The Night Country

3.5 Stars

SO..HERE IS MY DILEMMA. This is the second book in the series.....and I still don't care about the main characters, Alice or Finch. I kind of wanted them to be more than okay to me at this point. but I liked the story in and of itself. The author has a great skill in writing or reworking a dark fairy tale. I can say that I seriously enjoyed that even more than i did in the first book. However, since i feel like now i should be somewhat more invested in the characters..at least by the end..and i wasn't.. no matter how much I liked the story itself i'll keep it at a 3.5. Also I feel like the first one read and ended as a stand alone so i didn't know where this would go. Not a bad thing. I just can't say I was super hype for anything in particular.

I don't know this one just dragged for me. I felt like nothing important happened for majority of the book.

The Hazel Wood was one of those books that surprised me last year. I wasn't expecting to love it, but it transported me to a different world and I loved following Alice's story through the Hinterland as she searched for her mother.

I was expecting that same out of worldness with The Night Country, however, I was disappointed. I felt like the story was drawn out and did not seem to have a set path of where it was going. Then when it started to get more interesting toward the end, it picked up speed and then felt rushed as we went through the climax and conclusion to the book.

Overall, for me, this book suffered from second book syndrome that a lot of other books struggle with. I just did not feel like there was a good direction in the storytelling and then the ending was too rushed.

To be honest, I haven't read the first book since 2018 so I went into this one with very little memory of what happened before and relied on this book to remind me. I really enjoy Albert's writing because it's whimsical without being over-the-top poetic or metaphorical like some writers can get when trying to write fairy tale type stories. I also enjoy that this is darker interpretation including some actual blood and guts. Like the first book, and maybe even more because it's been so long between books, I really didn't care about what happened to these characters. This one was definitely a little more “in the day of” rather than full of action so parts were a bit boring. There also were less characters as this centered on Alice and Sophia's friendship with the mystery plot going on in the background. Suddenly, in the middle of the book, we get every other chapter being from Finch's POV as he travels between worlds with a new character. Finch's story is a little more interesting because he has a better outlook and is actively travelling into different worlds, and isn't all woe is me like Alice can get.
I recommend these if you're into dark fantasy and faerie stories but definitely read them back to back. I think this book might have been more compelling if I didn't spend some of it a little confused.

really liked it but the ending was kind of disappointing

also a lot of loose ends, hat happened with julia and ingrid? the traveler iolanthe? feels like they were just kind forgotten

Once again I had to read a detailed online summary of this–I remember liking [b:The Hazel Wood 34275232 The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1) Melissa Albert https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500549460l/34275232.SY75.jpg 53292100] but like, not enough to remember what happened in it I guess? But once I'd refreshed myself, I did like this. I like the worldbuilding and the story-ness of it all, and the writing is lovely.

I really enjoyed Hazel Wood and couldn't wait for this sequel. I loved this one even more than the first (crazy how that's even possible). Everything about this series so far has been amazing, especially the darkness of the Spinner, the stories and the fairy tales. I also love that it's a present day “fairy tale” filled with mystery, blood and dark intentions. I haven't read anything else quite like this and it's uniqueness is a major plus.

I really enjoyed this one...much more than the first.

I wish all Young Adult book were at this level, I wish all Adult books were at this level, I wish all books were at this level. Well thought out, with rounded out and well developed characters, with worlds, that's right worlds, that are descriptive and fully immersive. From this moment forth I can guarantee I will write anything that Melissa Albert writes. Be it shopping list, book, or mural. Thank you.