite, just knowing who she was outside of her story. But seeing more of this world with these different characters was really great as well! It's grim and it's bloody, and it's so interesting to read about!

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Melissa Albert!

How can you not love dark fairy tales?? Tales from theHinterland is a short story companion to The Hazel Wood. I never read The Hazel Wood, yet still got a lot of enjoyment from this collection, so I would say this can very much be a stand alone book.

Tales from the Hinterland had the wonderfully spooky feeling I loved from The Hazel Wood. Everything a little eerie, mysterious, and more than what it seems. I enjoyed reading the collection of stories referenced in The Hazel Wood, however I feel like it would have been tighter and each story would have packed more of a punch if there had been fewer of them. Most were quite enjoyable and very atmospheric, but I found myself losing interest in a few as it felt a little repetitive. Overall, delighted to read this collection of unsettling and beautifully described stories.

These stories were so good! I couldn’t put this book down. They are creepy and chilling in the best way.

I have elected not to read and review this book due to time constraints. Thank you for the opportunity.

This collection of short stories was a fun way to revisit the Hinterland, and get glimpses of both some new and familiar characters. This is excellent for fans of the original books, or good as standalone dark fairytale stories too.

Perfect for readers who want to enter back into The Hazel Wood series world. These fairy tales are richly steeped with darkness and positively enchanting.

I read the first two books before picking this up but I think it would have been better if I picked it up after the first book because there’s so much references about it by the side characters and it left me confused during the second book and none of the characters would elaborate. I understand the reason why this book is supposed to be after the two books (the story about Alice three times would ruin the ending of book two) but I think reading the stories except for Alice three times would be fine.

Overall, I'm a fan of dark fairy tales especially unique ones and this was amazing! Definitely a must read especially if you aren’t planning on reading the other books and you love reading dark tales.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

I read this collection of short stories long enough after reading the Hazel Wood series that I couldn't remember which I'd read before, so I couldn't tell if they were truly familiar to me or just familiar in the way of all good fairy tales. I read them just at the beginning of October, which was perfect as they were quite spooky.

A delightful and dark little companion to The Hazel Wood. These stories are a great gift for Melissa Albert fans longing for more time in the Hazel Wood and Night Country world, and a lovely book of dark fairy tales for people who haven’t read the other novels.

Overall, this book was just okay for me.

The writing itself is perfectly suited to fairy tales, and I loved that aspect.

The stories are deliciously dark, but also somewhat repetitive in theme. I loved a few and disliked a few, and the rest were just sort of uninspired entertainment.

Then again, this book is marketed as YA fiction, and I'm definitely more of a jaded old person.

I haven't read any of the other books, which wasn't a problem. While I know these stories have a connection to the series, each fairy tale can be enjoyed on its own.

Like everyone else who read The Hazelwood, I longed to read Tales from the Hinterland. And like everyone else who read The Hazelwood, when I heard Tales from the Hinterland was coming, I was so excited! I couldn't wait to read the story of Hansa the Traveler and of Twice Killed Katherine, but most of all, I wanted to read Briar King's story. I don't know why, he was minor player to be sure, but for some reason it was his story I wanted to know most of all; something about his character just generated so much curiosity for me. I skipped around, saving Death and the Woodwife for last, somehow sure that was where I'd find his tale. And when it started out about a thorny bush and a green girl, I just knew I was about to finally have my curiosity satisfied. I was wrong. Now I'm disappointed.

I almost wonder if leaving him out was intentional, especially since the last story was so teasing. Perhaps Albert plans on releasing another volume and is keeping Briar King back as bait. If so, I don't appreciate it.

I also would have liked it better if the book had been exactly as described in The Hazelwood; just a small plain green book with gold lettering and Althea Prosperine on the cover (it was at least on the title page) but considering the fact the book wasn't exactly as described, it's still lovely. The paper is very good quality and I love the decorative border on each page.

As for the stories themselves, they're pretty much exactly what you would expect, which isn't a bad thing. If you already read the Hazelwood, then you already read a couple of them. So if you liked Alice Three Times and The Door That Wasn't There, you should enjoy the rest of them well enough. Just don't expect to learn anything about Briar King and you won't be disappointed.

I loved this standalone companion to the Hinterland series. It feels like something I really wanted while reading The Hazel Wood, so I was incredibly happy that this became a reality. I wanted to know more about the people haunting the fringes and I got that!

If you love fairytales, than I highly recommend this book. The reader will already be familar with the Hinterland from reading The Hazel Wood and The Night Country, and these stories add to the lush fantasy and history of this world. Highly recommend!

I would like to extend my gratitude to the author, publisher and NetGalley for sending me this advanced reader’s copy in return for a fair, frank, and honest review.

Absolutely loved this book. It felt strange, but enjoyable, to read the darker side of fairy stories. Furthermore, I was previously not a fan of short stories, but this book changed that side of me too. Each, and every story was written beautifully, and I will definitely read this author’s other works.