This was a difficult book for me to rate. It has some really lovely pieces of writing, but at the same time it didn't really grip me. The pacing felt a bit off, we zoomed through Alice's strange 'bad luck' childhood with no exploration of how she felt about it which made it difficult to connect to Alice right from the start of the book. The Hinterland was interesting but parts of the story felt very convenient - 'Tales of the Hinterland' is difficult to get hold of? oh hold on there's someone who has a copy!
I think this has a potential to be a bit of a love it or hate I book but its left me stranded somewhere in the middle - it was .... alright.

This started off as more of a YA contemporary mystery which completely threw me for a loop because I was expecting it to be whimsical and magical from page one. It was definitely a bit on the slower side to get the story rolling but I wasn't bored at any point reading this - actually, I'm a bit relieved that it wasn't all whimsy from the get go because then my head would have been completely baffled!
It didn't really get to the creepiness / fairytale-esque writing I was expecting until around the midway point in the book and that's when the story got real weird real fast. At first it shook me up and I felt like I was on some weird acid trip (maybe that's because I was on a 14.5hr flight and I was running on little sleep & anxiety), and I had to re-read some passages a few times to get my head around what was happening. But then I eventually got used to the dark fairytale direction the book took and there were times when things in the Hazel Wood 'icked' me out and made me 'nope' out loud.
I definitely enjoyed this a lot more than I initially thought despite the minor niggles I had with the story, and the second half of the book gave me Every Heart a Doorway feels, except The Hazel Wood filled in those gaps that I felt were missing in EHAD.

I received an ARC of this book from Pinguin Random House UK Children's through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.

I find reviewing books like The Hazel Wood so incredibly difficult. The story was entirely different from what I expected and that was quite scary because it could’ve been a recipe for disaster! I absolutely LOVED the book and it was such a special kind of feeling of being both utterly surprised and still loving it so very much. The Hazel Wood is dark, whimsical, a bit odd, mysterious and on top of that relatable and even funny! I do have to admit some small things could’ve been different on better, but in the end I’m perfectly happy with the way it was and I enjoyed it from start to finish. The end was beautiful and heartbreaking but, above all, just so satisfying!

The Hazel Wood is a Contemporary Fantasy. I knew this because I did a Waiting on Wednesday post on it last year, but I was still quite surprised by the setting of New York City and by how dark it was! I was scared of being disappointed by its contemporary-ness, but it was done so well! I often struggle fully relating to characters or things in Fantasy books because they’re so far removed for out own world. It was so refreshing to read a fantasy and still be able to relate to the characters a lot. This book made me feel so many things. Alice and Finch are two wonderful main characters and they were both relatable. Sometimes I read something and had to put the book down because it just hit home and then I cried a little and picked it up again. It was one of the most incredible books I read in 2017. Plus, I just have to mention the contemporary-ness again! I mean, there were mentions of Lin-Manuel Miranda (YAY), Harry Potter and even Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop, hahah!

The Hazel Wood is one big mysterious fairytale adventure. One of the reasons this book made me feel so many things is because of this mystery. Alice has never met her grandmother or read her book, but when her mom disappears she goes out to look for her with Finch. He tells her all these things about the Hinterland and they go on this journey together to find the estate. It was written almost as if it could actually happen right here, right now. The book wasn’t scary because it was actually scary, if that makes sense. It was scary because it felt so real. Alice has been warned all her life not to go to her grandmother’s estate but then she has to. It’s definitely not easy and that’s what makes it real. They use all these resources to find their way to get where they need to go and it’s almost like an epic scavenger hunt full of genuinely surprising plot twists!

The fantasy/fairytale side of The Hazel Wood was fantastic. For the most part it’s all very comtemporary and real-ish, but the end is definitely more fantasy. We have the mysterious and hidden Hazel Wood estate, the Halfway Wood and then, of course, the Hinterland. The world was so interesting and incredibly odd, and for a while I wasn’t sure if I liked it. I mean, it was so strange! There were trees that looked like “Etsy jewellery on steroids!” It was all very freaky and I was a little confused sometimes, but it was perfect. Like I said before, the end was absolutely perfect and I loved it so, so much! It was heartbreaking at the same time, but it was a good and beautiful kind of end. It was very satisfying!

Words can’t explain how much I love this book. It was dark, twisted, odd and whimsical while also being super fun to read and relatable. The main characters were wonderful and the plot twists were really unexpected! Melissa Albert’s writing style is one of my favourites and I really cannot wait to read more of her books!

Amazing read! I will never think about fairy tales the same way again.

This was the wrong choice for me. It started well and, even up until about half was through, I was engaged in the storyline and the main characters seemed interesting. However I have now given up at 85% as it really deteriorated in my opinion. The fairytale concept was overplayed. I just didn’t enjoy it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - something a bit different from my usual reads, written in a lovely flowing style that hurried me along with the well-paced plot.

Alice has spent her life with her mom, Ella, on the road, always running from something, although she's not sure what. Then Ella is taken and Alice goes to her rescue, only to get drawn into the very world that Ella has been trying to escape from.

If you like a bad-ass fairy tale, with a heap of sinister characters, and loads of twists and turns, then this is the book for you. Alice was a great character, as was Finch, her companion for part of the story. I have to admire the author's imaginative powers - it's amazing the amount of characters and stories she has dreamt up in here and she takes you along with her all the way, with her vivid descriptions and emotive prose.

Excellent read, marked down from a five only because I found that in parts there was a bit too much going on and there was a coincidence too many near the end.

If I could only say on thing about The Hazel Wood, it'd be that it will be unlike anything you read this year.

Dark and whimsical, the story centres on ire-filled Alice who has led a nomadic lifestyle with her young mother thanks to the bad luck trailing them. But the bad luck turns out to be far more sinister and otherworldly than anyone could imagine...

The mother-daughter relationship was beautifully complex and I struggled to put down Alice's story. Filled with twisted antagonists and a barely there romance, The Hazel Wood is sure to stay with me. I was thrilled to hear that there'll be more stories from this world...even if this book did give me sleepless nights!

I really enjoyed this book, it flowed well and the characters were good. Although this is not the genre that I normally choose I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

I received a free arc from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a bit of a weird one. The first half, while enjoyable, felt a bit slow, and so the events that happened in the actual Hazel Wood and Hinterland felt slightly rushed. However, the concept was great and I loved the writing - I've seen complaints that Alice is unlikable, and I agree, but this doesn't bother me, as a) you can't expect to like every character that you come across in novels b) it's more important that the story is engaging and c) I thought her flaws were well-addressed in the narrative.

I particularly loved the fairytales scattered throughout the story - they gave me real Angela Carter vibes and I'd love to see more of them - perhaps in a sequel or Hinterland short story collection? But I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sensual, lyrical YA with a fantastical, fairytale edge.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for the arc.

I liked this book, it was a real page turner. I was gripped throughout the whole book, with unexpected things constantly happening, you never knew what direction the book was going to go in. I really liked Melissa's writing style, she has the perfect balance of description and narrative. I would love a sequel of Finch's perspective towards the end of the book, and leading into what happens after the book. This book is quite dark in places and can get quite violent, so it probably better suited to the older end of YA if not new adult.

I love dark fairy tale stories so when I read the synopsis for The Hazel Wood I was immediately intrigued, with more than a pinch of scepticism. "No books are *that* dark these days", I thought to myself.

Happily, I was very wrong. The Hazel Wood is everything good about fantasy and if you like your fairy tales dark and bloody you won't be disappointed.

Alice and her mother Ella live life on the road constantly travelling from town to city to town again as bad luck follows them. Then, they receive word that Alice's grandmother, the infamous, cult-acclaimed writer of a book of fairy tales and owner of The Hazel Wood estate, has passed away and the bad luck engulfs their lives completely.

Although a fantasy book, The Hazel Wood is set in "the real world" for 60% of the book. I really enjoyed this slow unravelling of the story and found it very creepy as more and more of the dark fantasy world invaded the supposedly safe surroundings Alice was in. I love the way Melissa Albert writes, she can send icy shivers down your back by the simple act of having a background character unexpectedly wink at Alice, letting you know they were part of the Hinterland.

The Hinterland itself is a fairy tale masterpiece. The idea of a realm where these dark, twisted fairy tales repeat themselves over and over, with the subjects of the hellish stories unable to free themselves is absolutely chilling. I found the journey Alice had to complete within the realm a little overlong and bogged down with description, however, the plot itself was clever and gripping.

The characterisation in this book was fantastic. The characters were all flawed but inherently likeable. I fell in love with Finch and his kind, quiet nature and I found the way Alice interacted with different people in her life very interesting. From her close, dependant relationship with her mother to her blossoming relationship with Finch I felt like I was able to get to know Alice better by the way she behaved with each person in her life.

My only criticism with the book is with the length. Admittedly it is a very detailed story with a tangled plot that required a lot of explaining, but I found that in places the pace of the plot dipped a bit and some sections (e.g. Finch and Alice travelling to The Hazel Wood) could have been far choppier without taking anything away from the plot.

If you like fairy tales you will definitely enjoy this original, unpredictable take on the genre.

This book!

The Hazel Wood is like a new wave of Grimm's Fairytales. I personally am desperate to own my own copy of these fairy tales on their own. As a child I would have loved some of these stories and their titles intrigue me to no end. The crossover between the real world merging with the Story world and vice versa, I feel like was done really well and kept me drawn in from the first page. I feel like I expected there to be a twist, and I was close to solving it but didn't see it coming.
When reading this I found myself feeling really tense and like I completely couldn't put the book down. For me, its very rare to feel that tense and excited to keep reading feeling. My favourite thing about these Stories were how horrible and creepy and scary they were. This for me absolutely made me fall in love with his book.

Melissa Albert's style of writing made reading this book very easy and the writing flowed well. Although it took me a few hours to finish I felt like only minutes had passed since I'd picked it up each time, quite like the characters within the book. In terms of characters I don't think I have a real favourite, I loved each one and was eager to learn more about their lives and stories. I am very looking forward to the sequel to this book, and the film too.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, I absolutely loved it!

5/5 Stars

(EDIT: I've just found out there will be a book of the Tales of Hinterland due for publication in 2020!!!)

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic 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 Hinterland, 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.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland super fan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong. Alice and her mum (Ella) travel from place to place as bad luck appears to follow them everywhere. When Alice’s grandmother, an author of dark fairy tales, dies. It’s not long before Alice discovers her mother kidnapped, and finds herself having to journey to the Hinterland.

It’s a bit creepy when Alice and Finch are being followed by dark fairy tales across New York. I thought it dragged a bit in the middle, however, by the time they reach the actual Hazel Wood, Alice’s grandmother’s mansion, it becomes more of a fantasy novel as Alice’s world becomes a fairy tale.

Fans of the dark supernatural will love this. The Hazel Wood wasn’t a bad book but its not a great book, overall enjoyed reading it, but didn’t love it.

I gave it 3 stars, it’s maybe a 3.5 at a push. I gave it an extra half point for some originality, a unique main character and avoiding the standard Young adult romance.

Lastly many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK, for providing me with a copy this book in return for a fair and honest review

This book is your standard 'young girl realises the world she lives in is far more than it appears' which should be an utter snooze-fest at this point. The 'fairytale inspired' market is utterly flooded at the moment, this month alone I've read at least 3 retelling/inspired books. But this isn't a snooze fest. In fact it's quite the opposite. It's a wake fest. Wait no that makes it sound like a wake. It's not a funeral either. What I'm trying and most definitely failing to say is that this book is an exciting adventure from start to finish.

I think part of it rests on the fact that the 'fairytale' inspiration on which this book rests is utterly unique. The stories involved are written by Melissa Albert and they are gloriously macabre. They remind me of the grit and grotesque-ness of original fairytales, but they also have a strong sense of ghost story surrounding them. It's that slight creepiness that is scattered throughout this story that makes it truly compelling.

The main character, Alice, is also surprisingly bearable. She's wonderfully aware of her own ability to get swept up in a fantasy world. That means that while she doesn't completely disregard the wonder of suddenly discovering that something in a book is real (which, let's be honest we would all have) she still recognises the danger she is in and she acts rationally (for the most part). What I'm saying is she doesn't fall too far into either the 'cynical and annoying' or 'naive and therefore in danger all the time' camps.

Ellery Finch, whose relationship with Alice is hard to describe (another good thing, no-one likes a predictable relationship), is another great character. I do think that in part he is there to be wealthy and therefore to enable some of the parts of the story, but that juxtaposition between his huge wealth and the life Alice has lead was an interesting dynamic to explore.

There are parts of this book I could compare to Frances Hardinge's A Skinful of Shadows and also elements one could bring in from Tales of the Peculiar. Predominantly, however, this book felt totally unique to me. The overwhelming sense I had was that I was reading something I had never read before - which happens less often the more I read sadly.

That's not to say that some of the plot points weren't totally predictable from the start, but I think that was a deliberate choice. Like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumbs Albert leaves a trail through this story that you can notice if you've got your eye out for it.

I know some of the early reader's haven't enjoyed this book as much as they wanted to. I can sort of see that anyone expecting a nice fairytale book would be a little confused by this. I, however, thouroughly enjoyed myself. I will be keeping an eye out for more books in The Hazel Wood universe.

My Rating: 5/5 stars

By the way, I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A wonderfully dark, juicy tale. Alice and her mother have lived their lives on the run, one step ahead of the bad luck and strange happenings that haunt them. Alice has always wondered about her famous grandmother, but her mother has been adamant that they never met. When they receive word that her grandmother has died, her mother goes missing, and Alice is thrown into a strange new world where no one can be trusted and nothing is what it seems.
What a fantastic, twisty tale. Every time I thought I had a handle on where it was going, it turned and went in another direction. Parts of it were hard to follow, in the best tradition of Alice in Wonderland. I love the idea of fairy tales leaking into our world, though I can see how they'd be a problem.
Alice was amazing, strong and much braver than she thought she was. I'm glad her Story ended where it did.
Now, where can I get a copy of Tales from the Hinterlands?

Many thanks to the publisher, author and Netgalley for a copy of this ARC.

This novel is a dark, creepy, funny fairy tale following the story of Alice and what happens when she finds out her estranged grandmother is dead......prepare to enter the Hazel Wood!

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert a fair four-star read. I don’t know why I was expecting so much from this read, I had eagerly anticipated it and then when I got it, it took me a few attempts to finish it. It was well written and should have been one of the better reads this year, but it just lacked that something special. It was dark in places and did have some great elements but as a character Alice left me cold, there was just something lacking about her that I couldn’t gel with, it could just be me as its only my opinion but as I was reading the book and it’s my review that’s all that really matters. I do think that this is going to be a book you love or hate, and I hope you love it, the pictures of the hardcopy I’ve seen look amazing and if you want a pretty bookshelf buy the book, but don’t be put off by my review if you want to read it do. I gave it four stars as it was so well written, it deserved it.

I am so glad I’ve had a cold this week! I’ve read so many great books and this is one of them.

As soon as this book begins there’s a certain intensity to the story that really builds as the book goes on. Alice telling her story about living with Ella and avoiding her grandmother’s fairy tale world (so far) really creates an atmosphere for the story that never disappears and it keeps you wanting more, it certainly kept me reading.

The story can seem slow to pick up but when it does it works. The writing is filled with prose and metaphor that really blends with the sort of ‘wonderland’ vibe of the story, it does feel like almost a modern re-telling in places. The characters are okay, I find Finch to be a good balance with Alice.

A creepy, dark and dramatic book that keeps you on the edge of your seat, The Hazel Wood is a book I was looking forward to, fairy tales are my thing and books like this are why. If you like books such as Caraval, I think you’ll probably like this.

This is a book of fairytale, sometimes dark and sometimes light. The main character Alice I found it hard to connect with or really like, she is confused, mixed up and I guess this mirrors how I felt about her. I most enjoyed this tale when she was with other characters, and what they bought to the mix. At times I found this book slow and the constant use of metaphor a hindrance, having said that I also found parts of the book very enjoyable especially the characters explaining the fairytale. This tale is written with opulence and layer and layer of colour, which is brilliant, but to use a metaphor sometimes over egged the pud. This would definately be a Tim Burton film with Johnny Depp and Helens Bonham Carter as the main characters. It is fantasy sometimes at its best, sometimes for me on total overload. Thank you to Net galley for the chance to read it.

The book starts off as a fairly typical YA (odd main character who always feels out of place, cute guy at school inexplicably shows interest) before taking a sharp left into Tim Burton territory. Seriously, this would make a great Burton film - it has that dark, twisted humour running throughout it. Although a little slow to start, once they actually reach the Hazel Wood, things pick up tremendously. Overall, I really enjoyed reading it and recommend to fans of authors such as Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket.