A good read. Kept me reading through the night. The dysfunctional family dynamics rang true and the ending was in keeping with the build up throughout the story.

I really wanted to love this book as much as everyone else did. Although I found the story intriguing, it took a bizarre turn at the end when the main character headed into the fairy tale world. I had trouble picturing that world and understanding the way it worked.

Albert tells a strange and twisted tale of a nearly impossible to retain book of dark and deadly fairy tales, with details that leave you with chills if you read at night.

So this book...I kinda had to let it sit with me a few days before I did my review. I really enjoyed a lot of the book--it was by turns creepy, sad, funny, entertaining, and hopeful--but there were some times where it dragged a little. I did find it...interesting that it took quite a good chunk of the book for us to get to the Hazel Wood and the Hinterland, so that could've been a bit more well-balanced. I loved the twist (did not see that coming) and I really liked Alice, so volatile and sarcastic and vulnerable, I really enjoyed taking the journey with her. I liked that most of my expectations were subverted throughout the story--everything I assumed was going to happen usually got turned on its head in an interesting way that left me surprised, and considering all the books I've read and how easily I can sometimes call what's going to happen next in books and movies, that's a pretty good talent to have. I liked that things were never really cut and dried and that just when I thought I could trust a character, something would happen to prove their untrustworthiness (or vice versa, a character who might seem untrustworthy would come through in a pinch). I liked that the resolution wasn't exactly what I was expecting and wasn't some traditional fairy tale ending (which works with how the fairy tales in the book itself aren't always what we would think of as "traditional"). I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to seeing other works from Albert.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this book from start to finish! The narrator was relatable even though her circumstances were fantastical. I will be recommending this to fans of Holly Black and Laini Taylor, as well as people who respond to strong character driven adventure stories. And the cover for this book is stunning. I’ll be putting it on displays and letting teens and adults alike know about it.

The Hazel Wood is fun, eclectic, and full of pieces of oddness and the strange. It is a novel that fits in with stories I love because the stories I love twist reality and folds it to were the nonsensical and the truth collide. That is what I enjoyed most about The Hazel Wood.

What I Liked:

It is not a retelling. The Hazel Wood has stories of its own that it follows. Stories that the brother Grimm would feel proud to include into their arsenal of Grimm tales.

The stories have a cult following. I don’t know why, but when stories have any sort of cult included in them I automatically enjoy it and am fascinated by it all the more. Cults just seem crazy and out there, but when you think about how their are so many in our reality with so many people following them you have to wonder if they are truly crazy after all.

The strange happens slowly. I love it when books sprinkle in the elements of fantasy or strange instead of giving it to you all at once. The Belles is another book that does this very well. It helps the reader get used to what sort of fantasy the book is using, but it also creates a feeling of tension and curiosity in the reader as the story progresses.

I could not trust Ellery Finch. Ellery was a character that we are told in the synopsis that he may have other motives (I’m not going to say much else about him because spoilers) but, he was a character that I really wanted to like, but couldn’t trust and the way he was written was lovely in my opinion.

The actual telling of the stories. I wish I could have read the stories in a separate book all on its own. My favorite parts of the book were immersing myself in the dark tales of The Hinterland. They were fascinating, rich, and full of intrigue.

What I Didn’t Like:

There wasn’t enough time in the Hinterland. While I enjoyed the slow shifts and hints of strange this book had, I wish it would have lived more of its life actually inside the world it was meant to. It takes a while to get there, I would have just hoped that you would get to experience so much more of it for longer.

Probably should be a stand-alone. This isn’t to say that I don’t want to read the sequel I truly enjoyed this book, but I honestly don’t know where book 2 is possibly going to go. I am open to being surprised, but I am also skeptical. This book could have been just as awesome on its own.

Final Thoughts:

The Hazel Wood could be defined in one word by being Unique. It is a story in and of itself and it apologizes to no one for it. It is weird and strange and it’s stories are of the unfamiliar variety. It is a fresh and different take on your typical fantasy and I loved it for it!

My Thoughts:

Spoiler alert: I was such a black sheep on this one. The premise is really intriguing. Alice has spent her whole life moving around with her mom because bad luck always seems to find them. Her grandmother is sort of famous for writing a book of dark fairy tales -- a book that she can't seem to ever get ahold of. Soon, it becomes evident that there's something else at work here as things from the fairytales show up and she has to go venture into this world that is apparently not fictional.

It has this sort of creepy, dark, haunting atmosphere throughout the book which I appreciated. I actually found the fairytales themselves really cool and way more interesting than the main plot... which was a problem. The book just seemed incredibly slow to me. There didn't seem to be enough substance to drive a solid plot despite the really cool premise and all this dark fairy tale fodder it had to work with. I also struggled because I didn't seem to have any connection to Alice, the MC. I just didn't care enough about her at all which made me not feel invested in her story. I just seemed to have this huge disconnect with her and had about zero emotional attachment to her and what was happening to her in the book.

I wish I liked this more, I really do! The writing was fantastic, and I did find the actual fairy tale stories/characters really interesting.

I do have to point out that I am definitely in the minority here. There was a massive amount of hype surrounding this book from BEA a whole year before its release and people LOVE it so please take my reaction with a grain of salt.

In Short...

While this one had all the makings of a fantasy that should've lured me in, it fell short for me. My lack of connection to the main character made me not invested in her journey. I wish it had a stronger plot to drive the other interesting elements but despite the good writing and haunting atmosphere, it ultimately missed the mark for me. As I am a black sheep in this regard, you may be among the majority that loved it!

Overall I enjoyed this book. I love the dark tones it had and I enjoyed the writing style. I wasn't a fan of the main characters and the rushed ending.

If you miss the Enchanted Forest, take a trip to the Hinterland while you wait to return in Melissa Albert's deeply satisfying modern fantasy novel. When 17-year-old Alice's mother is kidnapped by a mysterious figure who claims to be from the land of her grandmother's dark fairy tales, she is forced to go to the place her mother warned her against: the Hazel Wood estate. With the help of a classmate who knows everything about her grandmother's twisted fairy tales, Alice embarks on an adventure of a lifetime to save her mother — that is, if she can survive herself.

Intriguing, captivating, The Hazel Wood was quite a great read with such riveting and mind-blowing characters. ​​
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I fell in love with this book the more I read it. I was engrossed and invested but halfway through my expectations got broken and my love waned a little.

And then the book went on and I felt similarity and then I got to the end and realized the book for what it was not.—And I loved that it broke apart that boy-and-girl romance-or-togetherness trope. I am strongly inclined towards the fact that this book focused on love that is between a child and their mother vis a viz. I loved that this showcased strength and ferociousness and confidence. And for that it deserves all the attention that it's gotten.

I love that I read this book and got to experience it firsthand when it was getting all the recognition.

I love that I can smile while thinking about this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for this review copy

This felt refreshingly different for a teen fantasy novel. It was probably the lack of romance and slightly unlikeable main character (she certainly had issues but the angst didn't bother me). I really loved the writing and the weird and oppressively dark atmosphere, and I especially loved the 'Hinterland' short stories told throughout the novel.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

I love this book. The characters are so unique and yet VERY relatable. The writing is just wonderful. I was sucked in from the very first sentence and couldn't put the book down!

In this wonderfully dark fantasy, 17-year-old Alice and her mother have lived on the run from the bad luck that always seems to follow them. Her grandmother, Althea Proserpine, author of Tales from the Hinterland, a book of dark fairy tales that achieved cult status, has passed away, allowing Alice's mother, Ella, to believe they're finally free. Not likely. Ella is kidnapped and Alice turns to her friend, Finch, a Proserpine fan, to help her find her way into the very real Hinterland, to save her. But the Hinterland has plans for Alice, too; she's yearned to know her grandmother for her whole life, but what she may find out will change her life and the lives of everyone around her forever.

This is an unputdownable book from the get-go. Alice lives in the shadow of her mythic grandmother, who she's never had a relationship with; her mother, Ella, is her only attachment in life, as they run from the misfortune that dogs them. Ella will never talk about her mother, and information about Althea is scarce; her book is even more difficult to track down. Alice is a conflicted protagonist, with anger issues and a general disdain for the wealthy, vapid people around her at war with the desire for a stable family life and a relationship with her famous grandmother. As Alice starts unraveling secrets kept by her mother, shadowy figures start making their way into her world: our world. Melissa Albert brings two worlds together and has readers keeping a white-knuckled grip on her book as we try to hold them apart. Rich with world building and main character development, The Hazel Wood left me thoroughly unsettled and wishing that we'd get some more Stories wandering out of the Hinterland. Fantastic for anyone bulking up their summer reading collections, and perfect for anyone looking for a good, creeptastic read.

This book didn't really draw me in by the title as books usually do but it bewitched me with the story. I wish it would have moved along a little faster but all in all, it was good. I love the stories of the Hinterland intermixed into the story. I wanted more Fitch he seems like a really interesting character. Maybe book two? This book surprised me with how good it was.

A solid read, would recommend to readers of all ages.

I wanted to like this book so much! It was dark and creepy and had a fabulous plot but the character development was lacking. I wished the editing and pacing of it had been better as well. The plot engaged me enough to finish, but the middle of the book dragged on and on but the last 50 pages packed in so much that I found myself getting confused and having to go back and re-read portions. It felt rushed towards the end which left me feeling disappointed when I finally finished. Ultimately, I purchased this book for our collection because it has potential and I think teens will like the creepiness of it, but I won't be recommending it if a teen asks for something to read.

Can't say enough good things about this gorgeous book: excellent world building and beautiful prose.

If you are a true reader, you have loved reading since you were a child. Being read fairy-tales where I was swept into a land of make believe was always better than the real world. This blending of the two is just what I always wanted. Well maybe not exactly but I always wanted to meet the people in my books. I still jump into the worlds authors have created and was thrilled with the way Melissa Albert created in her novel. Thank you and please hurry with the second book.

I started out really enjoying this one. I loved the mystery with a touch of fantasy, but then it just got too wild for my taste. Too much was going on I think. It was definitely beautifully written and I loved the descriptions and language, but I also got confused at parts and felt frustrated with the characters.

So I ended up with very mixed opinions on the book. The cover is gorgeous. The idea behind the story is fascinating. I loved the two actual tales told in the book. If there is ever a actual "Tales of the Hinterland" I would totally be all over it. They were dark and creepy and explore the consequences and revenge.

What I didn't like was everything else. I didn't like Alice. I didn't like Ella, (really really didn't like Ella). I didn't like Ellery Finich. Although he grew on me and then when I wanted more of him, he wasn't there. I grew bored with the beginning and super frustrated with Alice being willfully blind. There is a point where she talks about having a fairytale obsession, so she should know how they work. And she keeps being surprised. Althea was like this specter for most of the book and I was a little disappointed in how much we got of her. I did like the last third, with all the fairytale stuff, but it took forever to get there.

So Overall I liked it but didn't love it.