The Hazel Wood

This book had been one I'd been saving for myself for some time. I'd heard wonderful things about it and I hoped that it's promised tale of magical fairy tales and a mysterious house called The Hazel Wood would give me a great fantasy tale to lose myself in. I was, unfortunately, going to be disappointed.

This book firstly was just not full of characters I fell in love with, set in contemporary New York setting we follow Alice, a young girl of seventeen whose grandmother has just passed away. Her mother disappears and she is then told that she must stay away from The Hazel Wood. The Hazel Wood is the estate of her deceased grandmother where she lived as a recluse for much of her life, having written a book full of dark and mysterious fairy tales.

I could not click with any of the characters in this novel. They were all written quite superficially and as a result, we never really scratch the surface of their emotions. Alice is quite one dimensional and also we have so many characters coming in and out of the story so quickly that we fail to bond with any.

I DNF'd this one at around 50% of the way through as by this point we hadn't even reached the mysterious Hazel Wood and I was losing the will to live with this book. There was none of the magical fantasy I'd wanted from this book, instead we get a few snatches of some dark tales that Alice's grandmother is said to have written but they are disjointed and don't add much to the narrative. Alice instead comes across as unhinged and slightly mad and it was more a weird Wonderland vibe than a magical dark fairy tale.

I was disappointed by this, however, I am learning this year that I am not gaining anything by plowing through books I don't enjoy. I'd rather cut my losses and move on. I was frustrated not to have the strength to finish this one but this is still very much the exception rather than the norm.

This was a really unique take on fae and a version of their world. It's based more on the classic fairy tale format than most urban fantasy I've read. I'm not sure why there are so many 3 or less star reviews of this as I really enjoyed it. The most YA book genre I've read is probably faerie-based dark fantasy (as well as Alice in Wonderland being my favourite book), so maybe it's just more in my wheelhouse than a lot of other readers'.
I didn't find the writing poor or the plot hard to follow and while I didn't come to particularly care about any of the characters, the action kept me reading and I moved through the book fairly quickly.
The book starts out like a lot of urban fantasy where Alice (kind of on the nose but better than the usual eyeroll-inducing YA fantasy names) is being followed by some shady characters and more and more of the elements of her grandmother's hard-to-find-yet-famous published fairy tale collection bleed into her assumed-normal existence. However, once things kick off and she ends up going into the Hinterland (the world all the books' tales take place in) it's very similar to Alice in Wonderland but much more dark.
I definitely look forward to a sequel and seeing more into the Hinterland.

I went into this book knowing nothing other than Korrina loved it enough to include it in an Owlcrate box. I had limited expectations and am happy to say I was blown away by this book. I loved the writing style and the feel of this book.

Pros:
-Writing Style: This book feels like a fairytale. I felt like I was reading one of Grim's fairytales. I loved that this book was able to place me in that mindset and still tell me a complex story.
- World: I loved the world of this book. The Hinterland and The Hazel Wood are these “imaginary” places that Alice and Finch are trying to get to and I loved reading their adventure both while searching and while they were there.
- It is a super small aspect of this book, but there is an encounter between Alice and Finch where Finch is “yelling” at Alice about how she dealt with a cop and how he would never have been able to get away with that. While it was a subtle scene in the book, it held weight with me and I appreciated the candor regarding race.
-I'm going to mark this point as a spoiler just to be safe, but to me, it is not really a true spoiler. Romance: Technically this should say lack of romance, but I really appreciated that Melissa Albert kept this about Alice and finding out about herself and her family. While Alice definitely got close to Finch, there was not this other story of them falling in love on their journey and I really appreciated that.

Cons:
- Timeline: There were aspects of this that were confusing when it came to explaining Alice and the timeline. There were places that I had to reread passages to make sure I was making the necessary connections and understanding what had happened in the past.
- Ending: I know there is a second book coming, but I feel like Alice had all this growth and development and we learned a lot, but then the ending was rushed and her reunion with certain characters happened as we flew through this info dump in the last two chapters. I think the last few chapters could have benefited for a little more editing and not rushing through the ending. There were also a lot of things that I feel like should have been discussed but were just ignored. Hopefully we get more answers in The Night Country.

Before I get into the book review, I need to talk about the book cover. I have the green softcover version and I LOVE it. I love me some kick ass artwork.

As for the book, it is a yes from me. The first half was slow but not dead or boring. I certainly wanted to continue and see what was up. Maybe it shouldn't have been slow for that much of the book but it was, and I kept reading so I won't take points off for that. After that things really kicked off and it got a bit dark and twisty which is how I like my fairy tales. It also didn't end on a cliffhanger which, being honest, I seem to have gotten used to. So that was refreshing. But there's a second book so clearly some thing more happens.

None of the characters stole my heart and soul...which is fine. I don't go into every book looking to leave with a new book boyfriend or girlfriend so it's okay. That doesn't mean that I hated them. I didn't. They were just okay to me. PLUS I really enjoyed reading some of the Tales from the Hinterland stories!! I don't know why I yelled that. But such is my excitement.

A short glimpse into a life pulled from fairy tales.

This story is creative and energetic, with a main character that struggles with all of the normal challenges of teenagers but then also...other stuff. Other worldly disaster awaits in this page turner. I enjoyed following the allies of the protagonist as they try to help and the main character learns who and what she really is...and how much control we can have over our own destiny.

I enjoyed it for the story and also the ending theme that we can't do life alone - it takes a village of people who love and care for you enough to do something.

Alice and her mom move around a lot. It seems like bad luck follows them everywhere. When it catches them, they move on to the next place.
When they get a letter telling them that Alice's grandmother has passed away the bad luck gets even worse. Alice didn't know her grandmother, but now she feels compelled to find out everything she can about her and the strange and reclusive life she lived.
This book was ok. I thought the best part was the last half. It was interesting enough that I will read the next one.

This is by far and away the best book I have read this year and possibly last!
I was enthralled from start to finish. This read like a Anderson fairytale with all the horror and resolutions that are not happily but are sort of fair.
I powered through this over the weekend as its so well written.
This will be up there with The Night Circus as a book I will be recommending to everyone because it just so good.

Lesson learned, Universe: I'll stop hyping books so much in my mind, so I won't feel crushed when they turn out to be monumental disappointments ...... kind of like THE HAZEL WOOD.

“When Alice was born, her eyes were black from end to end, and the midwife didn't stay long enough to wash her.”

THE HAZEL WOOD follows the story of two teenagers, both desperately trying to fight their way into fairyland—a magical place whose inhabitants are literally the stuff of nightmares. But while the concept sounds positively chilling, Melissa Albert fails to deliver on almost all counts. This book isn't even half as creepy as it promises to be & too many of the scenes in it were stretched out for absolutely no reason. Alice and Finch just keep bickering with each other (in a misguided attempt at sexual tension??) & driving around the woods without any real gameplan. Even the gorgeous prose couldn't make up for the lackluster plot & I quickly found myself skimming through the book just so I could finish it already, damn it.

Overall, THE HAZEL WOOD just wasn't for me. If you're craving fairy tales with dark twists, I'd probably suggest Seanan McGuire's EVERY HEART A DOORWAY, or SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS (an anthology, spearheaded by April Genevieve Tucholke) instead.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

“The Hazel Wood” is the first in a duology written by Melissa Albert. The novel follows seventeen-year-old Alice, who has spent most of her life on the road with her mother, but when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, passes away alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood. After her grandmother's death, Alice's mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to have come from the Hinterland, which is the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

The novel was quite enjoyable and the novel had some dark elements. I gave the novel a 3/5 Stars.

I probably first caught wind of this book via the New York Times Book Review and then bought it for my daughter. Then it was languishing unread on her own bookshelf mostly because of “ooh look, the internet!” But then I wanted a change of pace and plucked it from her shelf. Yeah, whatever, Dad. I quickly got sucked in. The writing has that effortless feel and the characters were very engaging. I really enjoyed getting to know out protagonist, Alice and her school friend, Ellery Finch. But it seems that Alice has been having an exceeding odd life and has been constantly on the move with her mother. Her grandmother, Althea, is a reclusive author of a book of strange dark fairy tales, Tales From the Hinterland. It's out of print and very hard to find. But then strange characters that could be from this Hinterland start popping up. Then Alice's mom goes missing. So Alice and Finch decide to try to find this Hinterland. It's cool and dark and weird and I zipped through this book. It even made me ignore my phone more. That's a good thing.