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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

REVIEW: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert @flatironbooks @mimi_albert #intothehazelwood

The Hazel Wood
by Melissa Albert

Thanks so much to Flatiron Books for this gorgeous copy!
Into the Hazel Wood I went!



Publisher:  Flatiron Books
Publishing: January 30, 2018
Pages: 368
Genres:  Fantasy, Young Adult
Hardcover
Series:  The Hazel Wood #1

Goodreads Synopsis:

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 superfan 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.

My Review:

As a huge fan of the darker, original fairy tales with the not so happy endings, I was delighted to throw this read in between my normal thrillers.  Just look at this cover!   

Alice and her mother Ella lead a gypsy life - constantly moving, living off the help of other people and then finally start to feel settled as her mom marries into money and she's stuck in a rich apartment with her weird stepfather and snooty stepsister.  As usual, weird things start to happen....  starting with seeing a man who abducted her when she was six years in the coffee shop where she works.  Why does this keep happening?  And why does her mom freak out every time?  Coming home to find her mother missing and her stepfather kicking her out, she only receives one message, "Stay away from the Hazel Wood."  Everything points back to her grandmother Althea's cult hit book about Hinterland and the stories contained within.  And the only one who can help her is Finch, an Althea super-fan... the type she normally steers clear from.  To find her mother, she has no choice to ignore the warning and find her way to Hazel Wood to bring her mother back.

During the first 40 pages are so I thought to myself, "Self, this is strange... when is this going to pick up?"  I was also completely intrigued and so curious as to where this was going to go... and then boom, I was sucked right in!  I love that while there are references to your typical fairy tale rules and regulations, this one strays away from your more typical tellings.  We get the creepy and the dark... YAY!  Now, I didn't find this too creepy but I loved where it went.  Quite frankly, I want MORE from Hinterland.  I need to know about all the stories within!  Thrilled to look on Goodreads and see that there's book 2 coming AND book 2.5 - Tales from the Hinterland.  Hot damn!  AND this has been optioned for film?! GO MELISSA!

A fantastic read for those who love the darker side of YA and the sprinklings of fairy tales without all the happy endings.  I am very curious to see where she's going to go in this series.  I need these other stories fleshed out.  Melissa, do you hear me? MORE HINTERLAND PLEASE!! 

★★★★



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