The Hazel Wood: A Novel

The Hazel Wood was a dark, gritty and unique novel. I was intrigued by this story from beginning to end. There was something so consuming and addictive about this book. The author's writing style was captivating and whimsical, I loved it.

The plot of this book was interesting, but there were times when the book felt a bit slow. There were a lot of times when the book was so descriptive that it felt like the plot wasn't actually moving anywhere. As I said, I loved the writing, however, I do wish there would have been more excitement and fast-paced plot development throughout the story. The plot that was introduced was so intriguing and I would love to see it developed even more in a sequel.

The main character, Alice, was an intriguing and compelling character. However, it was really hard to warm up to her due to how rude she was. I definitely would not categorize her as a likable character, but I appreciated how flawed she was. Alice made a lot of decisions that annoyed me and said things that pissed me off, but at least I understood where she was coming from. A lot of things happened to Alice and I admired her strength. I don't really like Alice, but I appreciate her character.

Overall, this was a truly unique and memorable novel. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a dark and eerie story.

3 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It Book Reviews

Alice has lived a nomadic life until now. She and her mother forced to keep moving after they are stricken with bad luck circumstances everytime they stay in one place for too long. Finally, they are able to settle in New York City. Alice and her mother are living the life of luxury, for better or for worse, when their bad luck suddenly catches up with them. Alice's mother is stolen away and Alice is left to try to make sense of family herself and her family history.
Melissa Albert has created a stunningly original fantasy world where fairytales are real. Unfortunately the fairytales are not those of the princesses and ponies where the characters live happily ever after. Hinderland is more alike the original Grimm fairy tales of blood and gore. I would highly recommend this book and await the sequel with bated breath.

This is a spoiler free review of The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, the first book in The Hazel Wood Duology.

I gave this book a 3/5 stars. The beginning of this story reads as a contemporary with an urban fantasy aspect introduced later in the story.

General Thoughts

“Look until the leaves turn red, Sew the worlds up with thread, If your journey’s left undone, Fear the rising of the sun.”

This novel follows Alice Proserpine as she and her classmate Finch work together in order to rescue Alice’s mother after she was captured and taken to the Hinterland- A fairytale land in which Alice’s grandmother, Althea’s story is set.

I loved the idea of this novel, however, the story itself did not clash well with me. The writing was alright, but the plot felt a little all over the place. The pacing of the story was slow, and at some parts even dragged on to a point in which I found myself kind of bored.

The fantasy elements took a while to become introduced and at the start of the novel there were a few info dumps.

Characters

I really disliked the main character Alice. She was reckless, insensitive, and just plain rude. She is physically violent towards other characters without warrant and nearly killed a person who was helping her because she was feeling guilty about her own poor choices. The only person in the book she ‘respects’ is her mother, who she has also been violent towards.

When Alice is called out on her offensive nature by Finch she immediately deflects and starts an argument with him because she is unable to face the truth of her insensitivity.

Finch, the classmate who helps Alice along on this journey is someone I wanted to like. He was patient and caring, yet his character completely fell flat for me. He felt so one-dimensional that it was hard to feel any emotions towards his character. There were many moments throughout the story that I wanted to feel something towards Finch, but due to this disconnection I couldn’t.

Plot

For all her life, bad luck seemed to follow Alice and her mother Ella. When Alice’s reclusive grandmother, Althea Proserpine the author of Tales From The Hinterland- A dark fairytale collection that has become near impossible to find- dies alone in her estate, The Hazel Wood, Ella believes their bad luck is behind them. That is until Ella is stolen away into the supernatural world of Hinterland leaving only a message to Alice behind. “Stay away from The Hazel Wood”

Now Alice, along with the help of her classmate Ellery Finch, embarks on a journey to rescue her mother from the Hinterland and to try to stop everything from going horribly wrong.

Final Verdict

I really wanted to like The Hazel Wood, I had heard so many great things about the story. Yet the whole time while reading it I felt disconnected from the characters and almost confused by the plot. There were parts of the book I did like, for instance the Hinterland fairytale chapters from Althea’s book were really interesting but there were so few throughout the novel and I would have loved more. (I believe there were two) As well, I did like the ending of the novel, however, I do not plan on continuing the series because I believe the ending to this first book was satisfactory.

I do not believe that this was a bad book, I personally just think it was not for me. I love the idea of dark fairytales and being swept away into that fantasy land and this book had that, but it fell flat for me.

If you plan read this book, I wish you better luck with it and hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Disclosure: I received a download of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This was a slow but engaging read for me. It’s not my usual genre. The first 2/3 of the book felt like a noose slowly tightening. The protagonist is searching for family and it is not going well. The absolute best part of the book is the Finch character. For me it would not be readable without him.

I have to say the big reveal caught me by surprise. After that the story accelerates like a rocket with exposition and world building coming at you like a tornado. In my opinion this could have been paced in a more balanced way. However the back story and the fantasy aspects are remarkable. It just takes a while to get there.

This is a definite must read for genre fans who like dark fantasy. Albert has a sure hand, I never really saw the writing. I’d be open to reading any follow up books.

I actually checked this out from the library thinking it was something else. Once I realized my mistake I was wary to start it; I've just been so jaded with YA books lately. But I'm happy to report this isn't an angst-ridden, soppy mess. There's no real romance and Alice moves through the story of her own volition. I did think it lagged a bit at times and she conveniently hooked up with the one person who knew everything she needed to learn and could/would fund her. But all in all I enjoyed it. There's some appreciable diversity in the cast a happily ever after grounded in realistic struggles. I don't regret listening to the story and I thought Rebecca Soler did a fine job with the narration.

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book as I chose it specifically because it was an up-and-coming book, as well as hearing a ton of amazing reviews about it!

Without giving too much away (which I tend to do), this book made me hungry for more information about story spinners and what other worlds there were, how time works in those worlds, how doors work...after finishing, I was relieved to see that this would be a series!

Fingers crossed book 2 is as epic as book 1 with more answers!

I listened to the audiobook for this book.

I think that it helped in keeping me focused. I don't think that I would have kept reading - especially in the very beginning and end if I didn't have someone else reading the book to me.

I thought that the creepier aspects of the story were done well. The fairy-tale-esque feel made it engaging enough to keep going, but a few parts felt too muddied especially at the end.

Overall, I think that this book would be great for someone who likes fantasy books on the creepier, darker spectrum. Think Holly Black and her faerie people. Plus the artwork both on the outside and on the inside was gorgeous and should be recognized.

the hazel wood by Melissa Albert.
Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from 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. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . . .
This was an ok read. I found it slow in places. 3*.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this very interesting book. Alice discovers that the book of fairytales her grandma talked about are true stories when the grandma dies and her mom goes missing. The Hinterlands and the Hazel Wood are not places long imagined, but reality and closer than Alice realizes. It’s mentioned in the book that these stories are far darker than the fairytales we grew up with. Not exactly. If looking at Disneyfied fairytales than yes, but if looking at the original source material I think the stories presented in this book are on the same level. The Little Mermaid for instance has a tragic ending. Overall I found this book interesting, but to say I enjoyed it? That I can’t say...the darkness in this book left me feeling uncomfortable.

Ok.  So we have a main character named Alice and there's a fairytale world, The Hinterland, that she has to find her way to via the Hazel Wood (Of course it's to rescue a loved one.  I swear!  Why do you always ask questions you already know the answers to?)  But I know what you're thinking, "Jaime.  This is an 'Alice in Wonderland' retelling isn't it?  C'mon.  You can tell me.  I won't be angry."

Hey.  Look at me.  First off, I know that you're lying (your poker face isn't as great as you think it is), but I want you to know that understand your concerns.  Every author, anyone who has even dreamed of becoming an author, anyone who has ever picked up a pen/pencil or who has sat in front of a keyboard should know by now that you don't mess with Alice.  I mean, you can't do anything to it that it hasn't already done to itself and it's already weird enough without a Tim Burton inspired rewrite.  While I realize that there will be those who will try, they should be aware that I will most probably hate on them a little bit for it.

Here's the thing, "The Hazel Wood" is not an "Alice in Wonderland" retelling.  Naming the main character Alice was just a poor decision on Albert's end.  I mean, I get it.  She likes the name Alice - that's cool!  But you know that there were readers out there who opened that cover flap, saw the name Alice and were like, "Oh (excessive eye-roll).  Here we go..."

But don't fret, my dear friends!  There is a girl named Alice to gets sucked into another world and that is where the similarities end.  Besides, look at that gorgeous cover!  How can you seriously pass it up?

The lowdown:  Alice has never met her grandmother, Althea Proserpine.  All she knows is that her grandmother penned a book of twisted fairytales entitled "Tales from the Hinterland".  After the book's initial success, however, Althea never wrote anything else.  She became a recluse, shutting herself away in Hazel Wood, her grand estate located in a rural, unmarked area in upstate New York.  Alice and her mother have always been on the run.  Bad luck follows them wherever they go and when it inevitably catches up to them, they pick up and move.  When Alice's mother goes missing and the only clue left behind is a cryptic note warning her to "Stay Away from Hazel Wood", Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a classmate of Alice's and #1 Hinterland Superfan, for help.    

Ellery Finch, huh?  He's the love interest, right?

No.  No he is not.  That is not to say that there aren't feelings developed but this book is completely devoid of the nefarious insta-love and sap that is often present in Young Adult novels.  On that note, Albert's debut has so much going for it.  It's gorgeously written and delightfully creepy.  It has all of the atmosphere of a Gaiman novel and a story that is solid and original enough to keep the reader invested.  I was completely enthralled with some of the Hinterland characters that I am hoping beyond hope that Albert's upcoming book "Tales from the Hinterland" is just a collection of the stories introducing us to these various characters - characters such as Twice-Killed Katherine, The Briar King, and Hansa the Traveler - and their respective stories.  I will be honest:  this book was very close to a 5-star for me.  Following, however, are the slight drawbacks which ultimately dropped my overall review.  

"The Hazel Wood" is slightly pretentious.  It's very New York.  But it's the New York of someone who has moved to New York from Podunk, Iowa and is telling their friends from high school - with nose raised and in a slightly sniffed manner - that they, "live in NEW YORK now".  Adding to this is the number of proper nouns (brand names, book titles, locations, etc.) contained within the book, which it kind of a pet peeve of mine.  Look.  You can tell me that a character is wearing jeans.  You can describe the jeans, tell me what color jeans they are, how they fit, but you do not need to tell me that they are Bugle Boy jeans.  See there!  Look how dated your book instantly became!  I can see where authors might be tempted to use brands to make their books seem more relevant, more modern, but heavy-handed proper noun usage does not bode well for the timelessness of your book. 

Then there's the main character.  If you're anything like me, you're going to hate Alice.  She's moody.  She's distant.  She's a capital letter B.  She's just not likable (it's kind of her thing).  I promise you that it does factor into the story, however, it doesn't play out until the final chapters.

"The Hazel Wood" is very descriptive heavy book, often overwhelmingly so.  Don't get me wrong, these are some seriously cool descriptions, but they feel like an acid-tripping teenager trying to describe Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to someone who has never ridden it before.  Look at that boy riding the bike!  Over there!  There's a lady walking down some stairs!  And, OMG, here comes a little girl carrying a severed head over her shoulder like a sack!  

Yeah...

Albert has so many fantastic visuals crammed into her novel.  I couldn't help but feel as if they should have been thinned out rather than induce virtual whiplash upon the reader.  Not to mention that the reader is given no insight into these random characters.  I can only hope that they make cameo appearances in one of the sequels and that their stories are fleshed out a little more.

Anyways, those are my thoughts!  I promise you that my gripes about "The Hazel Wood" should be taken lightly because it really is a beautiful and wonderfully creepy debut.  I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the next installment in Albert's fantastical story.

I'm going to start off by guessing you're either going to love the first half of the book or the second half. Its almost as if you get two entirely separate stories with entirely separate pacing, plot, setting, atmosphere - even dialogue changes. The first half of the book reads like nothing more than the typical hipster 'daughter in co-dependent relationship with young 'Peter Pan lost-girl' mother'. It reads beautifully, with only a few jarring flashbacks and you can almost taste the rain in the air or the cold in the sidewalk or the stale cigarette smoke on someone's breath. Its got the angry caretaker daughter, the lost waif mother, the rootless childhood, the lonely New York city atmosphere - if you've read one book like this, you know exactly how this one goes. Its lovely in its descriptions and bringing the scenes to life, in making the world around the characters feel real - and so its jarring when you realize the characters themselves don't feel real. The weakness of the book, balanced by the evocative writing, is that the characters, all the characters, are flat. I spent the first half of the book actively disliking the main character and trying to figure out what, beyond the main character telling me so, meant I should care about the sidekick she ended up with. I might be too old to be the target audience but 'angry loner girl' only goes so far as character filler for me before I start expecting to be shown some redeeming characteristic that makes her worth me rooting for and I didn't find it in the first half of the book with Alice. Or anyone else for that matter, codependency with her mother included. And then the book flips and as a reader you feel as if you really have gone through the looking glass because not only does the setting change but the way the story is told changes too. Suddenly its a story with a plot that's got a path its clearly advancing along, the descriptions of the world lose their vivid nature and leave room for you to fill in the mental picture, Alice stops being such a pointlessly antagonistic character (yes, she had a bad childhood, no that didn't do anything to make me actually like her in the first half) because she's got purpose, the world turns into something magical and haunting but driven and self-aware and even though the characters stay one dimensional they fit into the story so much better, perhaps because they're not trying to be interesting in an uninteresting world but because the world matches them better now. I'll admit, I'm one of those people that liked the second half of the book better and tore through it gleefully, even getting to the point I was rooting for Alice and I also enjoyed the quieter, grey feeling 'epilogue' section that brought everything around back to 'normal' and settled things back to mundane. I found that part satisfyingly realistic and a nice come down ending to quietly mumble off with. So - I give it a good rating because the second half of the book turned my exceptions on their ear and took me for a very enjoyable ride, albeit one that seemed to almost rush to its ending. Do I recommend the book? Yes. But with the warning that the first half of the book and the second half of the book are two different books entirely and hopefully the half you enjoy the most will delight you with its twist on what you expect from the other half the way it did me. I enjoyed the book a great deal more by the time I was finished with it than I did when I was reading the first part of it and enjoying a story by the end is what makes it a satisfying story to me. Enjoyable plot twist in the second half, enjoyable evocative writing in the first. Alice? Apparently grows on you once she's not internally monologuing about herself constantly.

Horrible. Melissa Albert did not think the premise through of what "The Hazel Wood" was going to be about. Albert seems like she had a concept and then was making up the storylines as she was going along. The first half of the book was a drag, but bearable but once you get to the second half of the book, you are swept into a boring, uninteresting world where nothing seems to make sense. Alice, the main character, has no charisma or independent qualities that would make her stand out. From the beginning of the novel, she is a party pooper and is always behaving nasty and immature. None of the book's characters have any redeemable qualities. Melissa Albert did a horrible job with her first novel. Don't let the book cover and synopsis fool you. There is nothing to see or experience in "The Hazel Wood". The only thing this book demonstrates is the art of smoke and mirrors. Beware!

I absolutely loved this book. I never read YA or fantasy, and originally got this book to read out loud to my kids but quickly realized it was too dark for them. But the darkness of the book is what I loved. I’m a huge fan of Brothers Grim and Andrew Lang fairy tales; fairy tales that don’t have happy endings, fairy tales that are dark and twisted. The Hazel Wood is all of those things. I would love to see the author come out with ‘Tales from the Hinterland’ as a prequel/companion book. I would love to read those fairy tales. Regardless, I look forward to seeing what this debut author comes out with next. And in a few years I can’t wait for my kids to be old enough to find their way to the halfway woods.

​I really enjoyed this book. The book was beautifully written. The fairy tale chapters were so well written and creepy. They were one of my favorite parts of the book. I liked the incorporation of black representation and white supremacy. The main character wasn't created to be well liked at first but as the story goes on, you begin to actually care about the main character. The only issues that I had with the story was that the ending felt kind of rushed and it wasn’t really explained why the main character ,Alice, calls her mom by her first name instead of mom. I thought that was strange. Other than that I would recommend reading this Alice in wonderland retailing. I give it 4.5 stars.

Alice and her mother have the 17 years of her life on the road, running from the bad luck dodging their heels. When her grandmother dies they believe they can finally settle down. Instead her mother is kidnapped by people who claim to come from the Hinterlands, the setting of her grandmother’s cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales. Now she relies on Finch, a Hinterland superfan, who has reasons of his own to find the Hazel Wood, so that she can be reunited with her mother.

The short review...

If I hadn't read two 5 star books right around this one I would have probably rated this 4 stars. I really enjoyed the book when I thought of it as magical realism, and not so much if I thought of it as fantasy. The real problem is you assume from the premise that you'll be plunged into the world of the Hinterlands. Instead the Hinterlands creeps out into the real world and forces Alice to enter The Hazel Wood. All this misdirection really confuses your expectations and you're left with some amount of disappointment.

That said... the CREEPINESS WAS FANTASTIC!! I especially enjoyed the setup with the Hinterlands weirdness lurking around Alice. To get glimpses of someone or something that doesn't belong... *shiver* I also loved the odd friendship with Finch and how they worked together to figure out how to get to The Hazel Wood. There is absolutely NO romance between them and that was quite refreshing. The relationship that stayed at the forefront of Alice's concern was for her mother (as it should be)!

Cover & Title grade -> A+

The cover really sucked me in!! A dark creepy forest and dark fairy tales! What we read in the premise is ADDED TO due to the cover… because HOW PRETTY IS THAT COVER!!? Even with only browns and greys on black it tells a story that is intriguing…

Why do I feel WISHY WASHY about this book!?

In other words why did I give it 3 star?!

The climax was premature!
The best part of the book was in the Hazel Wood where Alice had to make her way to her grandmother's estate. This was really creepilicious and some elements from earlier in the book came into play. Everything that came after her arrival at the estate was no where near as good as this part of the book and that is quite disappointing...

The ending is rushed!
The setup has this lovely pace that kept you reading as you wondered how these creepy fairy tales meshed with Alice's bad luck growing up and with her mother's kidnapping. Then we hit the Hinterland and she is quickly sent on her way to the end. There was nothing standing in her way and a couple convenient characters to keep her from wandering the Hinterland!

Relationship let down!
I really liked Finch. I didn't need him to become a love interest or anything but the way things ended with him was anti-climatic. I wanted to really root for Alice to find her mother... but I felt distant from Ella because ALL of their relationship was told in backstory and I never connected. Since Alice was a rather friendless person (and this seems to be a series) I wanted her to form bonds with some of the Hinterland characters and she really... didn't.

Even though I rated this 3 stars it is a FUN READ, especially if you enjoy magical realism more than fantasy. It is NOT a retelling of Alice in Wonderland however there are loose similarities that take on their own mythology. I’d TOTALLY read the next book in the series because I found it quite creative!!

I’ve seen mixed reviews on “The Hazel Wood,” but I am in the loved it camp.

Don’t go into it expecting some happy fairytale retelling. This is dark. Original Grimm’s Fairy Tales dark. Alice, the main character, is spunky and not always likable. In this case it is a trait that works well. The stories within the story are wonderful and creepy and vividly painted in words. I’d love for there to be both a sequel and a companion book filled with only the stories.

Highly recommended for those who love the dark side of things!

This unbiased review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.

One of the signal advantages of 21-year-old readers is that their tastes straddle both teen and adult literature. In the Hoare house, however, our daughter goes one further, serving as family “finder” of books for the young that might otherwise slip through the cracks.

A prime example, in which a title ostensibly for teens has been read by all three members of the family, is this remarkable book. The Hazel Wood concerns Alice, a 17-year-old girl, and an eerily attractive boy named Finch, who slowly sucks her into the vortex of her own past, bringing to life a book of very dark fairy tales written by her reclusive grandmother, who lives and dies in the deadly Hazel Wood.

Set alternately in New York City and the wilds, this felicitous mixture of fantasy and fiction – part Grimm, part C.S.Lewis – is one of the most riveting teen/adult cross-pollinations to have been published in quite some time.

J.K. Rowling, where art thou?

The Hazel Wood was a spine chilling saga of a teen girl whose mother goes missing after receiving notice of her grandmother’s death. Frightening fairy tales really exist in worlds unknown to the masses, but those who seek the darkness in themselves find the Hinterland, and it may or may not be exactly the thrill they were looking for. Alice, the main character, on the other hand, has reservations about it, and its many storybook denizens. Her grandmother, once a mystery she sought out behind every closed door and around every corner, may lead to losing her freedom. All she really wants though is to be reunited with her one tie to her life before the madness of the Hinterland, and along with her schoolmate and possible love interest, she forges on a journey that will test her willpower and sanity.

It was a great read for anyone one loves a good fantasy story that has characters who encounter mystery at every turn. Readers beware; The Hazel Wood is where the dangers of the Hinterland may just prevail if you take the stories too lightly.

Refreshing and clever exploration of fairytale elements in a modern day setting, and vice versa, of fairytales in general and the fantasy trope of the hero/heroine's journey into fairyland (fairytale land here) and back. Very creative integration of the theme/tool of storytelling and how it can be a double edged sword: if we don't like our stories, we can change them, but if we get too caught up in our stories, we can entrap ourselves too. LOVED the original fairytales the author created for the novel; very fresh, interesting, and unsettling, and I feel like they are strong enough to be compiled into a standalone book of fairytales on their own. The central mystery was also very intriguing even if you think you can guess what's going on and where things are heading; I felt engaged and pulled along until about 80% of the novel, when unfortunately the anti-climactic ending turned into a letdown.

SPOILERS!

Issues:
- The events leading up to the conclusion were rushed and could have been truly amazing if fully explored and allowed to crescendo; also, the ending in and of itself did not make sense (Alice had only been gone/aged 2 years afterwards?? Such a copout; 10 years or more would have had much more impact and meaning)
- Ellery Finch, who started out 3-dimensional and became one-dimensional towards the end (he was a really interesting character/love interest whose ending was a cop out; the potential was there to make his journey with Alice so much more significant and interesting)
- Plot holes (it made no sense for the baddie to bring Ellery to the Hinterland at all and thus inadvertently save his life, like what the heck?? He's a bad guy who preys on people in the real world remember! And why wasn't Alice's fairytale already changed when she was taken and the redheaded brother fell in love with young Ella? Shouldn't that have been the trigger to change the outcome of their fairytale instead of freezing the story in place? Why do Storys' go back and forth between the real world and the Hinterland when they can just stay in the real world?? Etc.)

-

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a bit of an enigma for me, I finished it a few days ago and I'm still not sure what to think about it, or whether I even liked. I'm giving it a 4/5, because it was well written, and I think my disconnect with it was no real fault of the author, I just personally couldn't connect.

It starts off extremely slow, and it isn't until the halfway point that things really start going. I found it to be a bit of a slogging read, especially in the beginning, mostly due to the writing style- which I found to be trying to hard to be mysterious, elusive and deep. I know this style of raining down metaphors and similes and speaking in vague mysterious tones is incredibly popular, but it is not and never has been my "thing". Don't get me wrong, I love a good plot twist, but I really have no love for books that try to be deep. Depth should come from the story, and the connections the reader makes to it, not from overwrought prose. That is my personal opinion anyway.

The characters felt under developed. Even though it was written in the first person, I couldn't connect to Alice. I'm a little tired of the "push the world away angry protagonist", and wish I could have seen her long for connections a little more. Instead she only seems to truly care about one person- her mother, and everyone else matters very little to her, thus because of the first person perspective, they become under developed to the reader.

I liked the book a little more when she finally made it to the Hinterland, but I found the world building there to be a little anemic, the fabric of the world was there, but threadbare and faded. I wanted it to be more magical. That's not to say I wanted it to be less dark, I do enjoy a good dark fairy tale, but I found it to be empty and paper thin, dull where it should be gleaming with malice.

I enjoyed the Story Spinner, and the general concepts surrounding the Stories. The way the Hinterland acted to keep Stories on their path was well done, and I wish we could have seen more of that aspect.

The one character I was really interested in was Ellery Finch, and I think by the end he was done a great disservice by the author. I did not understand some of his choices at all in the last part of the book, and without going into specifics, I did not like the ending at all. If there was a sequel, I wouldn't pick it up.

I couldn't justify giving it less than a 4 though, because I can see that it would appeal to certain readers, it just didn't appeal to me. If I was rating it entirely on personal enjoyment, and not overall quality, it'd be a high 2 for me. It's not a book I have any desire to read again.

Magical realism, urban fantasy, maybe a bit of both, but a stellar debut with a perfectly crafted story line with twists in just the right places. Alice is a strong and extremely likable protagonist and Ellery's not far behind in his appeal. Readers who read the Golden Compass series may feel a nostalgic tug at the end of the story. Highly suggested for anyone liking a mentally challenging and engrossing story.

I was drawn in to this immediately from the descriptions from noted reviewers/authors and the genre. The author captured me with just her captivating descriptive style and, let me say this: Stay on course because it gets confusing sometimes! I would say by the middle of book I was starting to feel enough already, get on! It does! I've never read anything like this..The concept is just so out there and you need to pay attention through the very end. No spoilers here but I will say this: definitely deals with a family? chemistry, suspenseful, told through a young girl with so many twists...not a love story, no sex

Alice is the walking definition of a troubled teenager, with a twist: her deeply loved but bad-luck magnet mother Ella has disappeared under very suspicious circumstances. Ella's fate seems related to a collection of disturbing fairy tales set in an imaginary "Hinterland," published many years earlier by Alice's elusive grandmother. But is Hinterland really fiction? The search for Ella reveals not only that the mysterious fairy realm exists, but that Alice must enter and embrace it if she is to find the answers she needs. Eerie, shivery, and pleasingly strange, this irresistible fantasy is best read with all the lights on.

It has taken me days upon days to get to a place where my thoughts on this book are anything other than simply "a;ljfaoiejfakldsajf omg so good."

I'm such a fan of The Hazel Wood! It starts out with delectable writing, the kind you want to just wrap up in a decadent chocolate cake and absolutely devour. It's a bit of a slow start to get to the adventure portion, but the ride is just the right mix of creepy and enticing to keep you reading until you enter The Halfway Wood, the Hazel Wood, the Hinterland...

Melissa Albert is not just a talented writer but also a gifted storyteller. This book is entrancing. Read it!

This was a late addition to the reading list. I got approved for it while I had moved on to my next book. It was one that I really wanted to read, so I put on my reading pants and got to it.

The story focuses on 17 year old Alice. Her grandmother made a name for herself writing dark fairy tales. Alice and her mother move from place to place, seeming to be on the run from something. As usual, I don’t want to give the story away. Because that is part of the fun of reading the book, right?

I really enjoyed this book. I was worried about getting through it quickly since I only had a week to read it (on top of working and packing to move). But it was not a problem. It was easy to get through, and it was easy to get absorbed in.

It’s got a fairy-tale, adventure, magical vibe to it. It kinda has a Neil Gaiman-ish feel to it. Rooted in this world but also in another fantasy world.

It is inventive, and the characters are well crafted. Honestly I had no idea what was going to happen next.

I will say, I did find Alice to be a little bit annoying in the beginning, however, it becomes clear why she is that way as the book progresses. So if you have the same experience, just go with it.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and fun read.

Full disclosure: I received this eARC from NetGalley for a fair and honest review. (Thanks NetGalley!)

The Hazel Wood is a well-developed and enjoyable fantasy. I love the details and the twists that are present in this book. I felt like I was traveling with Alice on her journey. Although some twists were predictable, the ones that didn't really draw me deeper into the story. I didn’t really like the random flashbacks that didn’t have any context as they were disjointed from the story. Though, they were important to building the story between Alice and her mom, Ella. I’m excited to see what happens next in book two of The Hazel Wood series!

***This book was provided by NetGalley and Flatiron Books in exchange for my honest review***

As one can read in the summary, the main plot of “The Hazel Wood” is for the main character, Alice, to find her mother who has been stolen away. I don’t believe Alice is completely shocked by this though because when she was a young girl she was attempted to be kidnapped by a man that she had originally thought to be her father. They’ve been living on the road ever since she can remember as a very young girl - always on the run from bad luck. The only other family Alice has known of his her grandmother, but she has never met her which she doesn’t find out why until later in the story. Anyways, her grandmother wrote a gruesome fairy tale novel, very much similar to the Brothers Grimm, that Alice’s mother has tried to keep her from reading ever since she can remember. Her mother has never liked Alice’s grandmother either so they’ve been driving place to place their whole lives trying to stay hidden away.

Alice’s fellow classmate, Ellery, has reason to believe that her mother has been taken away by characters from the Hinterland - a dark and disturbing place which is the setting of her grandmother’s book. Throughout most of the novel, Alice and Ellery are following clues and signs left behind by these supposed characters so she can try to find her missing mother.

This novel was slow to start in action, but with good reason. Due to Alice having never read The Hazel Wood, we have to understand her backstory to give us a bigger picture of her life on the road. I quite enjoyed the backstory of our main character - it left some loops of information out that gave some mystery to the book. As I got further along in the book I think the story could have used a little more “spicing up” in the action department. There are multiple fairy tales in her grandmother’s novel, yet you only see a few of them referenced in the entire book. If you have that many stories I think an author should put them to good use for a fantasy novel such as this one.

I very much enjoyed the characters, especially the dynamic between Alice and Ellery. Ellery was the closest thing to a friend that Alice has ever had due to her life always on the run. You get to see that friendship bloom as well as the need for Alice to trust Ellery in a world that she has no one left with her mom being taken away. Although I felt bad for something that happens between Alice and Ellery towards the middle-ish part of the story, but I will leave the spoilers out for readers wanting to pick this book up!

My number one favorite element of this book was the metaphorical prose of the story. This author is very good with words and describing everyday common daily happenings from Alice’s point of view. It made me see things in another light for having a way with words. I loved this so much!

The many shocking twists and turns towards the end of the book will leave readers surprised. There are quite a few loose ends that the author presents to readers in which gives us a better understanding of the story. The nature of the ending seemed somewhat anticlimactic to me, in my opinion. I feel as if something “more” should have popped up in the end for readers to leave more to the imagination or to give us some reason to believe there will be a sequel to this book (which according to GoodReads there is).

In the middle of the novel, there were so many small scenes happening at once that I’d forget who came into the picture or what happened before so I was forced to reread the previous passage to understand what was happening. Other than that overall, I think this book was very well written. “The Hazel Wood” was very much like a story of Alice in Wonderland going down the rabbit hole with a mix of a YA fantasy version of the film “Inception”. If readers like these concepts I believe other readers will love this fairy tale story! I give this book a rating of 4 stars!

I really liked this. This is a very strange creature that I didn’t always understand, but I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. But, I will say, this book isn’t for everyone. I like strange, quirky books A LOT!!! And this is extremely strange & quirky....and there’s a lot going on!! I would definitely like to read it again!! It’s got a lot of layers, and I get the overall, but I’d like to peel back some of those layers!!

~I would like to thank Netgalley and the Flatiron Books for a complimentary copy of this book. My views are my own honest opinion

Deliciously dark take on fairytales! Creepier than I expected it to be, I almost didn't want to read it after dark but I still loved every minute of it. It had me hooked from the first page and even though I tried to pace myself to make it last longer I still finished it way too fast. I was happy to hear that there will be more Hinterland stories to come! Melissa Albert is definitely an author I will continue to watch. And that cover is GORGEOUS!

Fans of books like Holly Black's The Cruel Prince will love The Hazel Wood!

*I received an advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*

I finished The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert yesterday and really enjoyed it. I've always been a fan of dark fairytales and this book is the modern day equivalent. Part of the story is made up of chapters from Alice's grandmother's book "Tales from the Hinterland" including Three Times Alice and The Door That Wasn't There. These are truly eerie and I'd love this to exist as a book in its own right! High school me would have gone bonkers over The Hazel Wood and I can see why it has so many rave reviews.

I honestly am not sure how I feel about this book yet. I did really enjoy it and thought the whole story was extremely interesting. It definitely grabbed my attention and I couldn't put it down. This is a dark and strange read but in an intriguing way where you just want to know whats happening and what will happen next. If you like weird, fantasy, fairytales, and mystery I definitely think you should pick this up. Just beware that this isn't the happily ever after fairytales you might be used to but in the best way.

The Hazel Wood has its ups and down, so I'd forgive those who didn't enjoy it - there are a lot of aspects of this one that felt rushed or unfinished.

The story started with potential: a girl and her mom constantly on the move, and a mysterious grandmother who wrote an impossible to find set or dark fairytales that have become cult favorites. A lot of this book is set in NYC, with the Hinterland not coming into play until about three-quarters through.

As far as world building goes, I thought Albert did a fantastic job. Her debut novel has all the thrill and magical realism of Cornelia Funke's Inkheart in its world. I'm a lost cause when it comes to the real world blending with fairytale. Her Hinterland, too, is well written. It takes place in Stories, and definitely leaves the reader wanting more.

On the other hand, the characters all have a lot of wasted potential. Our lead, Alice, is flat and unconvincing. Ellery Finch's execution (literally and figuratively) did not impress, and by the time we meet Althea Prosperpine she falls short of expectations. Character writing does not seem to be a strength of Albert's - we get a lot of talk, but not a lot of action.

Additionally, the pacing at the end of the book is weird. There's a comfortable, established pace in the NYC scenes and it works perfectly... or would have if the entire book maintained that rhythm. Instead, the pace rapidly picks up and we are rushed through the scenes in the Hinterland and definitely left wanting. It's a really fascinating world, so it's a shame we don't get to spend much time there.

As a debut with a strong foundation, I give The Hazel Wood a little slack - it's not perfect, but there's potential. This book ended really well, but it looks like there's another story in the works. I hope that Albert's character's grow a bit more, and she continues to immerse the reader in these intricate dark fairytale worlds. All my stars go to the world building - I found it so rich and compelling that I lost myself in the descriptions of the places, rather than the unfolding adventure.

This was a very confusing book for me.
Sometimes I liked it very much and than suddenly it was so confusing that I hated it.
It is a mixture between Alice in Wonderland (witch I never liked) and The Wizard of Oz).
I think I will never ever read this book again.
Sometimes it could be 4 stars, but than something happens and it changes to 1 star only.
So my review is also confusing just like the book LOL.
2 stars only ...

Wow. This Book. Literally read it in a day. No regrets. Won't lie, I was a little sad about the ending but it makes sense. Couldn't be any other way. Loved the darkness of the novel and how it stays true to the essence of fairy tales while revolutionizing it. The breadth of the world was well thought out and left a lot of space for thought.

The Hazel Wood was the 'off the beaten path' story I was looking for. I have become a bit bored with the books I've been reading as of late because they all seem to tell very similar stories this book however took everything predictable about YA fiction and turned it on its head and I love Melissa Albert for giving me that. I felt like I was instantly transported into this world of Alice Proserpine and found myself really rooting for her. I like that she wasn't a 'perfect' character, her humanity or lack there of shows through and makes her interesting and complex. The first few chapters were a bit of a slow read for me but it was building the base for everything that followed and from there I couldn't put the book down. Overall this book was a very pleasant surprise with a fresh concept that molded into a beautiful if not twisted story that will keep you guessing until the end.

This book had some great qualities, but in the end, it just wasn’t for me. First off, Alice is a frustrating character. She is negative, angry and generally unpleasant. I was okay with this at first, but it really started to grate on my as the book went on. Ironically, Rebecca Soler’s excellent narration actually intensified this because she illustrated Alice’s negative personality so perfectly. The result was that I sat and listened to hours and hours of an annoyingly unpleasant person talking and I just… couldn’t. I considered DNFing several times, but I pressed on. Now, here’s the thing: there are reasons—actual story reasons—that Alice’s personality is this way. And those reasons make total story sense. But that didn’t take away my unhappiness while listening to it.

My other issue with the book was that almost nothing happened for the first half of the story (or more). It felt like a really extended backstory that we could have gotten in a much shorter time.

The one element of the story that I loved was the collection of creepy stories from the Hinterland. These were fairy tales worthy of the Brothers Grimm for sure. And the book actually did get much better once Alice makes it to the Hinterland (I had been almost ready to turn it off at that point, but I found myself actually wanting to hear about the Hinterland itself). For a little while, I thought that element might raise my rating to 3 stars, but unfortunately, while I loved a lot of the creepy stories and background, not much of it actually mattered to the story, so I found my attention drifting. I could have enjoyed this if it had just been a little bit of the backstory and Alice’s actual story in the Hinterland (with maybe a little extra Hinterland thrown in for creepiness’s sake)—it would have been about a quarter of the length of this book. Unfortunately, I couldn’t bring myself to give the book more than 2/5 stars.

But I can definitely see how some people may love it just based on the creepy stories alone (and some people aren’t as sensitive to unlikeable narrators as I am). This one just ended up not being for me.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

This book promises a dark fairy tale-type story. At times, it left me confused at what exactly was happening. I'm still not sure after finishing, what happened. I found it to be a disappointing read, after having looked forward to this book for quite some time.

Best for fans of the Miss Peregrine series of books. If you want to suspend reality for a bit and read something where you don't know up from down in a very Alice in Wonderland-type way, this is the book for you.

Disclaimer: This book was not for me and I'm about to drop some truths as to why.

Usually when there's a ton of hype, it kind of turns me off from books and my expectations are really high at that point. Nonetheless, I do end up enjoying hyped books, so this is not true for all.

So, Alice and her mother bounced from home to home, wanderers if you will, always feeling as though something was nipping at their heels. She grew up on fairy tales-her grandmother was the author of a very rare anthology of them-and suddenly the fairy tales start coming to life when her other disappears and she enlists the help of a random boy, Ellery, to help find her.

Stay away from the Hazel Wood, her mother once said.

Yea, right.

It took 200 pages for something to happen. I'm not even lying. When the action finally did begin it was like a whirlwind and I was jarred trying to keep up.The imagery was creepy and I loved it, I just didn't know why it was moving so fast. Well, I guess I do...because until 200 pages NOTHING HAPPENED.

I could not get connected with Alice. She wasn't the type of protagonist I would cheer for. She's unnecessarily mean and I guess when you read the end you kinda know why, but why make me wait?? UGH

So, the real reason why I cold not get into this book was that it reminded so, so, so much of Half World which was the inspiration for Miyazaki's Spirited Away. When books remind me of other books that I simply LOVED, I cannot seem to get past it and that's a Celia thing.

Honestly, this is a case of good cover/bad book for me.

At seventeen Alice had never known what it was like to have a real home, she and her mother were always on the move as far back as she can remember. Alice knew that somewhere out there she had a grandmother that lived on her estate, the Hazel Wood, although Alice had never been to meet or visit her. Her grandmother though was famous from writing a book that Alice had never been able to read, a book of fairy tales of Hinterland.

One day Alice catches her mother with a letter that she finds out has news of her grandmother’s passing. Immediately Alice thinks they will finally visit Hazel Wood but her mother immediately refuses. Before Alice knows it she finds that her mother has gone missing and with the help of a boy who had been a huge fan of her grandmother’s stories Alice finds herself finally learning the truth of Hinterland.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is a young adult fantasy read that takes the reader into the darker world of fairy tales. Alice Crewe and her mother have obviously been on the run from something for years and when her mother gets taken Alice finds herself heading straight into the world within the pages of her grandmother’s book. These tales are quite creepy and are sure to keep a reader engaged and on the edge of their seat while reading.

My one complaint with this really came with the time it took to get to the creepier section of the story. There was quite a lot build up until that point and I would have preferred a quicker jump into this side of the story. Otherwise I found the book to be quite compelling with great writing and interesting characters and story line. I think fans of young adult fantasy reads with a darker vibe to them should certainly enjoy this one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I am a fan of odd books and The Hazelwood was a good read, however, I thought it could have been so much more. Their was so much build-up that led to unresolved character plot lines and a ending that deserved so much more. The middle of the book was so great but it went nowhere from there. I really wanted to love a fairytale for grownups but this one missed the mark, for me at least.

I originally got this for my daughter but decided to read it myself because I am life-long lover of fairytales. As an adult reading YA, I never know if I'm going to like the story or not. There have been many that I didn't read past the first chapter. This is NOT one of them. From the beginning I was hooked. I don't want to add spoilers so all I will say is it that it is clever, unpredictable, and thoroughly enjoyable!

I was so excited to read this book. The premise sounded great. And I was hooked right away. At least for a bit.

After awhile it just lost me. The author seemed to be writing with a thesaurus. Like she was trying to sell the reader on how many descriptive words she knew. That, along with the many tangents, really pulled me out of the book. I honestly couldn't get through it.

I hear that there are some people adapting a screenplay. I hope that's true and I hope they can capture the essence of the premise better than the actual author. Because the general plot idea is great! I hate to sound so harsh, but I was just really disappointed.

The Hazel Wood is atmospheric, detailed, and whimsical. I LOVED the writing style and this sort of captivates you right away. In addition, the book takes a turn I was not expecting, but immediately fell in love with. This gave me all the Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland, and Seanen McGuire feels in the best way. I adored the main character and the adventure she goes on. Such a great read!

Disclaimer: I won this arc.

Disclaimer: This book is not for everyone so don't give negative reviews, if it's not your kind of book.

It's a eerily beautiful journey of Alice, who has been running away with her mother for 17 years trying to escape bad luck. It's about dark fairy lands because not everything in this world is perfect. For me it was an amazing book as I see a journey of mother and daughter trying to get rid of a past that has been haunting them. Must read for fantasy lovers who can accept the darkness before the light. :)

One of THE worst YA books I have EVER encountered. Beyond bad -- in fact SO bad it was making me angry. I don't know WHAT book the people who gave it more than one it one star read but it was NOT this steaming pile. Nonsensical and poorly plotted -- perhaps if we had more of the "fairy tales" in the book to go on it might have been a wee bit better BUT judging from the inclusions -- well let's just say they end up where most writers end up when they try to write a "new" fairy tale which is an utter waste of reading time. I read about a book every two or hree days and this was one of the worst I've read in a while. Skip it if you know what's good for you-- TOTALLY does NOT even come close to living up to the hype heaped upon it. You've been warned.

The main character, Alice, has a famous author for a Grandmother. She has a cult following and a rare, hard to find book called The Hinterland. It is a book of fairy tales, sort of. Alice, however, has never met her. She and her mother move from place to place running from their bad luck. Alice's world and her Grandmother's world collide in this unique tale. The plot is unusual and fanciful creating a story that is hard to put down.

First person storyteller whines through her early history. Her journey is a sketch that gives the reader a taste of the shallow life she lives where she makes little impact on the world she lives in. Then comes the perfect boy with all the resources and information she needs to be successful on her quest except she kills him. The story broadens it’s characters and the reader finally stumbles to the story’s conclusion.

I thought this book had so much more potential. Albert soared when she focused on the fairy tales themselves-those were the best (and most creepily) written. The rest suffered from clunky writing, poor pacing and lackluster character development. The book sort of petered out at the end. I'm glad I got it from the library but would not pay for a copy.

The Hazel Wood is an addicting page-turner. It has the skeleton of Alice in Wonderland but the flesh and sinew of a Neil Gaiman novel (think Coraline). It’s smart, creepy, and completely captivating. I highly recommend this stunning contemporary fairy tale.

I flew through The Hazel Wood in just a couple of days. So much more than a fairy-tale retelling, I fell into this luscious, lyrical, dark fantasy on page one and was riveted until the very last page. I highly recommend it!

I flew through this book in five hours. Fully realized main characters, fascinating plot and great world building. Yes, it’s about fairy tales, but not Disney ones or even Grimm ones. Not your typical YA novel either, with a romance and strong fae princes. In fact, no fae at all, to my great relief. Must read!

This is a pretty hyped book, and I actually expected to love it. After finishing it, I sort of landed somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It was OK.
It is a mix of mystery and fantasy (perhaps magical realism), and there are some parts that are slightly creepy.

So the things I really liked:
The premise of the story is fantastic. It sounds very mysterious, with all these fairy tales and unknown grandmother, not to mention her estate the Hazel Wood. All of this had me very intrigued as I tried to figure out how it all fits together.
There was a lot of foreshadowing that I really appreciated as I kept moving deeper into the story. Without it some things would definitely not make sense and they would not be as interesting.
The beginning started of very well. The writing, the characters (with their quirks), and the magic of it all reminded me of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, which I thought was a great thing, because I love that series.
Then things turned for the worse.
Soon the writing became too much for me. I felt like it tried so hard to be beautiful, with all the metaphors and descriptions that it ended up being annoying, and a lot of the time didn’t even make sense.
Alice is bitchy. There is no going around that. She has anger issues, she is pretty self involved and doesn’t care for others. It always felt like she thought others were beneath her. Towards the end of the book you learn that there is a reason for why she is the way she is, but that didn’t help me like her any better.
The first part of the book is a YA mystery that slowly turns into what fantasy , and surprisingly it was this part that I actually didn’t care for that much. I am not a fan of fairy tales as such, so that didn’t really grab me as it should.
However, to end on a high note, what I did really like about the book is the symbolism. At least this is what I saw in it. The fact that you can’t escape yourself. Wherever you go, your problems are going to, sooner or later, follow you, if you do not deal with them. But, on the other hand, you also don’t have to be victim to your fate. You can change your fate, you can change yourself, and make of it what you want.

[NOTE: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley.]

Kind of a darker retelling of “Alice in Wonderland”, down to the character’s name, but more hinged on fairy tales (the ones with not so happy endings, that is). Alice Crewe has spent her whole life going from one place to the other with her mother Ella, never meeting her famous grandmother, Althea, an author whose book is also impossible to find. When Althea dies, Ella and Alice startto believe they can finally have a normal life, but of course this isn’t meant to be, as things keep changing for the worst.

I liked this book, although I didn’t love it, possibly because I had a hard time connecting with the characters. I had mixed feelings about the time devoted to them, to be honest: on the one hand, I wanted the Hinterland part of the story to start much sooner, on the other hand, I felt that I also needed more time to get to know Alice and Finch better. Mostly they were all ‘on the surface’, and apart from Alice’s pent-up anger, I didn’t feel like there was much personality underneath. (I did like them, just in a sort of… indifferent way?)

The fairy tales / nonsensical parts of the book appealed to me more, in spite of similes that made me go ‘huh?’ more than a few times. I do have a soft spot for that kind of whimsical atmosphere, I guess. And what we see of the Hinterland tales Althea wrote made me think that I’d like to read *that* book, and know how its tales actually end.

The plot had its good sides and its downsides. I liked how its Hinterland part dealt with the power of stories, their straps, and the sort of twisted logic that one can find in them; however, I felt like it was a little lacklustre, and dealt with too fast (compared to the part devoted to the ‘real world’). There were a few loose threads, too—for instance, the red-haired man showing up at the café, then disappearing again. (Why did he go away at that specific moment? It was never really explained.)

All in all, it was an enjoyable novel, for one who likes this specific brand of atmosphere. It jusn’t wasn’t exceptional for me.

My thoughts on The Hazel Wood are all over the place. But I do have to say that this was one of my most anticipated reads for 2018. Dark fairytales are so up my alley and for the most part, those that I've read, I've really loved. So, I was so excited to read The Hazel Wood. And I have to say, that it was a bit of a let down.

The Good: For the most part, I really loved Finch. I thought he was a solid supporting character (though his arc was slightly predictable). I also really loved Ella and wanted to know so much more about the way she grew up. I loved the mother daughter relationship between her and Alice. I also really liked learning about Alice's origins. Was it predictable? Sure was. But it was still one of my favorite parts in the whole book. But my absolute favorite part of The Hazel Wood was the Tales of Hinterland. I absolutely loved the fairy tales. They were dark and creepy and something I really wanted to read.

The Eh: I wasn't a fan of Alice. She was kind of a horrible main character. Sure, after a while it made sense why she was the way she was, but I still thought she was terrible, bratty, and incredibly privileged. There also came a point in the book where it got tedious to read. Not much was happening and it felt like at that moment there was lots of tell and not a whole lot of show (things ended up picking up in Chapter 23). At that moment, I also realized that while The Hazel Wood was okay, it just did not have something to make it absolutely great. In fact, it kind of reminded me of Girls Made of Snow and Glass, only not as good. Oh, I was also slightly annoyed that everything seemed to be in New York: Ella and Alice, The Hazel Wood, the obsessed fan that somehow got into the Hazel Wood. It felt a little like Mary Kate & Ashley adventures where all of the mysteries were just five blocks away from their house. The ending also fell kind of flat for me.

In the end, I thought The Hazel Wood was an okay (not bad, not great) read that I was disappointed in. It was a quick page turner, but it does get tedious in the middle. Today, I read on Twitter that there is going to be a follow up to The Hazel Wood as well as a book called The Tales of Hinterland that has all of the fairy tales! So excited about the latter (though not excited about the 2020 release date), not so much by the former. Maybe I'll read the follow up to The Hazel Wood if it is disconnected from Alice or if it's a prequel featuring Althea and Ella. If it's just going to follow Alice, I'll skip it. Anyway, I found that this book wasn't worth the hype, but still maybe worth a library read.

This book turned out to be really unique and there was never a dull moment. The writing was really good, I loved the humor in it. Alice's thought process was fun to read. Alice and Finch's interactions made the story for me, Finch was such an awesome character, and so was Ella. This book will keep you guessing until the end!

It started out a bit slow for my taste with some spots here and there throughout. I really enjoyed the dark stories. I found them intriguing and unique. I actually wish there were more of them. I thought maybe there could be potential for different spin-off stories but the ending of the book doesn’t seem like that will be possible.

This book took me by surprise, being bigger and more unique than I anticipated. It read like a dark and twisted fairy tale that at times made my skin crawl and other times was full of beauty. I was often left disoriented trying to tell our world from the "stories" in a way that made me feel like I was a part of it. If you are interested in an engrossing tale with great characters and unique from most things in YA right now this ones for you!

This is arguably one of the most anticipated and talked about books of 2018. The same way Caraval was in 2017, and Illuminae was in 2015. I picked it as my first read of 2018 because of it.

This book has so much hype, so much talk and people flailing and collecting editions, and I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY.

Maybe, maybe it’s because I had very little idea what it’s about when I started reading. Because I honestly thought this was some high fantasy story, and boom I get stuck in modern day NYC.

The first 200 pages of this book drags, because it’s all about the characters running around trying to solve the problem, with random fairytales inputed. But it’s not weird or engaging or interesting. It’s just that, nonsensical running around that didn’t even go anywhere. Like, I don’t know why it took 200 pages to get to the Hazel Wood (which is a house by the way, not like, an actual wood).

So in the last 100 pages, we get some story, but by then I was kind of done with it all, and not up to the Alice in Wonderland style of fairyland. I’m not a fan of Alice in Wonderland to begin with, so…yeah.

There was a plot twist, that I guess could be surprising? But honestly, I had it figured out from page 3.

This book is just weird, the pacing is slow without much to go on, and I didn’t very much enjoy it. It’s not a bad book, just not for me, to be honest.

It reminded me a little of Vassa in the Night (although, notably less strange) and Jane, Unlimited in its storytelling and premise, if that helps you decide to read it.

Pretty cover deceived me once again.

“I turned slowly in place, alone in a clearing in the deep dark woods. That was when I entered a fairy tale.” Alice has been on the run from bad luck with her mother Ella since she can remember. Her grandmother, Althea was once a famous author for her book Tales from the Hinterland, a novel of dark, adult fairy tales that has slowly been disappearing in the many decades since its release. Alice has never been allowed to meet the grandmother who lives in the Hazel wood, though a kind red-haired man did once try to take a young Alice there, in what looked like a kidnapping. But one day the man returns to the coffee shop where she works, reading a copy of the mysterious book, and leaves without a word, only a comb, a feather, and a bone on the table by his empty cup. Then, Ella disappears, and her wealthy fiance demands that Alice leave the apartment for good. Stranded, Alice reaches out to the only friend she has, who also happens to be the wealthiest boy at her prep school, Ellery Finch. Ellery is a super-fan of the Hinterland, who thrills to assist Alice find her mother and the truth behind the odd book’s origins. With clever twists, quick suspense, and engrossing tales interwoven in the storyline, The Hazel Wood will make you yearn for answers from grim stories you’ve truly never heard before. For discussion questions, similar books, and a themed recipe of Butter Pecan Cupcakes with Honey Lavender Frosting, visit hub pages.

resolved well enough and in harmony with the tone of the rest of the book. I loved the mysterious, lyrical fairy tale feel of it mixed in with gritty very real life. It was all around deeper and more nuanced and just better than I expected.

Have you ever tried to fast forward something on the TV but accidentally pushed the button too many times and then it was going too fast that you couldn’t stop it in time? Thats what this book felt like.

It starts out really really slow. Then it speeds up and starts to get exciting. Then it goes too fast and just blurs through everything. It would have been much better if the pace stayed the same throughout the whole book.

Before I started reading I was worried about it being an Alice and Wonderland re-telling. When I was halfway through I couldn’t tell why it was considered a re-telling, but in the last half it makes more sense. She even mentions Alice and Wonderland in the book. But the story overall was still good. I liked the premise of it.

I liked the characters a lot but I wish we would have gotten to know more about some of them. There were so many side characters that seemed super interesting, but you never really learned their stories. A lot of them are alluded to as being stories from the Hinterland, but you don’t get to know anything about them, just bits and pieces and random allusions that make no sense. It was super frustrating!

Finally I didn’t really like the ending. The relationships didn’t turn out the way I hoped (I can’t say more without spoilers) and there were new characters introduced right at the end. This goes back to my last point! I want to know everyone’s stories!! Even if it is just a brief history!

Overall I thought the book was just “Meh” but I know a lot of people loved it.

I just loved THE HAZEL WOOD. Melissa Albert weaves a sharply beautiful modern fairy tale, as dark as it is lushly conceived, as dangerous as it is enchanting. Prepare to be irrevocably drawn in to Alice Proserpine's world. Once you enter the Hinterland, you may never return.

This book took me almost all of May to read. I majorly struggled getting into it, because the strange fantasy/story world I was interested in didn't show up until over halfway through. I thought the concept was really cool - but it just didn't do a lot for me.

THE HAZEL WOOD by Melissa Albert had a lot going on. I enjoy reading books with dark takes on well known stories but that's not what this turned out to be. It is a completely new set of tales that are very dark and complicated. Sometimes they flowed. Sometimes they read a little forced. Without chapter headings in the electronic version, it was difficult to tell when you were hearing a tale or when you were in the real world. Maybe that was by design? There is a lot of build up before the reveal and the book reads longer than it is. The characters are complicated and unlikeable in many ways but since it's about dark tales, that made sense. I really liked the sections of the book that focused on the fairytales themselves when it was clear you were hearing a story. The writing in those sections was vivid and the imagery on point. Maybe not liking the lead character clouded my feelings on the book but I did feel like it resolved cleanly and left me feeling fulfilled at the end. I really enjoyed the last third. So, while it wasn't what I thought it would be, I think that it is a good read for those that favor this genre over others.

I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Well, I wanted to love this book. This was suppose to be a dark retelling Alice in Wonderland/Narnia/“lost book that we need to do something plot-wise” story with a bunch of Harry Potter references. I just could not get into the book. I think the issue was that I had no idea what was going on for parts of it. It would have been more helpful if we the readers had a chance to read the infamous book of fairytales. Instead you feel like the only person in the story that doesn’t know what is what and what the rules are. Got frustrated with the book once I realized that I was not going to get to read the fairytales so I could figure out what had happened in the first half of the book. The author did say she would publish a book of fairytales so maybe read that before reading this book? I will probably not have time to reread the book but I was and still am way more interested in the dark fairytales than what happened in this book. Really disappointed in this book because it had so much potential but I see how others could really like it.

I gave 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads and the store.

Great premise, but execution was just so-so for me. Not much character development, and lots of confusing descriptions that I just couldn't wrap my head around. So much so that I found myself skimming through the last third of the book. I did slow down when I came to the end though, and I did find it satisfying. Overall, I didn't hate the book, but I didn't like it enough to recommend it to my friends, either.

This book sucked me in hard! I loved the magic and mystery of it. The Hinteland is so intoxicating,engaging, and dangerous. I could have read story after story about it. My only disappointment was that the ending felt a little rushed.

I’m gonna give this 5 stars, since I can’t do 4.5. I really loved this book. It’s dark and eerie, and somehow relatable. (Maybe that says something about me...) If you love dark fairytales, definitely give this book a read. The only criticism I have is... the ending. Fell a little flat at the very, very end. Could be just me, though!

A stunning novel. This takes fairy tales and dives deep. I really liked how the author deals with anger and rage in the story. It's just ridiculously creative at every turn. A propulsive read that will leave you satisfied.

The setting is so eerie and immersive, and it does such a good job of calling up the dark fascination of the old fairy tales while still feeling intensely fresh and urban. I especially loved the ending—both bittersweet and tongue-in-cheek!

I read this book over the course of two days and it put me in a really funny head space, but like in a good way. Sort of dark and creepy, but interesting and very different. You should read it too. Then we can be in this weird head space together.

I asked my friend for a book recommendation to help me get back in the habit of reading and this is what she recommended. This story was so exciting and heart wrenching I couldn't put it down. I forced myself to slow down because I didn't want the story to end, but I couldn't help myself and I am in love with this book. Had me guessing and wanting more from cover to cover. Oh Lord I hope there is a sequel.

3.5 I had a hard time liking the main character. As I read on I came to understand her better. However, it took about 3/4 of the book to get there. I like the aspect of dark fairytales but I think I like the part without it better in this book. I really enjoyed it up until the fairytale things came in to play but still a good read

Loved this book! It gave me a very gothic creepy feel, and those are some of my favorite books. I could not put it down and finished it on night. It was a fast paced story that really caught my attention.

This book has devoured my heart and left me to stagger slack-jawed after people, shoving copies at them. The creepiness. The gorgeous writing. The visceral way it GETS fairy tales. The sneaky sense of humour. Just - holy crap, just read it. I NEED YOU TO READ IT.

It's hard to pinpoint, but for me something was really missing in this story. The ending felt super rushed - this whole time we're building to getting to the fairy tale world, Alice is looking for her mom - then the bigger struggles and plot twists happen - and from there on, it's hardly a few chapters before we get to a resolution. And I would've been fine with this conclusion, but I feel like we never really get a chance to invest in the characters.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD - YOUVE BEEN WARNED

I felt no real connection between Alice and her mother, the step-family parts took me out of the story, and Finch's plotline could've done more. It was odd to me that we spend so much time watching Alice come to like and trust Finch, she has to go through the trauma of watching him (almost) die, and then in the end, they part ways. Granted - I know that can happen, it just seemed like an odd decision. It also didn't really make sense to me that after 17 years of waiting for Alice to come back, the Story Spinner hardly puts up any kind of fight when Alice and co. start pulling at the strings. I think the main thing that was lacking was development - it's hard to care about book characters when you don't know them. I wanted to know more about the boy that kidnaps Alice (and is actually trying to save her), I want to know more about Ella, about the grandmother, about Finch - basically I just wanted more.

Overall, it was okay. But it's not something I'd read again or follow moving forward.

I usually pride myself on predicting where a story will go early on. I am seldom wrong. This book surprised me. I love the way it is written, I adore the characters. Overall it felt so real it was like I had lived it or could even though it was a fairy tale. I can't wait for the sequel!!

This book wasn't what I expected going in. It's a lot more grounded, less fairytale like. I wouldn't put it with other magical realism novels but I enjoyed it. The magic in here is darker than you expect. Also there's a romance subplot that just... Fizzles away disappointingly. But it's a strong, good read.

I enjoyed the first third or so of the book but found it went downhill after that. I liked the setup (part of why I wanted to read the book), and I liked the interaction between Alice, her mother, her stepfamily, and her classmate Ellery Finch. I liked the creepy fairytale characters, the bad luck, and the mysterious grandmother lurking in the background of Alice's life in NYC. I was excited when the adventure seemed to start and they were off to confront the fairytale creatures.

Unfortunately, that's when the book, for me at least, jumped the shark. The pacing became rushed and one plot point in particular (the first big twist) seemed out of left field and had me rolling me eyes (when the author probably intended me to be crying). There were other twists, sure, but they were yawn-worthy for me. Once the story was entirely set in the Hinterland, I was really done with it (though I did finish the book). It just seemed silly rather than serious, grave, and creepy. At one point Stories are actual people walking around in the Hinterland, and there is a character called the Story Spinner (later shortened to Spinner). People can be ex-Story, etc. I just wasn't buying into it. One other thing that's more at the pet peeve level - the main character keeps calling her mother Ella in her thoughts but "mom" in actual quoted conversations. I don't understand the lack of consistency. Plus, the Ella thing gave me more of a sister than a mom vibe.

On the bright side, I thought the actual line-by-line quality of the writing was great and would definitely read another book by the author if it were paced and plotted like the first part of the book. I also thought the actual excerpts of Hinterland tales were properly creepy and well done.

I think many people will enjoy the book despite the pacing issues, but it just wasn't for me. Here's one more tidbit that might help you decide whether you would like the book - if you read Daughter of Smoke and Bone and didn't like the complete switch in setting to Chimera-land two-thirds into the book, you probably won't like the switch to the Hazel Wood/Hinterland either.

I had seen so many people losing their minds over this, so I was quite excited to get a chance to borrow an arc from a friend and honestly, I don't know how to review this.

Alice is the sort of MC that I struggle with. She's rude and I loathed her pretty much the entire time I was reading it. Because I didn't care about her, I didn't care about what she was going through. I liked Finch, but he wasn't enough to carry the story for me.

Plot wise, it was sloooooooow. It felt like nothing happened for the first half of the book and even when I got to the end, I still had my WITAF face on. The writing was pretty, yet also somewhat pretentious. There were several times that I didn't feel smart enough to read the book and I did spend a lot of time confused.

I don't know if it was the hype or I was in a book hangover or it's just a case of "it's not you book, it's me". I do know that I read this in June and wanted to try again, so I requested it...yet, I now can't bring myself to take the time to reread.

Overall, I like the idea and the creepiness and I did somewhat enjoy the story, but I never felt captivated by it.

**Huge thanks to Flatiron Books for providing the arc free of charge**

Listened to this on a family vacation. It was so good! I loved the characters for the most part but was a little bit disappointed in the ending. It felt rushed and I was left wondering if the hinterland is disintegrating or not. Other than that I really enjoyed it and frankly would love more!

A compelling read about a girl who tries to escape her own darkness and discover who she really is. The characters were real and edgy. I was at times terrified and yet couldn't put it down. The resolution is beautiful and it all felt very real, considering it was a book about living fairytales. It lies somewhere between Neil Gaimon and Steven King. Enjoyed it immensely.

This is such a great book. I love the world and the characters, but most of all I love the literary lore that's weaved throughout. Story lovers will love this one.
It's fairy tales with a modern twist.
Highly recommend.

I very much recommend this book. Perfect for a lover of fairytales and folktales and storytelling. Amazing characters, fascinating world-building, beautiful yet unobtrusive writing. I can't stop thinking about it and can't wait to read more!

I couldn't stop reading when I'd started and it felt like I'd been drawn into the world. I have a few reserves on what I think would have made the story stronger, but overall, it is an enchanting thing. I look forward to any future additions.

The Hazel Wood is a beautifully written modern fairy tale. I loved the main character and her quest to find out about her past. What made this book stand out for me was how the author gave us clues without telling us this information would be important later in the novel. This was a book that I did not want to stop reading. I would also suggest this book for fans of Stranger Things

It seems to be written by two separate individuals. The first part of the book moves along sluggishly and I wondered if I should continue. The end of the novel was wrapped up so quickly. I enjoyed the fairy tales but nothing else.

An updated version of "Alice in Wonderland" where Alice gets sucked into the Hinterland with Finch by her side. Alice grew up with her mother running from something. Alice's mother, Ella, would not talk about what happened and why they ran. When Ella disappears one day, Alice sets out to find her with the help of Finch. After being sucked into fantasy land through a wooded portal, destiny prevails as Alice sets out to finish her story and find her mother. There are many twists and turns in the story and the ending is almost like "The Wizard of Oz" when Dorothy wakes up.

A most unusual story, but refreshing and wildly different. A mystery. A twist on a modern fairy tale that leads the reader down a pathway with hidden tree roots.
I purchased the audiobook and the narrator was enjoyable to listen to.

This novel, aimed at the Young Adult readership, involves Alice trying to find out more about a book of fairy tales written by her grandmother. When the fairytale world and ours inter-mingle, problems arise and Alice ends up on a voyage of self-discovery. The characterisation is good with a fair amount of introspection and some of the descriptions are original and well thought-out. The plot takes a bit too long to develop and to reach its end. Quite good but I feel that there are better examples of this genre.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure I’d like this book but the characters sucked me in before the “fairytale” spins began. I was pleasantly surprised and would recommend it for sure. My only complaint was how quickly we tumble through stories and events the last 1/3 of the book. I would’ve loved to settle there more and have more detail and time in the struggle.

A dark and lovely book. I honestly wasn't expecting this book to be this dark and had to stop reading at night sometimes. It was a wonderful ride that very much felt like a fairytale that has not been sanitized for children. The characters were great and I cannot wait for more from this author.

This book did not live up to the hype for me. It just seemed unfinished. There wasn't much to the ending other than it just ended, nothing was resolved, nothing was happy about it. And I kind of stayed confused the whole time because there were just big gaping holes in the story line.

(Originally published on Goodreads and sanneandthebooks.com)

Alice and her mother have been on the road ever since she was born. They have always been one step ahead of the bad luck and accidents that seems to be following them. Unfortunately, this means they can only stay at one place for several months at a time. But that is okay. Alice has her mother and that is all she needs.

Then her grandma dies. Het grandma, the author of gruesome fairy tales. Her grandma, the one who even had her own cult. At first life seems to get better. Back luck stopped licking their heels. But then her mother gets kidnapped, by men who claim to be the ‘Hinterland’. Alice soon realises her grandmother’s fairy tales are more than just that.

She pairs up with Finch, a big fan of the Hinterland fairy tales, and also a boy looking for friendship. Together they start searching for het mother… and the truth. Who was her grandmother, who is Alice herself? Then she enters a whole new world, and nothing is what it seems.

Alice is the main character. She’s a protagonist whom I have little to no sympathy for. She loves her mother to the end of the world, she’s incredibly strong, but she’s also prejudiced, hypocritical, aggressive and is not planning on changing any of her character flaws. At the same time she likes to judge girls and women by their appearances, even going so far as calling a girl a ‘bitch’ even though she has never met the girl, but when the same thing happens to her, she gets a pity tantrum, ‘because I’m a girl and you cannot judge me!!!!’ Sure, Alice. Whatever you want. Alice is problematic, and we do get… some sort of an explanation as why she is the way she is, but it gave little comfort. I still think it’s a weak and pathetic excuse. I was hoping for an improvement of her character, but no.

We barely get to ‘see’ Alice her mother. The only things I know about her, is that she is both beautiful and mysterious. Her mother gets kidnapped rather soon and soon the express train takes off. Afterwards you get a dozen of vague descriptions of the impetuous childhood of Alice. The many relocations, the constant travelling. How her mother took care for her, loves her.

Finch is ~ some sort of ~ the love interest, though there was barely any romantic love present in this story. Finch deserved so much better. He grew up in a household without a mother, with an absent father, and racism. He’s so so sweet and he’s even willing to walk into fire if it means it would save Alice. And Alice? She doesn’t give crap about ANY of this. Because she is selfish and loves her own tantrums more than the people around her.
Alice her grandmother is, basically, nowhere to be found. We only get to know her through the stories Alice tells. She does have a short cameo, but that moment was rather confusing and anticlimactic. Again: very disappointing. This whole world, this whole story, is build on the foundations given by Alice her grandmother and then we don’t barely get to meet her. I admit it improved the dark atmospheric setting, but I was hoping for more.

Cross posted on Read Like the Wind Reviews, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble

3.5 stars

So, this was a book that I was very wary of going into it. People seemed to either really love it or really hate it. I was worried I'd be on the hate it side, but I'm really glad I gave this book a chance! First things first, this book gets pretty dark. It doesn't start off in a way that would suggest it would get that way, but it does so just a little warning there (especially for those who are triggered by death or gore). I believe The Hazel Wood is meant to be a fairytale retelling of Alice in Wonderland, which it does pull aspects from (main character named Alice, second realm where time moves differently and things are weird called The Hinterland), but I didn't really see it as much as other people say that they did.

The story begins with lots of background on Alice and her mother Ella's life, constantly traveling from place to place, trying to outrun the bad luck that seems to follow them. This bad luck is inferred to stem from Alice's grandmother, Althea Prosperine, and the book that she wrote "Tales from the Hinterland". I enjoyed Alice and Ella's relationship and the dynamic they had between them, though a lot of people were seriously offended that Alice called her mother by her first name (honestly, its a book and people do that in real life sometimes so just chill). 

The story is supposed to really start when Ella is kidnapped, forcing Alice to team up with her kind of friend and huge Althea fan, Ellery Finch, to find her grandmother's estate, The Hazel Wood, and rescue her mother. The only problem is, the story moves at a glacial pace. Honestly, I almost put this book down because of how slow it was. Over half of this book was Alice and Finch trying to get to The Hazel Wood, relying on weird fairytale logic and rules to figure out where this hidden estate is. It was incredibly boring at times and once I reached the second half of the book, I almost wished I'd skipped right to this part. Almost nothing that happens in the first half of the book impacts the second half.

The Hinterland enters in the second half of the book, and this is where the more "Wonderland-esque" things begin to appear, but with a distinct and dark twist. This was the part of the book that I enjoyed the most, next to the deliciously dark, though disappointingly short, fragments of "Tales from The Hinterland" interjected into the story. (I'm so glad that Albert is actually writing a Tales from the Hinterland book, because the little bit of it that we get in the book are SO GOOD). It's also in the second half that Alice's life and general attitude are explained. It makes sense why she's so angry, bitchy and seemingly uncaring about many things, but it still made her extremely hard to connect to throughout the story.

All in all, it wasn't a bad book. The story aspect of The Hinterland and it's tales is the most interesting part of the book. The first half was painfully slow, you could probably skip it (except the couple of tales interspersed in there) and be just fine. I'd recommend it to those who like Alice and Wonderland retellings and are looking for a darker read.

The first 40% of The Hazel Wood was amazing. I was sucked into this creepy story right away. But once I got about halfway, my excitement for this book waned. I can't pinpoint what exactly happened but I just found myself not caring about the characters or their situation. I skimmed the rest to find out what the heck was going on and while the ending was interesting, it wasn't enough to convince me to go back to read the middle. I'm sure a lot of readers will love this, unfortunately I didn't.

A huge portion of this book feels like (is?) urban fantasy, though for most of the book you know that the source of the fantasy is secondary world.

There's very little romance here. Alice arguably has a love interest, Ellery, but romantically that relationship didn't go much of anywhere before ending. The more interesting arc of that relationship (for me, and I think in general?) was as a friendship. Even that felt a little stunted, though.

A good read but not a great one. Premise...brilliant. Delivery... long-winded and repetitive where it needed to be snappingly tight and direct, World building needs work. Scenes in the woods are too linear, under developed and confusing. Worth the read, just to fall in love with Finch.

I had really high hopes for this book and ended up being really disappointed. From reading the description, I thought The Hazel Wood was about a dark and twisty fairy tale. I felt as though this book kept rambling on and I could not get into this book no matter how hard I tried. I felt as though the first half of this book wasn't necessary and could've been shortened drastically. I did enjoy her creativeness with the chapters from the fairy tale novel her grandmother wrote, and I also thought she used great descriptions that put me into the story.

DNF after 165 pages
I read this as a library book and I don't get the massive hype surrounding this book. The main character POV is insufferable and hard to read; plus all the dark imagery had no impact at all. It was random and it was "dark for the sake of being dark" with no impact. Also, the fairytale excerpts I did were poorly done; I recommend Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo much more. Plus I predicted the ending way too early and I think if you really read into the girl's POV and stuff, it's not hard to figure out what's really going on. I would rather have it not be in first person as I would've finished it. Not for me and I won't read anything in this world anymore.

This was a great book that gripped me with every page until I reached about 2/3 into the story. The details became fuzzy, what was happening became difficult to understand, and it sped up way too fast. It felt like the writing style changed completely and everything was much less vivid compared to a wonderfully painted picture in the beginning. If more time was spend where the actual plot of the story was about, this book would have been perfect.

I wasn't sure what to think of this book.

It started out great. Since it's YA, I expected a snarky heroine full of teen-age Angst, Sturm, und Drang. But it wasn't excessive.

I guess I expected more from the ending. Stuff happened way too quickly. I just wasn't into it.

Maybe her next will be better.

This story was engrossing and the writing was darkly luscious. However, there was so. much. language. Several F-bombs were dropped within the first few chapters. I was disappointed, I gravitate towards youth literature because I’m finding good stories without all that, but apparently the fascinating story of “The Hazel Wood” isn’t enough to give it an edge, and expletives are necessary to assure the reader that this is indeed an edgy, dark book.