I loved the fairy aspect of the stories. It is written so well
The stories were creepy
A great autumn/winter read

Tales From the Hinterland, by Melissa Albert
Published: Now.
Rating: 5/5
I am a huge fan of Grimm’s fairy tales, and so this anthology of stories was right up my street. Albert is masterful at setting a scene that is both hopeful and ominous. The Clockwork Bride really got under my skin. I loved how Albert acknowledged older literary stylistic conventions when it came to old stories, but also added something new and altogether unsettling. Her portrayal of the mermaids and the Tide will stay with me for a long time. There was also something reminiscent of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in her writing, where she acknowledges character transformation both figuratively and literally. Her writing is visceral, and sometimes quite violent, and yet it can become beautifully serene and sublime too. I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and PRH for this ARC

Mellisa Albert has done it again! Tales from HInterland is a collection of fairytales not the fluffy kind think more Grimms.

Will keep your bedside lamps burning into the early hours of the morning.

Omg! I have been anticipating this book SO MUCH, and it truly did not disappoint. All of these fairytales offer an incredible insight into a macabre, delightful magical world that will have you begging for more.

I haven't read any of Albert's previous books set in the Hinterland, and having read a synopsis for the two other linked novels, I don't think it really matters in this case. Honestly speaking, the other books don't sound particularly appealing to me as I don't tend to enjoy real life settings in YA or books set in contemporary times but this was a stellar read.

This book is made up of 12 short stories that take the form of fairytales. These fairytales are original, not reimaginings, although I did sense some echoes of some Grimm's fairytales in some of them. The most important thing to note is that these fairytales are DARK. Now I know this book is categorised as YA but given the content in terms of the twisted and violent end that meets many of the characters and also some of the darker themes such as sexual assault I think it skews towards the older end of YA.

The imagery is fantastic and each story felt like a delicious, dark little jewel. I love a book where I find myself googling what some of the words mean e.g. 'nacre' and 'vetiver'. At times it felt genuinely thrilling to read language so lush and sumptuous.

Usually with these kinds of books there are a few stand out stories and the rest are kind of meh but I didn't feel that way with this one. I honestly couldn't pick a story that was worse than the others and although each story was standalone and unique, they all felt cohesive as part of a bigger whole.

This book just felt like something a bit different and exciting. I was genuinely sad for it to end and I'll definitely be looking out for the author's work in future.

Most of these stories begin as classic fairytales, then twist into something darker and more disturbing than even the original ‘grim’ folktales… I love it!

Here you will find orphans, quests, constellation origin tales, brides and maidens, fairies and witches, and Death – death over and over again, in so many ways.

This book is the realisation of the text referred to in The Hazel Wood and the stories it contains are terribly wonderful – spellbindingly dark in thorn and claw – and feature women as the main actors, for good and for bad, throughout.

Some familiar tales and recognisable motifs appear but are immediately and deftly reworked into something new and unfamiliar, yet that feels old and true.

Here universal female fears take new forms as sinister woods and wicked wolves become fears of marriage, child-bearing, infertility, death, aging, loss and poverty. In other words, these are ‘fairytales’ done right.

Stay out of the shadows, children, and don’t stop to speak to strangers…

I read her debut, The Hazel Wood, and was blown away by the blend of fairy tale and Young Adult. What I really wanted, however, was to experience for myself the dark fairy stories, set in the Hinterland, which this novel hinted at. It seems that, in true fairy godmother form, Albert has heard my wish since this, newest, book is a collection of these tales.

These are stories of brides, daughters and sisters (on the whole) which are written with very expressive but simple language - as all the best folk-tales are - but which hint at darkness, death and decay at every turn. They are chillingly good and make me understand the mysterious power they hold within the world of the Hazel Wood. (Although I seem to have missed the fact that there is a second volume to the main Hazel Wood series - I'm pretty certain that this is a series I'm going to need to complete...)

This book works very well, if one only reads one story at a time, but for me, reading it in one go, it felt a bit repetitive and not too engaging. I still enjoyed to get back into this world and the stories themselves are interesting and well-written. Just sadly didn't pull me in as much as I hoped.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin for providing me an e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited about Tales From the Hinterland since I read The Haze Wood because I had this feeling that those stories will be as dark as my soul, so it would be the perfect fit and mostly, it really was.
I remembered some of the stories from The Hazel Wood and it felt so great to read them again. My favourite ones were probably Twice-Killed Katherine, The Door that Wasn't There and The Clockwork Bride. Even though I didn't like The Hazel Wood that much, this collection was a great atmospheric book for me and I'll try to read The Night Country too.
But I have to say, that in the first book, Tales From the Hinterland were described as the greatest collection of stories, that all of the fans were obsessed with them and I did not have this feeling while I was reading this book. It was really good though, there was just something missing in those stories.

I can definitely recommend this book to any reader obsessed with dark, horror, atmospheric stories because I enjoyed it very much and from now on I'm probably a short stories lover.

I actually didn't realise this was part of The Hazel Wood series written by Albert, or even set in the same world, but I saw they were separate fairy tales, so I decided to read them! Some of the stories definitely stood out to me more than others, so I've decided to highlight those rather than talking about every individual one.
Hansa the Traveller - I really enjoyed the concept of this story, with the daughter taking on the protective role over her mother and the personification of the moon was nice too.
The Clockwork Bride - this one was by far my favourite; I loved it! It really reminded me of The Infernal Devices series, very creepy in the best way.
The House Under the Stairwell - I really liked this one, and not just because the main character is also called Isobel! This story flowed particularly well.

Tales From the Hinterland is a collection of fantastical, and often horrifying, short stories told in a ‘Brothers Grimm’ dark fairytale style.

I was so excited to read this one, after enjoying The Hazel Wood and The Night Country! Each of these stores was just so incredibly atmospheric. I almost wish I had saved them to read curled up under a blanket in the middle of winter (alas, it is the middle of Summer here in Australia).

If you’re here for fluffy fairytales and happy endings, back away to a Disney film, you’ll find none of that here. These fairytales will have you locking the doors and estimating to turn out the light.

If you haven’t read The Hazel Wood or The Night Country, don’t let that put you off reading Tales from the Hinterland. This book could absolutely be enjoyed as a complete standalone fairytale book. In fact, it would be very cool to read this one before The Night Country as I think it could provide some background information on some characters that would give some ‘aha’ moments along the way!

Tales from the Hinterland is unique,dark and creepy.I loved every minute of it, it's a collection of 12 stories.

I fell in love with each one of them and the world this author created.There are many interesting and fantastic characters.The stories were brilliant and left me wanting for more .

If you like fairytales and looking for dark and brilliant stories this is for you!

This book is a collections of short stories written like fairytales, although not the cute Disney style fairytales but dark and grim and sometimes nightmare inducing. Doesn't it sound lovely? Well, it is. So you need to read this.

The language is a perfect balance between not too little color and too much purple. I enjoyed every bit of the reading here, and I thought the stories were engaging and the twists were rarely so obvious that I saw them coming long before the end.

I won't go in to any lengthy feedback on the short stories themselves because they are too short to share without spoiling them for the next reader. But what I can say is that they easy to read and grabs your attention from the first line.

These tales will live in my mind for a long time.

Tales from the Hinterland is a wonderful collection of short stories, many of which can only be described as twisted fairytales. Each linked by the setting of the 'Hinterland’ these tales are wonderfully written and delightfully dark

All of these short stories have similar themes but each one is unique and unlike any other collection present on the market. Combined with a beautiful cover and wonderfully illustrated pages, Tales from the Hinterland provides a reading experience for the modem fairytale lover

Particular high points include The Clockwork Bride, The Skinned Maiden and Twice-Killed Katherine which have an extra-added star quality to them which leave the eager desperate for more.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Take a stroll, if you will, over the rolling seas and icy wastes of Andersen, onward over the plains to the dark forests of the Brothers Grimm. Keep travelling until you reach the wildest heart of the deepest, darkest forest and there you will find the Hinterland. Here, you will find no comfort nor cosiness, no fiery warmth, no hope nor solace. You will instead find dense black shadows that shift uneasily through the dark and shady tales. Tales that creep, crawl, and slither, entwining and insinuating themselves through fitful nights of uneasy dreams.

The echoes of benign, fairy filled tales are clearly heard but the heroine of each tale has no gentle guiding light, no magic wish and there are no princes waiting to wake with a kiss. Instead, there are dangerous quests, stolen youth, and dark hearted toy makers. These are tales told to chill. And I loved them.

Melissa Albert has a deft authorial touch, and she has the exquisite ability to shroud her tales in the mantle of the traditional. But that is where the similarity ends: these are new, imaginative, and darkly fantastic stories. And while they might enthral the young at heart, and those who wallowed in fairy stories as a child, they are most definitely not for the young reader.

From the moment I finished reading the first book in The Hazel Wood series I was desperate to read a companion novel of the fairytales littered throughout the series. And I loved it just as much as I hoped I would.

This collection is dark and grisly. It is tremendously reminiscent of the horrific, traditional fairy-tales of old, that have since elicited friendlier adaptations.

Each story is unique and twisted, dripping with atmosphere and instilling it's own 'moral'. Often, the stories follow young girls as they break from adult expectations and rules, forging their own journey. Many stories are twisted with fantastical, or even steampunk-esque, elements. The narration does not shy away, creating stories suitable for youngsters. Rather they are raw and often gruesome.

Whether you loved the darker elements of the series or you have never ventured into The Hazel Wood world, this book can be read as a companion or a standalone.

So curl up in your bed and tell yourself some fairytales - just know that these are not the stories from your childhood.

I wasn't a fan of The Hazel Wood series. The only thing I enjoyed in the books were the occasional Hinterland fairytales that popped up now and then. Thus I had pretty low expectations with this addition to the series but thought I would give it a try.

Melissa Albert snatched those expectations, screwed them up into a wee paper ball, chucked them out of a 3 story building and said "fetch". Holy moly! Albert can write! She has mastered the niche of creepy fairytale-esqu short stories. Sweet baby cheeses! She completely knocked it out of the park with this one. It is more reminiscent of the amazing original fiction you'll find on tor.com than a collection of fairytales. Each story stands on it's own.

Recommended for anyone who did or did not enjoy The Hazel Wood, and check out some of the TOR short stories - there is some amazing talent in there:
Goodreads Tor Short Fiction List

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the ARC.

What drew me to The Hazel Wood the most were the tales that lay the foundations for it. They seemed dark, mysterious, and not quite like anything traditional, which was a nice change. As an addition to the Hazel Wood series, they stand up well, although I'd hesitate to label them as outstanding and revolutionary as a new take on folktales.

Classic fairytale tropes were very common throughout the stories, and though the stories were different from the fairytales we know, they still had that atmosphere. They weren't reminiscent of the Disney-esque tales that often get told; rather, they echoed the versions where Cinderella's stepsisters cut their feet to fit into the shoe, or were the Little Mermaid turned to sea foam. They read like a rich velvet, sumptuous and shining, which help the flow and the overall feel for the world that the author was trying to convey. I particularly liked the ones dealing with Death as a character - they offered some unique insight into how a Grim Reaper of sorts could play a role in such a dark world.

I thought that, though this collection really managed to channel the vibe of fairytales, there wasn't a huge amount of innovation. Many of the themes were those we can see in other fairytales, and so were the points of conflict. It would have been nice if misogyny were not, in fact, the driving force for many of these; there was clearly supposed to be a feminist twist, but I couldn't help but feel like it would be more feminist to not have women suffer in order to become strong. Being able to recognise bits and pieces of the fairytales that exist in our own world was interesting to a point, but there was a certain amount of repetition that made it hard to properly escape into the stories without comparing them to others.

I enjoyed Tales of the Hinterland while I was reading it, and I thought that there were some very interesting stories, but as a whole, it lacked a certain oomph that it could have had. There was a lot of buildup for these tales in the duology they come from, and that didn't quite carry through. However, they were not bad at all, and I can see this collection being of interest even to those who haven't read the original books.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this dark and twisty book! Having read Albert's previous books it was great to finally read all the stories hinted at in The Hazel Wood and Night Country. Each story is dark and brutal and it's refreshing to read something that doesn't have a nice neat ending where everything works out in the end.

I really enjoyed these short stories from the world of The Hazel Wood, I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the novel, but they are still a fabulous read and wonderful to be immersed in fairytales from the Hinterland, fabulous read, dark, mysterious, unexpected twists and turns, just delightfully creepy at times.perfect

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion